G.L.M. began in 1977 from the vision of President Lee Gottschlich, P. Eng. (mechanical); his co-founder and cousin Durwill Dennis, and his older brother, Irv Gottschlich, P. Eng. (metallurgical), Senior Vice President. The founders have a deep rooted history in Canada from a family tree that stretches back to their grandfather's blacksmith shop in Lacombe, Alberta in the late 1800s.

The second floor atrium of the head office shows a historical display that marks the bold entrepreneurial spirit of the past.  A rich heritage of original equipment, hand-made tools from Lee’s grandfather and a large picture taken in Lacombe of the Gottschlich family blacksmith shop. The Gottschlich family grew up with strong family values, solid work ethics, and common sense business methods emphasized over the years by Lee’s grandfather and father. The equipment, the ledgers, and the photograph are more than nostalgia to everyone at G.L.M.

The pioneer values of pride, workmanship, and accountability in dealing with both customers and employees underlie the successful history of G.L.M., and will continue to be the basis on which future diversification and expansion will take place.

Quality has been a commitment since 1977, when the company was incorporated as G.L.M. Equipment Services Ltd. The original idea was to use the company as a sideline for Lee and Durwill. They planned to purchase used welding equipment, refurbish and then sell or rent them. Lee and Durwill both had an extensive background in building of storage and plant facilities, welding, and steel fabrication.

Diversification came quickly. During the initial stages, a repair service was set up to carry out various kinds of repair and small manufacturing processes to supplement the income. Very shortly after G.L.M. was formed, the company was approached to manufacture 400 BBL (barrel) storage tanks and equipment commonly used in the Alberta oil patch. This not only marked the company's entry into the storage tank industry but also coincided with the name change to G.L.M. Tanks and Equipment Ltd.

When the National Energy Program (NEP) stifled the resource industry in Western Canada, G.L.M. had only been in operation for four years. As the company was new and had just recently entered the business of manufacturing tanks, G.L.M. did not feel the pressures which other larger tank manufacturers had to cope with and business grew approximately 25 per cent per year during the NEP period.

During this period when two of the three major tank manufacturing companies got into difficulty; G.L.M. was in a position to step in and make a name for itself.

Shortly after G.L.M. began operations, the company moved from its original small site in the City of Edmonton to 2.2 ha of land in the Nisku Industrial Park constructing an 836 square meter fabrication facility and office.

Currently this same site is the Corporate Head Office and the office and fabrication facilities now occupy nearly 6.0 ha of land, with 6574 square meters of fabrication shop and offices and 1979 square meters of sandblast and paint shop area.