Mathiowetz Development Corporate, based in 1924, navigated demanding situations and enlargement to succeed in its 100-year milestone. Run via fourth-generation members of the family, the corporate continues to prioritize workers and group, aiming for good fortune in its 2nd century.
Picture courtesy of Mathiowetz Development
Closing 12 months, the Minnesota Department of the Related Common Contractors (AGC) introduced Mathiowetz Development Corporate with an award celebrating 100 years of business excellence. (L-R) are Tim Worke, government director of AGC Minnesota; Brian, Ronda and Chad Mathiowetz; and Paul Anderson and his spouse, Julie.
After 100 years of street and excavation initiatives, hiring and mentoring loads of unswerving workers and development and managing multi-million greenback development contracts, the homeowners of Mathiowetz Development Corporate are rounding the nook right into a 2nd century of development services and products and fourth era of circle of relatives possession.
Picture courtesy of Mathiowetz Development
Martin Mathiowetz
Martin Mathiowetz, a descendant of Bohemian immigrants, based the corporate in 1924.
Main the corporate nowadays is Brian Mathiowetz, leader government officer (CEO) and grandson of Martin. Brian’s son, Chad, is the president of the corporate and his daughter, Julie Anderson, is the manager vp of the corporate.
Preserving the particular name of corporate matriarch is Mary Lou Mathiowetz, the spouse of Martin’s son Richard, and Brian’s mom. Richard, together with his brother Rudy, helped their father within the day by day operations of the rising corporate.
Positioned in Leavenworth, Minn., roughly 110 mi. southwest of the St. Paul/Minneapolis metro house, the corporate’s primary purchasers come with state and federal companies; county freeway departments; agricultural grain amenities; massive business expansions; farmers; and township governments.
The checklist additionally comprises subsequent door neighbors as a result of, “No process is simply too small for the Mathiowetz Development Corporate,” in line with Brian Mathiowetz.
To have a good time the previous and glance to the longer term, the Mathiowetz circle of relatives hosted a birthday celebration at corporate headquarters on Nov. 29 to have a good time its first 100 years and provides a heartfelt due to previous and provide workers who helped the corporate develop, the group that supported them and the purchasers that gotten smaller with them.
The birthday celebration, held within the 25,000-sq.-ft. repairs development, featured meals and tune crowned off with sensible fireworks that lit up the darkish, prairie sky with a temperature soaring across the 10-degree mark.
The sprawling, 20-acre corporate headquarters in Leavenworth straddles each side of the quiet county street that runs via it and occupies many of the business house on the town.
Along with the place of business and upkeep development, there’s house to retailer the corporate’s 350 devices of heavy apparatus along house put aside to retailer 40 devices of the unique vintage apparatus Martin Mathiowetz and his workers operated.
“You recognize, we are other. Right here we’re in our fourth era and we are celebrating the century mark for a corporation that sits out within the prairie in the course of nowhere,” Brian mentioned. “We most definitely will have to had been positioned nearer to Mankato or up towards the Metro house. However right here we’re and we are creating a move of it. They all the time say location, location, location however we needed to take that out of the equation.”
It wasn’t a clean trail that introduced the corporate to this milestone. Raised on a small farm only a few miles south of the corporate’s headquarters, Martin, used to be simply 17 years outdated in 1914 when he used to be abruptly thrust into turning into the primary bread winner for the circle of relatives when his father abruptly died on the age of 39.
With only a sixth-grade schooling, Martin started plowing snow and clearing land for native farmers. From those elementary duties, Mathiowetz Development Corporate used to be born.
Picture courtesy of Mathiowetz Development
Martin Mathiowetz pieced in combination this scraper from scrap iron and Military surplus portions.
“Martin used to be a tinkerer whose herbal interest led him to invent his personal answers to issues,” in line with a e-book at the corporate’s historical past.
Martin designed and constructed a lot of the apparatus he wanted from scrap portions to increase a consumer base and transfer the corporate ahead into heavy development.
From there the corporate has grown to 150 workers, and the corporate now builds and manages multi-million greenback infrastructure enhancements all the way through the southern 3rd of Minnesota.
All of the exhausting paintings and lengthy hours paid off in different ways. In 2014, the corporate earned The Circle of relatives Trade Award and in 2024, the Affiliation of Common Contractors (AGC), Minnesota department, identified the corporate with an award for “Celebrating 100 Years of Trade Excellence.”
What a distinction 100 years could make.
Proceeding from the written circle of relatives historical past, extra circle of relatives tragedy and trade demanding situations loomed as Martin persisted to tackle further paintings.
After two years of marriage, Martin’s first spouse Ida died of an an infection a month after giving beginning to their son, Rudolph. In a while after that, he married Louisa, Ida’s more youthful sister, who were taking good care of Rudolph. Sooner or later, Martin and Louisa had 5 youngsters: Richard, Roman, Rosemary, Rita and Reinhold.
Laborious occasions hit once more when Martin and Louisa navigated their means out of chapter all the way through the Melancholy. Through this time, the corporate had already grown to ten workers.
Picture courtesy of Mathiowetz Development
the Quonset house
Over the following two decades, Martin discovered some respite from circle of relatives demanding situations. Regardless of his corporate’s expanding workload, Martin made time to construct a brand new Quonset house from self-cut lumber for his rising circle of relatives.
