Equipment World has named its 2018 Contractor of the Year finalists, ushering in the 18th year of the program.
Each year, the editors of Equipment World vet Contractor of the Year applications from across the country, examining each contractor’s references, business acumen, equipment management practices, attention to safety and community involvement.
The program, which recognizes contractors who have annual revenues of between $3 million and $15 million, has been sponsored by Caterpillar since its inception in 2000.
Each finalist will be honored during the Contractor of the Year event, to be held March 2-5 in Las Vegas, and one finalist will be named our 2018 winner.
Here are our 2018 finalists, along with a few of the comments our editors received during the review process:
Matt Bachtel, Bachtel Excavating, Massillon, Ohio
“They always stand out on the job, be it in keeping the roads clean or lending a hand to someone else.”
Stewart Petrovits and Dana Wiehe, Blacktop Maintenance, Poughkeepsie, New York
“Their equipment maintenance is one of the best I’ve seen in 35 to 40 years of construction supervision.”
Jon Claycomb, Claycomb Excavating, New Enterprise, Pennsylvania
“He always has ideas and solutions and he’s always looking out for me and the organization. I can only sing his praises.”
Clem Cooke, Fritz-Rumer-Cooke, Columbus, Ohio
“They know the importance of what we do, and if I need a crew that day, they find a crew and a way to get up here and take care of business.”
Kurt J. Unnerstall, K. J. Unnerstall Construction, Washington, Missouri
“Kurt is a true believer that if you surround yourself with good people, your job will be easy. If there’s ever a question, it’s always solved.”
Bryan Kissner, Kissner General Contractor, Cedaredge, Colorado
“They value their relationships and their partner approach to projects is a key factor in our desire to do business with them.”
Stephen Bielecki, R & S General Contractors, Bristol, Pennsylvania
“I can’t imagine someone being a rival to his level of commitment to excellence.”
Brett Reshetar, Reshetar Systems, Anoka, Minnesota
“Brett has spent the time to build up a team and a business in the correct way, which makes the company easy to do business with.”
Don and Rae Peters, Solid Earth Civil Constructors, Pueblo, Colorado
“Other contractors could learn from them how to communicate and deal with people, from the office to the jobsite.”
Dan Steffey, Steffey Excavating, Peoria, Arizona
“Dan looks at each of his employees as individuals, as someone he’s responsible for helping them feed their own family, and there’s not many people who have that kind of sentiment in this business.”
Tommy Turner, Turner Reed, Liberty Hill, Texas
“Having a strong moral and ethical compass is what I would say sets Tommy Turner apart from his competition.”
Victor Serrambana Jr., VMS Construction, Vernon, Connecticut
“They are beyond reproach. He’s the kind of contractor that you don’t have to spend a lot of resources in inspection time, because he’ll do it right.”
