Volz

What Volz does

Volz Incorporated is a privately held professional services firm headquartered at 10849 Indian Head Industrial Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri, founded in 1969 by Bob Volz. The firm provides land planning, land surveying, civil engineering, redevelopment advisory, and consulting services to individuals, businesses, and government agencies throughout the Greater St. Louis area, including municipalities in both Missouri and Illinois. Its service portfolio spans the full land development lifecycle: from initial entitlement and zoning work, through boundary, topographic, and ALTA surveys, to civil engineering design for streets, sanitary and storm sewers, and grading, as well as owner-representative and construction consulting for projects ranging from single-home rebuilds to large subdivision developments.

The firm's technical foundation rests on state-of-the-art robotic survey instruments, top-tier GPS systems, and high-end computer software, deployed by a team of experienced engineers, planners, surveyors, and drafters with deep regional knowledge. In 1974 Volz acquired Elbring Surveying Company, gaining access to over a century of historical survey records dating to 1874 or earlier—a unique regional data asset that supports boundary and topographic survey work. The back office runs on Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, with client-facing operations supported by Stripe and Plaid for payments, DocuSign for electronic contract execution, an SMS messaging system for project and billing updates, and a member login client portal.

Volz generates revenue through project-based professional services engagements, with fees quoted per engagement based on scope of work under separate written contracts that may extend to multi-year durations. Go-to-market is consultative and sales-led, with no digital demand-generation channels; client acquisition is driven by reputation, word-of-mouth, and professional referrals within the St. Louis real estate and development community. Review fees for municipal or agency submissions are collected from clients and passed through to the reviewing authorities. Pricing is not publicly disclosed, and the firm has not raised institutional funding; ownership remains private.

Name

Volz

Legal name

Volz Incorporated

Website

https://volzinc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1969

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Volz Incorporated is a St. Louis-based professional services firm providing land planning, land surveying, civil engineering, redevelopment, and consulting services to residential developers, commercial clients, and government agencies in the Greater St. Louis area since 1969.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

St Louis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Professional Services Revenue: Volz Incorporated generates revenue by delivering fee-for-service professional engagements in land planning, land surveying, civil engineering, and consulting. Services are project-based and contracted individually. Fees for municipal or agency review are collected and passed through to reviewing agencies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Volz Incorporated is a St. Louis-based professional services firm that delivers fee-for-service land planning, land surveying, civil engineering, and consulting engagements. The firm manages the full entitlement process from initial concept through municipal permits, and provides boundary, topographic, ALTA, and strip map surveys, civil engineering design for subdivisions and commercial sites, and owner's-representative / construction consulting for projects ranging from single-home redevelopments to large subdivisions.

Product overview

Volz is a technology company that designs and manufactures high-performance servo actuators for the aerospace industry. The company's primary product offering consists of precision servo actuators used in vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft systems, particularly for fluidic propulsion applications. These actuators perform critical flight control functions including airflow metering, thruster rotation, and system protection through relief valve actuation. The company is headquartered in Germany with CEO Philipp Volz leading the organization.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Land Planning & Entitlement Comprehensive land planning and entitlement services covering the entire approval process for residential, commercial, and redevelopment projects, from initial concept through zoning, site plan, and municipal permit approvals. The service targets developers, builders, architects, and property owners in the Greater St. Louis area.
• Professional Land Surveying Professional land surveying services including boundary surveys, topographic surveys, ALTA surveys, and strip map surveys for residential, commercial, industrial, and public-sector clients in the Greater St. Louis region.
• Professional Civil Engineering Professional civil engineering design services for redevelopment, neighborhood, and commercial projects, providing creative solutions and efficient designs for streets, sanitary and storm sewers, grading, and related infrastructure to add value to client investments.
• Redevelopment Services Integrated redevelopment services combining planning, surveying, and civil engineering for clients who are redeveloping houses, residential properties, or commercial sites within the Greater St. Louis area.
• Consulting Services Construction and owner's-representative consulting services for projects of any scale, including acting as owner's representative for a single home and serving as construction consultant for large subdivision developments in the Greater St. Louis area.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• JetopteraminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVolz supplies high-performance servo actuators for Jetoptera's FTC-250 aircraft, which uses a Fluidic Propulsion System (FPS) for VTOL operation. The servos perform critical flight functions including metering airflow, rotating rear thrusters 100 degrees for VTOL-to-wing-borne transitions, shutting off forward thrusters, and actuating relief valves. CEO Philipp Volz noted the partnership was driven by fast response time, minimal EMI, reduced cabling, and digital bus control with telemetry.
• StripecoreTechnology or IntegrationStripe is used as the secure payment processor for all online payments on Volz Incorporated's website. Clients can pay review fees via credit/debit card through Stripe. Volz does not store credit card or bank information. ACH payments may also be processed.
• DocuSigncoreTechnology or IntegrationDocuSign is used for secure digital contract signatures and related notifications. Volz uses electronic signatures to verify and execute contracts with clients.
• Microsoft Office 365coreTechnology or IntegrationUsed for company email and document management.
• Google WorkspacecoreTechnology or IntegrationUsed for company email and document management.
• Municipal and Reviewing AgenciescoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMunicipal and reviewing agencies receive project submissions and approvals for land development, surveying, and engineering work. Volz passes through review fees to these agencies on behalf of clients.
• Elbring Surveying Company (acquired 1974)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcquired in 1974, this acquisition provided Volz with over a century of unique historical survey records dating back more than 100 years, enhancing the firm's surveying expertise and historical data assets.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Stantec: International engineering and design firm with active land development, surveying, and community development practices serving private developers and municipalities — overlapping with Volz's full-service offering.
• HDR Inc. Global engineering, architecture, and consulting firm with land development and infrastructure practices. Competes with Volz for civil engineering and planning work at much larger scale.
• Black & Veatch: Large engineering, procurement, and construction firm with infrastructure and civil engineering capabilities. Comparable in civil/survey-adjacent work but serves primarily large-scale infrastructure clients.
• WSP USA: Professional services consultancy with substantial land development, planning, and civil engineering practices. Competes with Volz for developer and municipal planning work across U.S. metros.
• Burns & McDonnell: Large multi-discipline engineering firm with significant land development, civil, and survey capabilities across multiple U.S. regions. Overlaps with Volz in civil engineering and surveying services but operates at much greater scale and geographic breadth.
• Tetra Tech: Engineering and consulting firm providing water, environmental, and infrastructure services including civil engineering for land development. Overlaps with Volz in civil engineering and entitlement support work.
• Kimley-Horn: National engineering, planning, and surveying consultancy with strong land development practice serving residential and commercial developers. Comparable service stack to Volz but with significantly broader geographic footprint.

Regional players

• Crawford, Murphy and Tilly: Midwest-based engineering, planning, and surveying firm serving public and private clients with land development and infrastructure capabilities. Comparable to Volz in service stack and regional focus.
• Cochran: Midwest-based civil engineering, surveying, and architecture firm serving Missouri and surrounding states. Directly comparable to Volz in service mix and regional scope, making it a regional peer for civil/survey work.
• Cole & Associates: St. Louis-area civil engineering and surveying firm with services spanning land development, transportation, and municipal infrastructure. Most direct local geographic peer to Volz.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Volz