All the time an inventive philosopher, Martin grew to become the primary ground right into a bar to earn further source of revenue to be invested into the corporate to assist finance apparatus and provide purchases. The second one ground was the residing quarters for the circle of relatives, which in the end grew to 6 youngsters.
It used to be finished in 1937 and with Louisa tending bar, it was a middle for the small group and part of the native historical past. It nonetheless stands nowadays and serves as a garage facility for process provides.
As the corporate persisted to achieve a foothold within the development trade, the corporate hit any other setback when Martin suffered a debilitating neck harm in 1952 that limited a lot of his neck actions. Even though he nonetheless helped information the corporate, he used to be pressured to depart a lot of the day by day trade and development operations to his sons, Rudy and Richard.
Simply 3 years later, tragedy would strike once more when Rudy perished in a development apparatus rollover. Like his father, Richard, at age 20, abruptly discovered himself main the corporate by myself.
And the last decade used to be now not but over. In 1958, the one store the corporate owned burned to the bottom. The present block wall welding store used to be built to exchange it, in line with the written circle of relatives historical past.
Of the ones days, Mary Lou Mathiowetz recollects from a taped interview at the corporate’s internet website online, “We struggled the ones years. And within the intervening time, we have been elevating six children. There have been again and again all the way through the ones years that Richard would say ‘perhaps I will have to simply surrender, however what would a majority of these guys do for a role. I will’t surrender.’ We are a small the city. Part the city labored right here at the moment. So, we simply saved going.”
Picture courtesy of Mathiowetz Development
Mathiowetz Development Corporate takes on various paintings.
In line with the circle of relatives historical past, “Richard used to be passionate and pushed to prevail even in the end the difficult occasions he had skilled. As slightly of a perfectionist, he demanded or not it’s carried out proper the primary time. Whilst maximum people fell in need of that purpose, it used to be commonplace to do one thing once more even supposing it gave the impression ‘just right sufficient’ to any person, however Richard would make sure that we ‘do it proper’.”
“Do It Proper” was the corporate’s legacy and purpose along the corporate’s venture observation that states to “frequently give a boost to circle of relatives and group.”
Underneath Richard’s management, the corporate started bidding on and catching contracts on native county and state freeway initiatives.
Going into the Seventies, the most important problem used to be acting paintings for the surety firms at the development of I-90 in Minnesota after a large number of contractors walked clear of their contracts or had long past into chapter 11. The a success final touch of those initiatives boosted Richard’s self assurance within the power of the corporate and led him to start effectively bidding on and successful multi-million greenback contracts. Richard, together with his brother, Reinhold, who joined him in main the corporate, didn’t again clear of any problem.
4 out of six of Martin’s youngsters would in the end paintings for the corporate in some capability. Reinhold in the end left the corporate to release his personal development corporate in Marshall, Minn., just about 70 mi. west of Leavenworth.
Proceeding with the circle of relatives historical past, Mary Lou mentioned, “I do not know if he [Richard] knew there used to be one thing fallacious however the final 5 years sooner than he handed, he truly took Brian below his wing. Who would have ever dreamt that the corporate would develop to what it’s nowadays. It simply saved on getting larger and larger and higher.”
Picture courtesy of Mathiowetz Development
Mathiowetz Development Corporate has 40 devices of vintage apparatus saved on corporate assets.
When Richard died in 1999, Brian and Julie took over management roles. It is a circle of relatives that has development pumping via their veins and an unyielding dedication to its workers and group in keeping with their deeply rooted Christian values.
“We discovered that we had numerous the proper other folks in position. You recognize, God works in humorous techniques. He does not give us an absolute, transparent trail however should you concentrate, he’s going to put some issues in position that can paintings, and I’ve a workforce of people who helped us envision the place we needed to move. We knew we had a imaginative and prescient,” Brian mentioned.
Referring to his workers, Brian added, “they’re a circle of relatives. They begin striking out in combination. It is a group they love being a part of. I will’t inform you what number of workers on the birthday celebration informed me that they’d different jobs sooner than coming right here and not anything compares to this corporate. They sought me out of the gang to inform me this. We attempt to take that to middle and now not benefit from it. That is a part of my God given venture from my Author to ensure we deal with them proper. If they do not win, then our corporate is not going to win.”
Corporate statistics again up this philosophy or trade fashion. So far, there are 20 workers with 40 or extra years with the corporate; 30 workers with 30 or extra years; and 55 workers with 20 or extra years with the corporate.
All of the youngsters of Brian and his spouse, Ronda, had roles within the corporate through the years, however some left to pursue different careers. Brian has top hopes and self assurance that no less than considered one of Chad’s 4 youngsters will in the end sign up for the corporate and be told its operations from the ground as much as be a part of the workforce to transport the corporate ahead into its 2nd century and 5th era of circle of relatives possession.
“You’ll’t get Chad’s six-year-old out of the apparatus,” he mentioned. “He can run a backhoe and a skid loader sitting on a seat by myself. We do not need to rely our chickens sooner than they hatch however the child has it in his blood. That is essentially the most wonderful factor and he is not going any place.” CEG
