Photo courtesy of RMS
A DeCook Excavating crew places a trench box with a Komatsu PC210LCi-11 excavator on a street reconstruction project in Byron, Minn.
Chris DeCook started DeCook Excavating Inc. in Byron, Minn., in 2004. He knew hard work and quality customer service would lead to success, but he never imagined his business would eventually include five separate companies and more than 170 employees.
"It started with two employees in 2004 — myself and my nephew, Levi Henson — and we focused on residential projects like digging basements," recalled DeCook. "I figured we'd always stay a smaller company with around 10 employees. We just kept getting more work and hiring great people. It's led to 19 straight years of growth."
Meeting customers' needs fueled that early and consistent growth for DeCook. The latest wave of expansion has been a result of acquisitions. The first started with DeCook Landscaping in 2010. Adam Prigge has been instrumental in growing the business from two employees to over 20. DeCook also recently added a retail garden center — The Plant Shack — to the landscaping facility.
Then, DeCook acquired Bob Braaten Construction Inc. in 2017 as Braaten approached retirement.
"That move really increased our capabilities and laid the groundwork for the last several years," said DeCook. "It gave us the manpower and experience to move into commercial site development and municipal work because that's what those crews were used to doing. It was a great fit with what we already had in the residential sector."
It also eventually led to DeCook getting into the aggregate industry with Olmsted Aggregate Inc. Today, Olmsted Aggregate creates a variety of products from its four locations — a rock quarry and sand pit in Byron, and two sand pits in Oronoco, Minn.
The next piece added to DeCook's portfolio was DeCook Drainage Inc., which happened when the owner of L&E Farm Drainage retired in 2019.
"We knew the owner, Larry, and he did some field tiling for my brother's farms," said DeCook. "When we started, we had five employees, and now it's grown to 15, and we added a second plow."
The latest addition to DeCook Companies is DeCook Contracting Inc., which is the union arm of the excavating division.
"We opened this shop to accommodate the union general contractors in the Rochester area," said DeCook. "Currently, we have 20 employees in that company."
DeCook credits the growth of the company to his employees, including Henson, who is now General Manager; the estimating team of John Allen, Corey Stephens and Brent Vatland; Project Managers Jody Beck, Joe Allen, Jared Munnikheysen, Bud Kundert and Sean Kutzler; and his dedicated team of foremen, operators and laborers.
Closing Loop
The growth curve has been a rapid one. However, DeCook says that each move made sense and was a great opportunity to strengthen and diversify the overall operation of DeCook Companies.
"For the most part, each company complements the other in some way," DeCook said. "DeCook Excavating uses product from Olmsted Aggregate. Customers appreciate that we have DeCook Landscaping to come in after we perform sitework because there's less scheduling conflicts. The tiling is a little bit separate, but it still fits with what we do."
An example of the synergy is the Bigelow-Voit 8 project, a 46-unit residential subdivision in Kasson, Minn. DeCook Excavating performed the initial grading, installed underground utilities, and will dig the basements. It used material from Olmsted Aggregate to build the roads in the development, and DeCook Landscaping will perform residential landscaping at the end.
"This is a large project, and we are able to take it from a farm field to a complete development," explained DeCook. "We were the first ones on the site, and we'll be the last ones on it, too."
DeCook says that the growth has enabled the company to offer a more complete package to customers and allowed it to do larger commercial projects.
"We started on a plant expansion for McNeilus Steel Inc. in 2019 that included a private street, a city street, a large pond, parking lots, utilities, underground storm retention, and an expansion to the steel yard," said DeCook. "At the time, it was the largest job we had done. Before we expanded, I wouldn't have even bid on the job, but now with the people we have in place, we are able to perform the work with confidence."
Equipment Upgrade
DeCook's expansion is not just limited to employees and project size — it also includes the company's equipment fleet.
"Our equipment needs have changed as we've grown," said DeCook. "We not only needed more pieces to do more jobs, but we also needed larger equipment and better technology to help us improve efficiency."
To accomplish those goals, DeCook turned to Road Machinery & Supplies Co. Territory Manager Jeff Bistodeau. DeCook wasted little time in beefing up the fleet and ordered 12 machines at once — nine of which were Komatsu intelligent Machine Control (iMC) pieces that featured integrated, semi-automated GPS technology.
The order included four Komatsu iMC dozers (a D39PXi-24, a D51PXi-24, a D61PXi-24, and a D71PXi-24), five Komatsu iMC excavators (a PC210LCi-11, a PC360LCi-11, a PC390LCi-11, and two PC490LCi-11 models), a Komatsu PC170LC-11 excavator, a Komatsu PC238USLC-11 excavator, and a KPI-JCI 13-36150 conveyor.
"That was by far our largest one-time purchase," laughed DeCook. "The reason we did it all at once was because we knew we needed GPS equipment. We had a few GPS machines, and once we started using them, we realized how much time and money the technology could save us."
In order to maximize the investment in iMC technology, DeCook's crews required additional training. Technology Solutions Expert Chris Potter was instrumental in making that happen.
"We were really green," said DeCook. "The operators had been doing their jobs the same way for their whole careers, but Chris was great about explaining the technology to them and being patient. He probably came down more than he was supposed to, but he really wanted us to learn it."
The machines have proven themselves in the field.
"We can have our in-house GPS Specialist Tyler Johnson build a program for the project, boot it up, and dig to grade," said Project Manager Sean Kutzler. "You don't need to check anything. You can use a laser if you want, but the intelligent Machine Control technology is spot on."
"Having multiple pieces of intelligent Machine Control equipment has helped our efficiency," explained Project Manager Jody Beck. "We can dig to grade faster, and it improves the capabilities of all of our operators. They have surpassed my expectations on what they can do, especially in helping us come up with competitive bids."
Trusted Partner
Purchasing 12 machines at once doesn't happen on a whim. It is the result of trust built over a period of time. DeCook's relationship with RMS began in 2008, and it has only strengthened over the years.
"Jeff has been great to work with, and so has everyone at RMS," stated DeCook. "When we were small, we would get in spots where we needed something quick. They always worked with us to get us a machine, whether it was a demo, rental or RPO. Other companies weren't as flexible. RMS trusted us, and that helped us grow. It's led to a great relationship and a lot of equipment purchases, too. They were there for us when we needed them, and I haven't forgotten that."
Plus, the commitment from RMS goes beyond just sales, according to DeCook.
"Whenever someone hires us to do a job, we know we can get it done in a timely manner because of RMS," DeCook declared. "We can't afford to stop working because a machine is down. RMS does a great job of either fixing the machine quickly or getting us a replacement to keep us going. It's pretty monumental; no matter what, RMS always seems to figure something out to keep us running, and it's always been that way. Whether we had 10 guys or 100, they've been there for us."
"On the service side, whenever we need something, they are there for us," commented Beck. "Especially with the training on the iMC. Bar none, they are the best."
DeCook considers RMS a partner in his business.
"It isn't all about RMS when we're working with them; they want us to succeed," he said. "They're ahead of the competition because they understand that relationships are an investment. If we are successful, they are going to be successful, too. There is a lot of trust and respect between us because we are both looking out for each other."
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