A SALUTE TO AN CUSTOMER

VANDERPOOL CONSTRUCTION, INC.

  Longtime Indianola, Iowa, site-development contractor focuses on quality work and community progress
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When Toby Vanderpool was a young boy, his father Mike, owner and president of Indianola, Iowa-based Vanderpool Construction, would sometimes take him out to a prospective jobsite. They'd tour the site, go over the blueprints, determine what special equipment they might need and try to figure out how long the job would take. Then they'd work on a bid right there in the pickup truck.

Many years later, Toby graduated from college and was considering going into a totally different field, but he said, "I think those early days in the pickup truck may have influenced me even more than I realized."

After a conversation with his father, Toby returned to Vanderpool Construction and today is general manager. Mike remains president of what is now a third-generation family business, started by Cliff Vanderpool in 1955. Mike's wife Marylee is the vice president.

Part of the office team at Vanderpool Construction, Inc. includes (L-R) president Mike Vanderpool, safety officer and credit manager Mark Clark, office manager Terry Mercer, controller John Chew, residential estimator and septic tank sales representative Carolyn Sheets, accountant Scott Wicks and general manager Toby Vanderpool.
Vanderpool Office Team

"The fact is, construction work is extremely satisfying for me, just as I know it is for my dad," said Toby. "You get to see progress being made every day on the job. Then over the long term, you see it throughout your community. Knowing we have played a part in much of the progress and development that's occurred around here makes me feel good about who we are and what we do."

"You've got to be willing to put in the time in this business," added Mike. "It's hard work, but I guess we must like that. I've worked 12- or 13-hour days all my life and still do, and I've never really even thought about it. It's just what we do. I like the challenges of construction work. I like being outside on the job, making things happen. I like the people - our employees and our clients. I find construction work to be very satisfying and I take a lot of pride in what we've accomplished over the years."

Full-service site work

Vanderpool Construction has come a long way in the last half century. In the early years, Cliff worked on small sewer and water jobs with teenage son Mike helping him out. Today, the company employs almost 40 people and is a full-service site-development firm.

"We do all types of commercial and residential earthwork, sewer and water work, and municipal utility work throughout south-central Iowa," noted Toby. "On our site-development projects, we take a job from beginning to end for a client and do everything with our own crews except the asphalt paving, which we sub out. In addition to commercial properties and residential subdivisions, we do individual house lots. We also do ponds, erosion control and demolition. We have an aggregate operation and in the winter, we do snow removal."

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