timeline 1976 Mark Traut starts working part time for his father, Marvin Traut, as a rig tender for Traut Well Drilling Inc.; Melvin Traut sells his shares to his twin brother, Marvin, and moves to California.
1977 Marvin Traut hires his cousin’s son, Dave Traut, to work for Traut Well Drilling.
1979 Dave Traut moves from field work to dispatching; Mark Traut begins working full time in the field.
August 1982 Mark and Dave Traut open the doors to Mark J. Traut Wells, Inc. and begin drilling residential and irrigation wells and providing water treatment services. They work out of the MacKay Family Dodge building for two years.
1982 Summer Marvin Traut is forced to liquidate Traut Well Drilling; cousins Mark and Dave Traut attend the auction and buy the inventory and drilling/ service equipment they can afford.
1983 In their first full year, the company has $1 million in revenue and eight employees.
1984 The Trauts build a 5400 square foot building at 141 28th Ave. S, Waite Park. They have one overhead door.
1995 The company begins doing environmental drilling.
May 1998 Mark and Dave Traut receive the St. Cloud Area Small Business of the Year award.
1999 The Trauts purchase their first dual rotary rig, designed for municipal drilling. The dual rotary can drill as much in one day as a standard rig can do in two weeks.
1987 The Trauts begin working with municipalities.
MAY 1988 Traut adds 3600 feet to their existing building.
1998 The company purchases a sonic drill to gather undisturbed core samples of rock, or other material, for high quality environmental testing; they also purchase a camera for diagnosing well issues.
2000 Traut adds another 4800 feet to their building.
Early 2000s Traut enters the mining industry drilling for frac sand.
2012 Traut Companies upgrades to new camera technology.
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2010 Mark J. Traut Wells begins rebranding to Traut Companies in response to their broadening scope of services.
Business Central Magazine •• NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013
This custom piece of equipment can be used inside a pump house, an important feature in cold climates where wells are usually enclosed in buildings, making it difficult, if not impossible, to maneuver a drilling rig into the building. The Well Vac has created a market niche for the Trauts. “We have a lot of money invested in it,” Mark said. “It would be ugly if there was too much competition.” In many cases they create equipment for safety and to reduce workplace injuries, such as the auxiliary equipment attachment that can be found on the back of their drill trucks. Traut’s employees helped design this attachment, which is now standard on all of their trucks. “We push safety all the time,” Mark said. “If you’re working really hard, you’re doing something wrong. If it looks like you’re struggling, there should be a better way. Let’s use technology to our advantage.” You’ll find technology throughout the business. A current favorite is a camera that Mark refers to as “Dave’s Baby.” This powerful, tiny camera is put down a well to investigate any number of problems. Dave is out 40-50 times a year working with clients. “The owner or engineer can be right there,” Dave said. “We shoot a video with audio and I can talk them through what we’re seeing. We can discuss the problem and come up with a plan.”
Looking Ahead
“They don’t make us work very hard here,” Mark said. “I think I’ll stay. I love this career. I love meeting people. I love solving problems. I’m still having too much fun to think about anything else.” “We’ll continue to try being better,” Dave said. “We might have to grow to do that. I’d rather sacrifice expansion than have someone in the field doing a poor job. If bigger happens, that’s good, but it’ll be managed growth.” “Dave and I are on the same page,” Mark agreed. “We can handle the size company we have. We watched what happened with my dad when there was