By Dick Maggiore and Mark Vandegrift

Beaver Excavating Team Innis Maggiore 01

Core Values Still Digging Up Success for Beaver Excavating

High-quality service at a fair price is as important today as when Don Sterling founded the company in 1953; Day-to-day operations to soon transition to third generation. 

In the main entrance of the beautiful brick building that houses Beaver Excavating, an orange “Workers Ahead” road sign wouldn’t be out of place.

A dedication to hard work, and a commitment to its core values, has led the company where it is today.

Beaver Excavating performs a full range of civil construction services as one of the largest, most respected mass earthmoving, site development and construction companies in the region.

Beaver works for customers in the commercial, industrial and heavy-highway industries with services ranging from site preparation and utility installation to roadway and bridge construction to cast-in-place concrete foundations and geotechnical construction. Highway construction typically makes up about 50 percent of annual sales.

Much has changed since 1953 — technology is better, customer demands are tougher and there’s more stress. But, there’s still room for safety, quality, loyalty, integrity, pride, customer focus and community service in business today.

“These core values guide us in our interaction with customers, employees and the communities in which we work,” said Mark Sterling, president and owner. “We’ve kept some customers for more than 60 years. This is a testament to sticking to these principles.”

W. Donald “Don” Sterling founded Beaver Excavating in 1953 with a small loan to purchase an excavator to dig basements and septic systems, and a dump truck.

Second-generation leadership, including Mark and Chief Operating Officer Jeff Sterling, has driven growth — $230 million in 2017 revenue, over 500 major pieces of equipment and more than 1,000 employees during peak season, working in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

A full transition to the third generation of Sterlings will occur within the next five years. That leadership includes Matt, executive vice president, and Betsy, vice president talent and corporate development (Mark’s children); Dusty, vice president field operations, and Jason, vice president equipment operations (sons of the late Greg Sterling, Mark and Jeff’s brother); and Jim, manager surveying and field technology (Jeff’s son).

What makes Beaver strong will remain.

“We’re committed to working safely and efficiently,” Mark said. “We work as a team in partnership with our customers to exceed expectations. We expect success.”

Success has come in waves.

Engineering News-Record recognizes Beaver Excavating annually. In 2017, the company ranked No. 7 nationally on the publication’s “Top 20 Excavation and Foundation Specialty Contractors” list and No. 145 nationally on its “Top 600 Specialty Contractors” list.

Beaver won first place in the 2017 Associated General Contractors of America/Willis Towers Watson Construction Safety Excellence Awards in the Federal & Heavy Division, its fifth first-place award. Beaver also has earned the Jerry Keller Memorial Safety Award for the Best Safety Record in Division I from the Ohio Contractors Association numerous times.

Beaver and two partners were awarded the first Public-Private-Partnership contract by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) to construct the Portsmouth Bypass, a $450 million project — the largest contract awarded by ODOT to date. The 16-mile, four-lane, limited-access highway includes construction of 27 bridges, three major interchanges and nearly 20 million cubic yards of earthwork.

Innovation has kept Beaver on top.

An opportunity to expand construction service offerings started Beaver Constructors, Inc., a full-service general contractor providing a broad range of building construction services. Beaver jumped into another opportunity to pursue a new market within the Marcellus and Utica shale plays.

Giving back is natural.

Beaver Excavating and its employees have contributed time, money and construction services for Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank, American Red Cross, Project REBUILD, Salvation Army, United Way, and more Stark County nonprofits.

Beaver is positioned for continued success.

“This company is in good hands,” Mark said. “Together, we have done long-range planning. The third generation and our employees have a solid foundation and are invested in the future.”

One thing is for certain; the third generation of Sterlings will work as hard as the other two to provide high-quality service at a fair price.