LUMBERTON — If you’ve had a drink of clean, clear tap water in Robeson County, you undoubtedly have engineering firm Koonce, Noble & Associates Inc., to thank for it.
The Lumberton civil and environmental engineering company is celebrating that much of the infrastructure in the region was designed by the firm, and its largest and longest running project is the still growing Robeson County water system.
Founding partner and principal owner Lacy Koonce said the company’s roots go back more than 50 years.
“Chap Noble and I were roommates at N.C. State when we decided we were going to do this,” Koonce said. Out of college, Noble went into the Navy, and Koonce went to work for the city of Raleigh.
A call from Lumberton brought Koonce, a Raeford native, to work as the city engineer. When Noble got out of the Navy, the partnership was formed. Noble died almost 30 years ago, but the firm continued.
“We’ve worked for nearly every municipality in the county, and across Southeastern North Carolina,” Koonce said. “We succeeded because of our reputation, word of mouth and working with good people in Robeson County. Dedicated employees is another part of our success.”
Robeson’s large water system has been an long-running success story since the late 1970s, and Koonce, Noble continues to be its engineering consultant.
“It’s the largest water system in North Carolina, geographically speaking,” Koonce said. “About all the industry in the county, including Campbell Soup, use county water. Robeson County is blessed with underground water and the Lumber River.”
Koonce, Noble has designed bridges, roads, airports and drainage systems in addition to water and sewer systems. The company also specializes in packaging project proposals for financing by grants and loans. The firm is instrumental in planning for regional economic and community development and building infrastructure for industry.
Some of the public projects the company has designed include: the Lumberton water and sewer plants, Laurinburg-Maxton Airbase water and sewer treatment plant, Lumberton Municipal Airport, Hoke County’s Regional Water System and upgrades to water and sewer plants in Red Springs, Maxton, Fair Bluff, Norwood, Bladenboro and Lumberton. The projects total in the tens of millions of dollars.
Koonce, Noble & Associates have worked with a wide variety of federal and state agencies on behalf of its constituents, including the federal Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Agriculture, Economic Development Administrations, Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Aviation Administration and state agencies, including the Department of Transportation, Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Commerce, Local Government Commission and the Clean Water Management Trust Fund.
The number of employees at Koonce, Noble & Associates has fluctuated over time and stands at 10 today, including engineers, land surveyors and office personnel.
Lacy Koonce continues to keep an eye on the future.
“We have three vacancies right now,” he said. “I’d like to get them filled, and then I’ll think about retirement.”
