Moving Dirt With a Higher Purpose

Witech News

By: Witech Excavating

Finding Our Calling in Earthworks

Witech Excavating is a simple bunch.  We take immense pride in what we do as a mass excavation contractor building all sorts of essential projects around Illinois and Northwest Indiana.  Even so, thanks to our higher purpose, we don’t leave room for arrogance to creep in.  As Christians, the owners of Witech believe we do everything for the glory of God.  Thus we strive to be honest, hardworking, and respectful. We don’t always get it right, but that’s our goal.

As the Witvoet story goes, Boyd Witvoet bought two trucks and started a small trucking company.  The year was 1942.  A few years later, joined by his brother Gerrit, the brothers added heavy machinery, and later, a sandpit, to their operation.  

The Witvoet business grew.  By 1993, the second generation of Witvoet brothers divided the business into two separate entities. Tom Witvoet kept working with his dad, Boyd Jr., learning everything he could about operations, estimating, and leadership.  It wasn’t long until he found himself dreaming of starting out on his own. 

Witech is Born

Fast forward to 2001, when Witech began. At first, Witech was an idea tossed around during Darren Prince, Tom Witvoet, and Jeff Krygsheld’s spare time.  They liked helping people and thought starting a business that could support people’s families could fulfill their desire to help people even further.

Since Tom grew up in the family trucking and excavating business, Jeff owned a Trucking business, and Darren drove for the family business, they thought their best bet was excavating.  With that, Witech was formed, with their first office in Tom Witvoet’s basement and a shop in Jeff Krygsheld’s barn.

Instead of focusing solely on growing dollars, they prioritized taking care of those they did business with and the people who worked for them. The projects were smaller residential dirt jobs to begin with, but Witech started to grow into a more capable earthwork contractor after a few years of steady progress.

In 2007, Tom and the Witech team saw an opportunity in the oil and gas industry in and around Illinois. Doubling down, Witech grew immensely, developing land in the oil industry while avoiding the economic collapse of the residential market. God’s providence was evident during these times and established a foundation for who we are today. While everyone at Witech sees every new opportunity as good fortune, this business also demands arduous work. We must work the land we’re given if we’re to expect any reward.

Focus on Earthwork

Moving into 2015, the oil market ground to a halt. We took a hard look in the mirror and decided to refocus and diversify our business into commercial, mining, large-scale residential, and other markets. With our original leadership’s support, new minds like Witech’s VP Nick Frederick, Operations Manager Joe Slivka and our hard-working, dedicated team, we were ready to compete for the biggest earthwork Chicagoland projects

Thanks to all the hard lessons learned, planning, and years of prior experience, 2020’s been Witech’s best year yet. We’ve moved millions of yards of material for some of the largest commercial projects in Illinois. There’s nothing quite like watching tens of thousands of yards move in a single shift.

Even despite recent growth, we still focus on doing our best while caring for our customers. The projects and quantities may look a lot different than they did back in 2001, but fundamentally, nothing’s changed. We love our people, take pride in our work, and always keep in mind that we’re mere stewards of what we’re given. Want to join us? Sign up for the newsletter to keep up with the latest from Witech Excavating!

Witech, faithfully moving earth, one cubic yard at a time.