Founded under Laibe Corporation in 1962, Versa-Drill has been the leader in the industry for over 55 years. Today, Versa-Drill remains a family-run business driven by the same values from the beginning.
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 made the decision 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. Carl Back who was 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 a 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 market, Atlas Copco (formerly Ingersoll-Rand), cancelled 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.
