Business Built on Family Grows with Compact Equipment

It all started in 2002 when Randy registered the business for a mere $6, which he still laughs about today, saying, “It was the best six bucks I ever spent.” 

Quite the return on investment considering the family’s current footprint in the community of Des Moines, Iowa. From day one, Randy Whitfield instilled a family-first mindset in every area of his business. In fact, the first company vehicle also served as the family minivan. And, one of its first “employees” was his 12-year-old son, Catum Whitfield, who, now out of college, runs operations.  

As the business has grown tenfold in the last 20 years, the focus on family is still impressed upon all employees, even those who don't share the Whitfield name. "We're a family-first operation. Whatever our employees are going through, we encourage them to share it with us, so we can celebrate their wins and support the hardships," Catum states. "Ultimately, we want to be there for our employees any way we can." 

But families can have respectful differences. Randy, a self-proclaimed “wheelbarrow-and-shovel kind of guy,” and son Catum view the modern jobsite a bit differently. Catum uses his degree in agricultural engineering from Iowa State University and a trusted fleet of Bobcat® machines to find optimal efficiency between the company’s commercial and residential projects.   

“Adaptability and technology are huge to me,” Catum says. “We do a lot of things online, such as Google Ads, and a lot of our communication is via the internet — things like that. So, continuing technology and trying to better ourselves every day is a goal.”