History

A Shared Vision

Crawford
Leonard K. Crawford

Murphy
James "Pat" Murphy

Tilly
Ray V. Tilly

The events that lead to the partnership of Leonard K. Crawford, James "Pat" Murphy, and Ray V. Tilly begin in North Dakota and play out further in a scene some 4,000 miles away in Europe before culminating in 1946 in Springfield, Illinois.

After completing their studies in engineering at the University of North Dakota (UND) in 1937, Murphy lands a position at the North Dakota Department of Transportation while his friend Crawford takes a chance by accepting an offer from a small engineering firm in Springfield. There he joins Tilly, a 1924 UND grad and a partner in the firm of Wood, Walraven & Tilly.

WWII sends Crawford to Europe, where he eventually earns the rank of Lt. Colonel in the Army Corps of Engineers. There, at a PX in LaHavre, France, he has a chance meeting with Murphy who is serving as a civilian in the corps. The old friends' reminiscing soon gives way to talk of the future as they lay out their plans for after the war.

Crawford tells Murphy about Tilly, whose firm had dissolved during the war. After further correspondence, the three agree to partner in an engineering firm with the modest goal that if their venture could stick together for the first five years, then they could "probably make a go of it." By the time they celebrate their 10th anniversary in business, CMT and its 20 employees have served 200 clients on more than 500 projects.

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