In college, Kevin Kelly found he had a real skill and passion for working in the construction and concrete industries. He pursued his dream by establishing Kelly Construction in 1979 in Davenport, Iowa. To succeed as a concrete service provider, Kelly knew he needed to surround himself with hardworking, skilled employees and empower them with the best equipment to get the job done.
Not only did Kelly find his crew, but he also built up a culture that kept his employees around. In fact, the average employment of his crewmembers is over a decade. With one of the most professional and highly qualified teams in the Quad Cities region, customers have come to rely on and trust the Kelly name.
Today, Kelly Construction serves the residential, commercial and municipal sectors. They provide services ranging from installing and providing concrete for footings, sidewalks, curbs, ramps, garage floors, and parking lots to basement waterproofing. They also restore and maintain existing surfaces.
“In addition to overall experience, what really sets us apart is our design work because the end result is only as strong as the planning phase — we are very thorough,” says Jared Zoeckler, head equipment operator at Kelly Construction. “Just as critical as our design phase is investing in the best equipment. It really makes a big difference out on the job and helps further our wide portfolio.”
Zoeckler has nine years under his belt at Kelly Construction, which traditionally uses Takeuchi for its equipment needs. Currently in its lineup, the contractor features a TL8 track loader, a TB260 excavator and three TB145 hydraulic excavators.
The TB260, which Zoeckler uses daily, is one of the largest excavators in the Takeuchi lineup with a reach of 20 feet 7 inches and a dig depth of 12 feet 9.4 inches. It boasts exceptional power and performance with an impressive feature set.
“I have been operating Takeuchi equipment for a long time and I really love the TB260,” says Zoeckler. “My favorite part about the excavator is the spacious cab. It is like a video game in there — sometimes I crank up the music and get lost in the project, working right through my scheduled breaks.”
Zoeckler admits it was not all music and video games during one of his recent projects. He was working on digging a new driveway for an apartment complex that came with its challenges. The apartment complex sat up on top of a steep hill, and while working uphill the whole dig, the biggest task proved to be avoiding gas and cable lines scattered all around. Using the TB260, Zoeckler successfully dug up 30 truckloads of dirt.
“This project required a lot of patience and care with the sheer amount of gas and cable lines that we were very careful not to disturb — it was a big test and something only an experienced operator could handle,” says Zoeckler. “Despite the obstacles, the TB260 did an amazing job. The power and size was perfect for the job and I was able to finish a full day early.”
They say employees are the biggest assets of a company and Kelly Construction fully embraces that. In an industry where experience means everything, this contractor has no shortage of it. For nearly 40 years, Kelly Construction has built up a loyal customer base. And it plans to continue to lend an experienced hand throughout the Quad Cities area for years to come.