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Oct 30, 2020
Building upon a century of successful projects
Universal Asset Management (UAM) was founded in 2001 as a Limited Liability Company specializing in the planning, design, and deployment of cutting edge infrastructure technology and an engineering based approach to the management of a wide variety of mechanical and electrical equipment assets. The Founder, President and CEO, Gary Lee P.E., took decades of infrastructure engineering experience and applied those principles to the development of long term asset management programs with extraordinary guarantees in the form of various insurance products.
Having evolved from the century old environmental and civil engineering consulting firm ET Archer, and growing from its technical background, UAM developed a proprietary process (CAPTURE©) to bring the best scientific methodologies and business strategies to the process of maintenance. By partnering with several of the best insurance providers in the business, UAM provides a unique method for controlling costs associated with maintaining equipment of all types.
Today, UAM provides a wide variety of consulting services, comprehensive insurance third party administration services, risk and fixed asset management consultation, energy savings insurance and independent engineering services.
1907
Elmer T. Archer founded ET Archer with a vision of providing electical power to small and mid-size communities in the Midwest. The firm expanded greatly during WWII, but Mr. Archer elected to downsize it afterward to maintain the ideal of a small firm working closely with long term clients.
1953
Willis Lee purchased ET Archer from Mr. Archer and worked with his business partner Elmer West on water system projects in Northern Missouri and Kansas. Over the next 40 years, the firm constructed over 100 water systems in the Midwest.
1975
Gary Lee, Willis‘ son, joined the firm after finishing his second tour of engineering work for the U.S. Public Health Service. Gary was appointed president in 1978, and he expanded the company‘s services in water & wastewater systems and established 9 new offices in Missouri and Kansas.
2001
Gary Lee founded Universal Asset Management with a broader range of services and a focus on total asset management. ET Archer was sold in 2006, and UAM has become a global enterprise with recent projects in Missouri, Australia, Mexico, and Hawaii.
From the days of Mr. E.T. Archer taking a train or horse and buggy rides to council meetings, to UAM pioneering new methods of water system engineering, our firm‘s story has always been one of success. As always, our firm‘s success is embedded in its personnel, the engineers, the technicians, the surveyors, the architects, the support staff that make up the project teams that serve our clients. With our continued influence over our market, UAM‘s reputation as an design and management firm is hinged not only on quality minded professional services, but also on quality execution for our client which will continue to carry UAM‘s success into the next century.
Key Events of Innovation in the History of UAM
1976 - Raymore, Missouri
- First use of large diameter PVC sewer pipe in a Missouri-Sanitary Sewer Collection Project
1979 - Freeman, Missouri
- First rural public water district in Missouri to operate its own water treatment plant - PWSD No. 7
1984 - Germanton, Missouri
- Largest coal strip mining reclamation project in the United States
1984 - Para, Brazil
- American Express International Voluntarism Award for the use of appropriate technology and innovative community implementation of water supply wells for remote villages along the Amazon River
1985 - Mexico City, Mexico
- Lead earthquake water distribution recovery team for the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), US State Departement
1989 - Guatemala City, Guatemala
- World Bank management team for water system management improvements, EMPAGUA
1990 - Atherton, Missouri
- Biosolids waste to energy plant using fluidized bed technology co-fired with sewage sludge and coal, Little Blue Valley Sewer District
1995 - Duckett Creek Sanitary District, St. Charles, Missouri
- Awarded the Missouri Consulting Engineers Council Excellence in Engineering recognition for the innovative design of a 6 mgd wastewater treatement plant
1998 - PWSD No. 7, Freeman, Missouri
- First use of membrane technology for a drinking water plant in Missouri, awarded the Missouri Consulting Engineers Council Excellence in Engineering recognition (this was the first plant in the world to use ballasted coagulation and clarification as pre-treatment to membrane filtration
2000 - Maryville, Missouri
- First use of submerged membrane filtration in a drinking water plant in the Midwest US
2002 - Zurich North America Insurance, Schaumburg, Illinois
- Served as administrator on national commercial restaurant maintenance program
2005 - Sydney Water, Sydney, Australia
- Partnered with Macquarie Bank to introduce low pressure sewer collection systems to eliminate on-site septic systems in Australia
2006 - Grove Farms, Kauai, Hawaii
- Sustainable community study for island of Kauai, Hawaii
2007 - Hawaii Reserves, Laie, Hawaii
- Introduced low pressure sewer collection systems to the State of Hawaii
2008 - SAVVIS
- Reliability Centered Maintenance evaluation of data center elements
2008 - Far West Water and Sewer Inc, Yuma, Arizona
- Four advanced wastewater treatment plant designs with total recreational reuse
2008 - Marshall Bank
- Served as independent engineer for biodiesel and ethanol plants in Midwest US
2009 - County of Sandoval, New Mexico
- Inland brackish water study and pilot plant operation
2010 - Skanska, USA
- Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) analysis of new data center
2011 - Avoca, North Carolina
- Waste to energy facility using agricultural waste as fuel for industrial steam production
2012 - State of Missouri
- Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) analysis of equipment serving mental health hospitals in Missouri
2013 - Baja, Mexico
- Energy audits for water and wastewater facilities including the Mexicali - Tijuana Aqueduct - Border Environment Cooperation Commission