Big biz, little town in Three Forks

Consultants say Three Forks suits them well even though it’s off beaten path

In some ways, Industrial Automation Consultants has come a long way since its humble beginnings in folding chairs around a cafeteria table in a dusty storeroom at the Luzenac talc factory in Three Forks.

By JOHN HARRINGTON – IR Business Editor

http://www.helenair.com/articles/2004/08/16/business/e01081504_01.txt

In other ways, the firm hasn’t gone far at all.

Nearly a decade after its founding, IAC still calls Three Forks home. But today, rather than a makeshift workspace in someone else’s building, IAC is in charge of its own digs: the second floor of the venerable former Sacajawea Men’s Club, smack in the middle of downtown.

There, atop freshly polished wood floors and surrounded by original fixtures, the 16 employees of IAC develop methods for automating and tying together complex and sometimes diverse industrial processes for companies across the country.

For example, at the Luzenac plant, IAC developed control systems that automated and monitored much of the processing and packaging of talc, freeing up human workers to focus on more important tasks.

"It’s hard for people to understand what we do because you don’t really see it working," said company founder and president Chuck Wambeke. "It’s tough to grasp what’s going on out in the field."

Wambeke, from Billings, started the company when he began working with Luzenac in the 1995. He’s never strongly considered leaving Three Forks.

"It’s a nice small town. It’s got a good cross-section of blue-collar and white-collar folks, it’s a progressive town, and there are lots of good rivers around here," Wambeke said with a smile that indicated that the last factor on his list may in fact be a little more important than the others.

In addition to automating systems for industry, IAC has done a fair amount of work for cities around the state, automating municipal water and wastewater systems so wells, holding tanks and additive levels can be monitored and changed from a single work station.

The City of Helena is on the client list, along with Conrad, Billings, Boulder, White Sulphur Springs and Big Timber.

Then, there are similar contracts with electric companies, specifically a number of the electric cooperatives in Montana.

While the company itself is Montana-born, most of its employees are as well.

"From the standpoint of where our people come from, most of us are Montana raised and Montana educated," said Mark Jenko, a senior engineer who commutes daily from Helena and has been with IAC since the beginning. There are Montana State University grads on the staff, as well as graduates of Montana Tech in Butte.

Wambeke admitted that staying in Three Forks can be an obstacle when it comes to winning contracts from out-of-state firms.

"Some people don’t give a darn, but others think technology and Three Forks, Montana, really don’t go hand-in-hand," he said. "Not only does Montana not have that high-tech association with it, but the location itself can be a problem. Some people, if you’re not in their backyard, don’t think you’re capable."

But buying the downtown building signaled the company is staying put.

"That was a transition point in the history of the company," Wambeke said. "We entertained the possibility of moving to Butte, but this is a great opportunity in this building, and we’ve made a commitment to this town."

John Harrington can be reached at 447-4080 or [email protected].