History of Anvil

Anvil Celebrates over 50 Years of Success

Since our start in 1971, Anvil has come a long way in our employee growth, expansion into new industries, and opening of offices across 6 states. Join us in celebrating by exploring our company history, major milestones, fun facts, and employee interviews.

Our Beginnings

Larry Levorsen founded Anvil Corporation on February 2, 1971 to provide engineering services to Pacific Northwest refineries. Larry traveled extensively throughout his career, including to Washington State. In the 1950’s he helped build what is now the Phillips 66 Refinery in Ferndale and the Marathon Refinery in Anacortes. He fell in love with the Pacific Northwest and was ready to settle down and start his own company.

Anvil Founder Larry Levorsen

Anvil Founder Larry Levorsen

Ron Vekved was Anvil’s first employee. Larry and Ron had worked together on projects in Alberta. Ron had family in the Whatcom County area, so Larry hired him to help establish a local engineering company. They opened a small office in Ferndale, WA. Initially, their goal was to provide small project, maintenance engineering for local clients. Since both were Civil Engineers they focused on “seeing stuff get built.” They hired a few employees, including a mechanical engineer and a designer and added more people to the team as work allowed. In 1972 they started offering Non-Destructive Examination (NDE) services to clients.

In 1974, Larry Levorsen and W.M. Snelson established Snelson-Anvil, Inc. to serve companies who were developing Alaska’s Cook Inlet and North Slope regions.  Snelson-Anvil provided multi-functional professional and skilled-craft services. Many of Anvil’s engineers and designers worked on projects that built and loaded large modules onto seagoing barges. The Snelson-Anvil marine yard in Anacortes, WA was the largest private yard for major construction projects. It became a leading marine yard for fabrication and assembly of process plant modules for the oil & gas industry.

Larry believed that “Our work, not our words, speak for us.​​​​​​​ If you do good work you’ll be rewarded with more work.” Thanks to his knowledge and extensive industry relationships, the Anvil team grew and in 1977 moved to its current headquarters in Bellingham, WA. We’ve continued to build and establish our reputation for providing client-focused, multi-discipline engineering and procurement services. We currently have over 400 employees and 6 branch offices and serve clients throughout the United States and Canada.

Anvil's History Timeline

1971

Anvil Corporation is founded by Larry K. Levorsen in Ferndale, WA. Larry founded Anvil after 20 years of engineering and construction experience with refining and petrochemical projects in the United States, South America, and Canada. Larry selected northwest Washington State for Anvil’s headquarters because its location had easy access to several area refineries.

1974

Larry Levorsen and W.M. Snelson established Snelson-Anvil, Inc. to serve companies engaged in developing Alaska’s Cook Inlet and North Slope regions. The Snelson-Anvil Yard produced and shipped 230 modules, totaling 83,000 tons, primarily for Alaska clients.

1986

Alaska Anvil Incorporated is formed with a one-man office in Anchorage, AK. Alaska Anvil was a wholly owned subsidiary of Anvil created to better serve the needs of Anvil’s Alaskan clientele.

1996

Anvil became an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) company. As Larry Levorsen was approaching retirement, he decided to sell the company to its employees and have them own the stock. He believed that long-term employees deserved a good retirement plan.

1998

Anvil opens a new branch office in Billings, MT. Anvil crews also engineered a major Gas Turbine Power Generation project on the Alaska North Slope. This was the first Frame 6 installed at grade on the North Slope, which eliminated a heavy steel-based substructure and significantly reduced costs.

2001

Anvil opens a new branch in Concord, CA to support northern California refinery clients.

2010

Anvil becomes a 100% ESOP Company

2013

Anvil and Doyon Limited establishes the ­Doyon Anvil Joint Venture (JV) headquartered in Anchorage, AK. Anvil Corporation and Doyon, Limited announced Anvil’s acquisition of the Doyon Limited interest in the Doyon Anvil joint venture January 2nd, 2024.

2016

Anvil opens a branch in Denver, CO

2020

Anvil reached 8MM hours without a lost time injury. This milestone took over 9 years to reach and was a huge accomplishment.

2023

Anvil opens a new office in Salt Lake City, UT

2023

Anvil reaches 10 million hours without a lost time injury and establishes the Anvil Safety Award to help recognize projects and individuals who take the Anvil safety promise to heart.