Chuck Ohnmacht always knew he’d start his own business. He wanted something of his own to see what he could accomplish.
Demolition was never the goal, and it wasn’t his dream, but fate and a strong work ethic have taken him through more than 25 years of highs and lows in the construction industry and made him a finalist for Equipment World’s 2025 Contractor of the Year award.
In the video above, Ohnmacht documents the history of how 4 Seasons Demolition survived the deep lows of the housing market crash.
Like many in the industry, 2007 was a turning point for Ohnmacht’s rising success. He says many of their jobs under contract were canceled, even some that were already halfway done.
“It literally happened overnight,” says Ohnmacht. “We went from booming and couldn't get the work done fast enough to shut down. People telling you to get your equipment off their site, not getting payments for all the work that you had done, then you get notices of bankruptcy. It’s pretty hard to tell all your employees that we’ve got to scale back. We don't have the work. We don't have anything.”
With nothing left, Ohnmacht decided he wasn’t going to throw in the towel. He began again, with only one employee. He bought a “piece of junk” $2,500 pickup truck and a Hyundai excavator for $12,000 that was so beat up, Ohnmacht says, if you looked at it, you “couldn’t imagine that it would even move.” In 2011, the 4 Seasons Demolition of today was officially born.
The name change from 4 Seasons Earthworks reflected a shift in Ohnmacht’s business approach. He would stick exclusively with demolition and expand his territory to all of North Carolina and South Carolina.
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