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This is Chris Redgrave for Zions Bank Speaking on Business.
Family business is a powerful force in the United States. Studies have shown that about 35 percent of Fortune 500 companies are family owned, and they provide a significant portion of the national GDP. That makes taking care of them important.
James Whitaker started Whitaker Construction, based in Brigham City, in 1953 with only a 1952 light blue Ford F100 truck and a hand shovel....His first job? To build a water pipeline. His winning bid was only 10 cents per foot, a price that today would be 100 times as much. Without much experience, James completed the job, and his company grew from there. Whitaker Construction became one of the first companies in Utah to buy a hydraulic excavator, and the business took off.
When his dad retired in 77, Rick and his two brothers, Robert and Dennis, took over and helped the company grow exponentially. They take pride in what they built. Even now as the company president, it's fun for Rick to get involved in the projects and be proud of what projects they're working on.
Today Whitaker Construction can handle pretty much anything underground, from sewers to water stations or even an extensive tunnel job at USU. It's a big deal because it carries all communication and steam lines for the university and is actually big enough for a pickup to drive through. They're also receiving national accolades for their work, recently receiving the Utility Project of the Year award and being named Infrastructure Project of the Year.
On a more personal note, Rick is a graduate of the Owner President Management Program at Harvard. For three years in a row, Rick went to Harvard for three weeks, working from six in the morning until eight at night, six days a week. The program covers the same material as an MBA program, and Rick loved making connections with business owners from all over the world.
Rick is proud to have carried Whitaker Construction into the second generation, with the third generation already involved.
For Zions Bank, I'm Chris Redgrave, speaking on business.
Whitaker Construction 44 S. 1050 West Brigham City, UT 84302 435-723-2921 www.whitcon.com
