History of the Corporation

The Ladd Companies began in the late 1920’s as a land surveying operation. In 1938 E.J. Ladd and F.H. Landstreet formed a partnership, under the name of Ladd Engineering Company, which provided Engineering services for WPA projects, municipalities, county governments, and entered into the REA Electrical Program prior to World War II. During the war, Ladd’s efforts were directed toward wartime engineering for housing programs and infrastructure oriented toward support for the military. In the late 1940’s the primary direction of Ladd was toward Federal housing, municipal public works projects and the REA Electrical Program. In the early 1950’s, Ladd grew toward two specific fields, Civil Engineering and Telecommunications Engineering.

In 1964 Ladd Engineering Associates, Inc. (LEA) was formed with the former partners together with C.M. Landstreet, Sr., as the stockholders. The focus of the Civil Engineering division of LEA continued to be directed toward the various engineering function related to public utilities, land surveying, general municipal engineering and industrial engineering.

During this period the Telecommunications division expanded dramatically as a result of the Federal Government’s REA program, with its goal to provide modern telephone service to the rural populace of the United States. Eventually, the Civil Engineering section split away from LEA and formed a separate company that is no longer associated with LEA.

From that time until the present, LEA has grown with the headquarters located in Fort Payne, Alabama and a fully staffed branch office in Lexington, Kentucky. In addition LEA has field offices located within Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky to provide prompt service throughout the Southeastern U.S. The firm has two Registered Professional Engineers and one licensed Land Surveyor on its staff and is supported by an experienced design group. Engineering registrations are currently held for the States of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, West Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana, and Illinois

Except for a brief move to Mobile, Alabama during World War II, the headquarters office of LEA has always been in Fort Payne, Alabama. The location is central to the LEA service area and is easily accessible to a variety of interstate highways and airports. In 1991 LEA merged with another well-established telecommunications firm (Consolidated Design Consultants) and is now a fully staffed branch office located in Lexington, KY.