versa-drill history

1962

Alden “Al” Laibe founded Laibe Supply selling building supplies as well as becoming a distributor for Sanderson Cyclone Drill Company.

1972

Al’s son Mark joined the company full-time as manager of the business.

1973

Mark and Al decided to change from building supplies to multiple lines of well drilling supplies to go along with the drilling equipment.

1975

The Sanderson Cyclone Drill Company was acquired by Ingersoll-Rand Company. The key reason for the acquisition was to obtain SCD’s new model TH-60 and its chief engineer/president Mr. Carl Back.

1976-1986

IR managed to manufacture well over 1,000 TH-60’s from which Laibe Supply Corporation sold a substantial number of and was awarded three additional states to represent IR drilling rigs.

Late 1980’s

More stringent DOT laws regulating the weight and number of axles became an issue. Mark contacted IR to design lighter, more compact rigs with the power of the large drilling rigs. IR did not think this could be achieved in a cost-competitive way, but gave Mark their blessing to build his own. Mark contacted his long-time friend Mr. Carl Back, now retired from IR, to help.

1991

Through exceptional engineering, design, and the use of state-of-the-art hydraulics and components not yet used in the drilling industry, the first Versa-Drill Model V-100 was built and began the transformation of the water well drilling industry.

1999

Laibe Supply Corporation changed its name to Laibe Corporation after experiencing significant growth and expanding its distribution of IR and manufacturing the Versa-Drill brand. A new Laibe Supply Corporation was formed to handle the well drilling and supply business.

2000

The Versa-Drill Advantage V-2000 model was created with the same vision and cutting-edge technology for drilling contractors asking for hard rock, large diameter, and deep hole capabilities. The V-2000 was in a class of its own, and only after a couple of years on the market, Atlas Copco (formerly Ingersoll-Rand), canceled Laibe Corporation’s distributorship.

Today

Senior Management at Laibe Corporation consists of Mark Laibe, Marcus Laibe (3rd generation), and Martin “Marty” Wright.

Marcus started at Laibe Corp full-time in 2010 after finishing college and became President of the business in 2016.

Marty came to Laibe Corporation in 2008 after serving as the Company’s outside CPA/accountant and advisor for ten years.

Together, Mark continues to bring his vision and experience in the drilling industry to the company while Marcus and Marty run the day-to-day operations and work closely together to keep the spirit of always striving to build better drilling rigs with the idea of lighter weight, powerful and cutting edge technology.