Testing Service Corporation

What Testing Service Corporation does

Testing Service Corporation (TSC) is a privately held, employee-owned professional services firm headquartered in Carol Stream, Illinois, that provides geotechnical engineering, construction materials testing, environmental consulting, contract drilling, and in-house soil laboratory services. Founded in 1954 as an Indiana corporation and operating in the greater Chicago area since 1956, the company serves commercial, industrial, residential, transportation, and municipal clients across Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin through six branch offices. Its technical capabilities rest on a fleet of all-terrain drill rigs, AASHTO-accredited and IDOT-certified laboratories, and a workforce of nearly 50 seasonal field technicians supported by registered Professional Engineers, geologists, and geotechnical staff engineers.

The company monetizes through fee-for-service professional engagements on a quote-based, project-by-project pricing model with multi-year contract billing cadence. Service delivery is enabled by the proprietary TSC Document System and Digital Daily Field Reports, which provide real-time project documentation, email alerts, and customizable distribution of field reports to clients and stakeholders. The customer base spans architects, engineers, developers, real estate investors, municipalities, and government agencies, with no individual customer concentration disclosed. The firm differentiates through 72 years of regional geological knowledge, regulatory credentials (AASHTO, IDOT, ASTM E329, AASHTO R18), an employee ownership model (ESOP plus individual ownership), and rapid in-house turnaround on testing and reporting.

Name

Testing Service Corporation

Legal name

Testing Service Corporation

Website

https://tsccorp.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1954

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Testing Service Corporation is an employee-owned, Illinois-based professional services firm providing geotechnical engineering, construction materials testing, environmental consulting, and contract drilling to commercial, residential, transportation, and municipal clients across the greater Chicago area and Midwest.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Carol Stream

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Professional Engineering Services: Testing Service Corporation generates revenue through fee-for-service professional engineering and testing engagements. Services are rendered on a project basis for clients including architects, engineers, developers, municipalities, and commercial/industrial property owners. Revenue is earned through geotechnical investigations, construction materials testing, environmental site assessments, and contract drilling services. The company operates as an employee-owned corporation with individual ownership and an ESOP program.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Testing Service Corporation provides professional geotechnical engineering, construction materials testing, environmental consulting, contract drilling, and in-house soil laboratory services. The firm serves construction projects from pre-construction soil borings through materials quality verification during construction, including environmental site assessments for due diligence. Operations are delivered through six Illinois offices supported by an all-terrain drill rig fleet, AASHTO-accredited labs, and a proprietary document delivery system.

Product overview

Testing Service Corporation (TSC) offers an integrated suite of geotechnical engineering, construction materials testing, and environmental consulting services primarily serving the Chicago metropolitan area and greater Midwest. The company's core offerings consist of five interconnected service divisions: Geotechnical Engineering Services (soil borings, subsurface exploration, foundation recommendations), Construction Material Engineering & Testing (concrete, asphalt, steel testing), Environmental Consulting Services (Phase 1/Phase 2 ESAs, asbestos inspection, CCDD certification), Contract Drilling Services (all-terrain drilling fleet), and an in-house Soil Laboratory Testing Services. These services are supported by proprietary technology including the TSC Document System for project document delivery and Digital Daily Field Reports for real-time construction materials testing updates. The company operates from six office locations across Illinois and serves commercial, industrial, residential, transportation, and municipal clients.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Geotechnical Engineering Services Subsurface exploration and engineering analysis including soil borings, soil stabilization, pavement cores, slope stability analysis, pile load tests, and seismic testing. Serves architects, engineers, developers, and municipalities planning construction projects across Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.
• Construction Material Engineering & Testing Field testing and observation of concrete, asphalt, steel, and soil materials during construction. Includes compressive strength testing, Proctor compaction testing, hot mix asphalt testing, welding inspection, and fireproofing inspection. AASHTO-accredited lab with ACI-certified technicians serves commercial, transportation, and institutional construction projects.
• Environmental Consulting Services Environmental risk assessment services including Phase 1 and Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessments, asbestos inspection, CCDD soil disposal certification, and underground storage tank management. Serves real estate developers, property owners, and lenders conducting due diligence on commercial property transactions.
• Contract Drilling Services Geotechnical and environmental drilling including soil sampling, rock coring, monitoring well installation, gas probe installation, piezometer/lysimeter/inclinometer installation, and soil permeability testing. Uses an all-terrain drill rig fleet capable of reaching difficult sites across the greater Chicago area.
• Soil Laboratory Testing Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 72 years of continuous operation since 1954 with thousands of companies served across tens of thousands of jobs

Named customers3 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Braun Intertec Corporation: Minneapolis-based geotechnical engineering, construction materials testing, and environmental consulting firm serving the Upper Midwest. Directly comparable to TSC in service mix, employee tenure emphasis, and AASHTO-accredited lab capabilities, though operating at a larger regional scale across MN, WI, ND, SD, and IA.
• ECS Group of Companies: Major Mid-Atlantic and Southeast-rooted engineering services firm offering geotechnical, construction materials testing, and environmental services with comparable AASHTO accreditation and lab capabilities. Operates a similar multi-office regional branch model and competes head-to-head with TSC on developer-driven commercial work.
• Engineering & Testing Services, Inc. (ETS): Midwest-based geotechnical engineering and construction materials testing firm with comparable service portfolio including soil borings, CMT, and environmental assessments. Closely matches TSC in scale, regional focus, and relationship-based sales motion to architects, engineers, and developers.
• S&ME, Inc. Employee-owned engineering and testing firm offering geotechnical, construction materials testing, and environmental services across the Southeast and Midwest. Notable for similar ESOP-driven employee retention model and multi-office regional structure that parallels TSC's operating philosophy.
• GeoTek Solutions: Smaller Midwest-focused geotechnical, environmental, and construction materials testing firm operating with a similar drill rig fleet and in-house lab approach. Directly competes with TSC on commercial real estate and municipal infrastructure projects in the greater Chicago market.
• Tolunay Group, Inc. Texas-headquartered geotechnical engineering, construction materials testing, and environmental consulting firm with comparable service lines and project-based professional services model. Operates multi-office regional structure with AASHTO-accredited labs, paralleling TSC's approach outside of TSC's Midwest geography.
• GFA International, Inc. Florida-based geotechnical engineering, construction materials testing, and environmental firm with comparable five-division service structure and project-based professional services revenue model. Direct competitor in the testing services category though operating in a different regional market.

Broad incumbents

• Terracon Consultants, Inc. One of the largest national geotechnical, environmental, construction materials, and facilities engineering firms in the US with 175+ offices. Provides overlapping service capabilities to TSC but at vastly greater scale, with national-account contracts that smaller regional firms like TSC cannot match.
• Kleinfelder Group, Inc. National engineering, architecture, and science firm offering geotechnical, construction materials testing, and environmental services. Larger and more diversified than TSC, with multi-state operating presence that pressures regional competitors on large developer accounts.
• Universal Engineering Sciences (UES): National consulting firm specializing in geotechnical engineering, construction materials testing, and environmental services with 75+ offices across the US. Has aggressively acquired regional testing firms, making it both a direct competitor and an industry consolidator that pressures independent players like TSC.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

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 Testing Service Corporation