Operator Jay Wicker uses a Komatsu PC220LC-5 hydraulic excavator for site work at Bituminous Roadways’ South Division yard.
"Al treated me just like a son," stated Pete. "I was the surrogate son to this guy, so Kent is really representing a third generation in this business. And that's really something - I read the other day that only 15 percent of companies make it into the third generation."
Other key staff members include Chief Financial Officer Ed Otremba, Vice President Tom Haller, Corporate Secretary John Kittleson and Equipment Manager Ron Nelson. Both Haller and Nelson have been with Bituminous for more than 30 years.
Bituminous Roadways, Inc., is a member of the Associated General Contractors, the National Asphalt Paving Association and the Minnesota Asphalt Paving Association (MAPA). "Our controller belongs to the Construction Financial Management Association," noted Kent. "Our shop superintendent belongs to the Construction Equipment Managers Association, and we belong to a couple of different chambers of commerce."
Pete has been a MAPA director and is a past president of the Minnesota AGC. Kent is currently serving on the MAPA board of directors and is the chair of the bituminous committee for AGC. Both Petersons said they belong to industry organizations because of the training, networking and lobbying resources that such groups provide. "It gives you a single voice with the industry," Pete pointed out. "You don't have to do it yourself. It gives more meat to your industry by having a good, strong trade association."
800 jobs a year
Today Bituminous Roadways, Inc., employs approximately 100 people during its peak season,
Crews working on a recent Superpave project on Hwy. 13 utilized a 25-ton Ingersoll Rand PT240 Rubber-tired roller.
which runs from May 1 to November 30. The firm fields four to five paving crews, some excavating and grading crews and several maintenance crews, including several patching crews, a crack-filling crew and a seal-coat crew. During the winter, staff is cut back to 25, "which is mostly office people," said Kent. "We do snow plowing for several large accounts." Bituminous is a union contractor.
"We do everything from maintaining parking lots, which includes filling
small pot holes and cracks and seal coating up to paving interstate
highways," Kent stated. "We don't do residential driveways. We do a
wide range of job sizes and we do a lot of jobs - about 800 a year.
That's one thing that sets us apart from our competitors."
Kent explained that Bituminous Roadways' competition may do the same dollar volume in only 50 jobs a year. "Our average job size is just a lot smaller," he observed. "But we like to do a lot of jobs. A big part of our maintenance program is marketing. We feel as long as we take care of our customers, fulfilling all their asphalt needs, not just the larger jobs, then we have a shot at everything.