NBC25s Kevin Usealman takes us to an almost century old engineering firm in Flint that helped build Genesee County. The business is now working on remaking it for the future.

What do the first subdivisions in Davison and Flushing, the Flint River Trail, and the Al Serra complex have in common?

The mark of Gould Engineering, a 94-year-old Flint firm founded by Ory Gould.

"Business started in 1916 as a civil engineering blueprint firm and title company," said Victor Lukasavitz, development manager. 

A priceless land history of the area, dating back to the 1800s, can be found in the basement.

"Everything from when the area was first settled until now," Lukasavitz said. "The indian chiefs that were given the land along the Flint River to today's person -- all in this basement? Yeah, pretty much."

A merger just last week with Grand Rapids-based Fleis and Vandenbrink has taken the Gould name after almost a century. But the commitment to the area is as strong as ever.

A trail near Grand Blanc High School is part of a shift in focus. A vision that Lukasavitz has of more than 200 miles of connected trails that could help spur an economic renaissance in Genesee County.

"Well, eventually this segment of trail will run all the way from the north county line through Clio, Mt. Morris, Geneseeville, through stepping stone falls to the existing Flint River Trail across the UM campus, across the new Kettering Trail with further extensions to Flushing," Lukasavitz said. "That will be all interconnected over the next few years."

Other planned connections include Burton and Linden, as well as water connections for canoeing and kayaking on area rivers. The inspiration -- a success story from the once run down industrial town of Xenia, Ohio.

"They have people come from all over the country just to bicycle, rollerblade, walk go to the museums and they use the trails as a connecting vehicle for all of that activity," Lukasavitz said. "They turned it into an economic mecca."

Lukasavitz gets excited as he envisions the same thing for Genesee County.

"Property values accelerate near these trails," Lukasavitz. "Coffee shops, ice cream shops, bicycle repair shops, clothing stores, a host of things come from this"

Next week, Kevin visits the mid-Michigan headquarters of a company that takes pride in having the coffee brewed just right and they ship it all over the world.