The word “Title” has several meanings, 13 total definitions provided by Merriam-Webster to be exact. It can be the name of a book or publication; a name that describes someone’s distinction, rank, or job; the designation as a champion of a particular sport.  In our line of work, a “Title” is a right or claim to the ownership of property, but it goes well beyond that simple definition. 

Fall = football, and around the country people are cheering on their favorite teams! From your kiddo’s pee-wee games to Friday night lights, weekends dedicated to your alma mater or favorite pro team, football is in full swing. And with each game, anticipation builds to find out who is the “Best.”

What do the following have in common?

A pipeline right of way, an electric transmission line, a producing oil well, a renewable energy solar farm, a petrochemical facility, a carbon sequestration farm, an intrastate highway, and a railroad

If you guessed they all require land to operate, you were correct.

My wife is a PGA Golf Professional.  She’s also an adjunct distance-learning teacher at The Yost Household Kindergarten and Middle School for our 6 and 13-year-old’s, but that’s a story to be shared with other parents in the same boat…over one (or three) glasses of wine.   Her career as a golf professional is slightly different from that of the golf pro that runs a country club, who sets up tournaments, merchandises, and schmoozes members.  She chose long ago that her passion was to provide solutions to help golfers become better golfers.  She’s a golf instructor, a golf driving range owner, and the golf coach for the men’s and women’s teams at Fairmont State University in West Virginia, a small Division II school.

Through this strange year of 2020, puzzles seem to have made a serious comeback.  One strategy to complete: identify the outside pieces and build the framework, then fill in the rest.  The outside pieces are the easiest to find and put together.  But you don’t get the full image until you fill in the complicated middle pieces.  What good is a puzzle with just the framework?

I spent a good part of my childhood growing up on a farm in West Virginia, both on our farm and my grandparents’ farms.  We had friends down the road who had a small herd of Guernsey cattle that they would milk, by hand, twice a day (this was the late 50’s and early 60’s).  Milking was quite an interesting process for the outsider (me) to watch as, in this case, the farmer, his older children, and a helper worked diligently to milk all the cattle as quickly as possible.  Cattle were brought into the barn, milked, and then lead out like clockwork.  One of the simplest (but essential) tools used in the milking process was a three-legged stool. 

Integrated vs. À La Carte Land Services - 

When you plan a multi-phase project, do you take the integrated or à la carte approach to your land services?  No phase or stage of a project is an island unto itself.  Many stages of a project build on the deliverables created and provided in earlier stages.  Each is mutually supporting as they are elements of a larger and more complex goal – the successful completion of the project.  So why not allow a single land company to manage each of those stages?

How often do you find your project stalling while you search for just the right surface site location?  Are you wasting time and money endlessly pursuing the perfect location without having the right tools to find it?

The "do loop". 

Got an Itch? 

The same is true in the workplace. A customer may ask you to accomplish something that appears impossible, or your boss may task you with discerning the seemingly unknown.  You need to find the right tools to reach that hard-to-scratch spot.