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The building at 109 Dilworth Plaza in Poth now houses Intrepid Surveying & Engineering. But there was a time when it was the First National Bank, as seen in this undated photograph. COURTESY
POTH — Intrepid Surveying & Engineering is keeping history in mind as it soldiers on toward the future.
The company formed a decade ago after former coworkers Sherman Posey and Len Custer III went into business together and established a headquarters in downtown Floresville. Not long after, they brought in Posey’s childhood friend, engineer Russell Jaskinia, and project manager Madylyn “Maddy” Fluitt. Intrepid has continued growing from there.
“Just the community as a whole, with local banks and realtors, individuals, the oil and gas industry has helped us, [and] several city managers and mayors; they’ve just been really great and accommodating,” Posey said. “Len Custer and I, he came back and started it, hit the ground running. Almost everyone who works here with me has been here for at least six years.”
With any effective, well-established team of 10 workers, growth is inevitable. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when many businesses were tucking their heads into their shells, Intrepid made a bold move to purchase approximately 4 acres across from Pecan Park near the corner of S.H. 97 West and U.S. 181 Business in Floresville. The company had the land cleared and initially had plans to build new offices there. But then something better came along on Dilworth Plaza in Poth.
Sherman Posey, one of the partners who owns Intrepid Surveying & Engineering in Poth, strives not to forget his history as he demonstrates an antique survey transit and compass kit while standing next to a photograph of his mother, Karen, from her days working in the former First National Bank. Intrepid’s offices are located at 109 Dilworth Plaza, which once housed the bank. WILLIAM J. GIBBS JR./Wilson County News
“Len came to me and said, ‘Have you seen this building? It’s really neat,’” Posey recalled. “My mom used to work here when it was First National [Bank].”
The building, located at 109 Dilworth Plaza, most recently housed a Wells Fargo bank. Posey and Custer bought the property and set out to remodel while maintaining its historic charm, even deciding to keep the old vault. Intrepid now has roughly 3,200 square feet of office space — up from 1,300 square feet at its former home.
With all of the changes on the federal, state, and local levels that have caused the past 10 years to be an economic roller coaster ride, managing a thriving business has been no easy task. But Posey took some wisdom from a former employer, which has helped Intrepid weather each storm.
“From the old boss that I worked for, Mark Watson, he had told me that he just wants a lean machine,” he said. “He liked to keep his employees on and he didn’t, in a way of putting it, want a whole bunch of fat. So he wanted people to do their jobs, be proficient at it, and — if you had to — put in extra hours to get the job done, and be flexible as well.”
Intrepid provides surveying and engineering for projects related to residential subdivisions, utility infrastructure, and streets for private and governmental clients.
For the next 10 years, Posey’s top goal for Intrepid is “to keep it a lean machine.”
Jaskinia added, “We’ve hired a lot of these local guys that are all very skilled in their own way, and they want to stay here in the community and enjoy families and not have to move to San Antonio and make that drive. If we keep it kind of lean and mean like that, everybody kind of feels at home.”
Open house!
Intrepid is holding an anniversary celebration and open house in its new offices, at 109 Dilworth Plaza in Poth, Thursday, Sept. 21, from 2-5 p.m. The public is invited.
