Customer Feature: Neiswonger Construction & Mining, Inc.
Neiswonger Construction Customer Feature
How does a company go from one employee and a single track loader to five quarries, 100 employees and an entire fleet of Cat® machinery? With a few risks, talent, a whole lot of hard work and the collaboration of Cleveland Brothers, that is exactly what Neiswonger Construction & Mining Inc. (Neiswonger Construction) has accomplished.
Opened in 1978 by David Neiswonger, this family-owned and operated business has taken on new heights over the past 40 years. Neiswonger’s children, Vincent, Giorgio and Marissa, currently operate the business and all play a vital role in the company’s success today. As Marissa works in Human Resources and Giorgio as the Superintendent, the oldest of the children Vincent (Vinnie) Neiswonger works as the President. While Vinnie took over the family business officially a few years ago, he started acting as President over 20 years ago in 2000 as a high school student. Working in the family business for as long as he can remember, Neiswonger is no stranger to the demolition, site preparation, heavy construction and mining businesses.
With the company’s mission to provide individualized service and exceptional quality at an affordable cost, Neiswonger works alongside his siblings and employees on each and every project. As site development remains the heart of the company, business for Neiswonger Construction surged 20 years ago when they began supplying in excess of 250,000 tons of coal per year to local power plants in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Neiswonger Construction worked heavily in the mining industry for over a decade and continued to grow and acquire new quarries. As demands began to change, Neiswonger Construction acquired its first limestone quarry in 2012, the Maggie Lynn quarry. Totaling in five quarries, Neiswonger now has quarries located in Garrett, Pa. (The Garrett Limestone Quarry), Emlenton, Pa. (The Mascharka Quarry), two in Clarksville, Pa. (The Maggie Lynn Limestone Quarry and Sandy Plains Sandstone Quarry) and Saltsburg, Pa. (Ridge Limestone Quarry). By adding limestone services to their portfolio, Neiswonger Construction only continued to flourish.
Cleveland Brothers Helps Customers Adapt to Change
As a young president to the company, Vinnie Neiswonger had many opportunities to capitalize his partnership with Cleveland Brothers from a young age. Not only has he worked side by side with Cleveland Brothers for over 20 years, but he also purchased several used D9Ts and D10Ts at the age of 19. Neiswonger even bought his first brand new D11T in 2008 at only 23 years old. As a young leader, Neiswonger and his family also knew in order to thrive as an establishment, they needed to remain fluid and adapt to their customers’ needs and demands.
As they transitioned from the coal industry to aggregate work, their equipment needs began to transition as well. So when the company needed to exchange its mining equipment for something more versatile, Cleveland Brothers worked with them to find a solution. With large T-model dozers just a few years old, Neiswonger Construction traded them in for wheel loaders. Neiswonger stated, “You guys [Cleveland Brothers] have always done us right. If I buy a Cat machine and it doesn’t fit my business model anymore, you had the flexibility to help get us into something that fits ours needs.”
With a partnership of more than 20 years, however, flexibility goes beyond trading in equipment. Flexibility is having the parts when you need them at locations close to your jobsite, or providing the ability to rent-to-own your equipment so you can make the most of your earnings. Neiswonger Construction chooses to continue to work with Cleveland Brothers day after day because of the flexibility, accessibility and plentiful solutions offered.
Cleveland Brothers Offers Complete Construction, Rental and Preventive Maintenance Solutions
In addition to regularly purchasing new and used equipment and parts, Neiswonger Construction maximizes Cleveland Brothers by utilizing nearly every solution offered. Whether they are receiving an extensive engine rebuild, full machine rebuild or complimenting their Cat equipment with Trimble® technology through a Cleveland Brothers partner known as SITECH Allegheny®, Cleveland Brothers plays a role in completing every job Neiswonger encounters.
Personally, Vincent Neiswonger strongly advocates the Cleveland Brothers TLC agreements and Scheduled Oil Sampling (S∙O∙S) services. Neiswonger stated, “We have a lot of current rebuild programs on our dozers and high lifts. We use TLC [agreements] on our bigger Cat machines and we highly praise that program. It makes our machines last longer. It might be an additional cost, but when that final drive goes out and it’s covered under the warranty program, it pays for itself.”
By regularly monitoring each machine’s fuel usage and reviewing oil samples frequently, the preventive maintenance services Cleveland Brothers offers ensure machine longevity and help to avoid a costly failure. As a dealer that processes up to 90,000 individual samples per year with trained lab technicians that check for iron, lead, chrome, glycol (anti-freeze), silicates (dirt)and more, the Cleveland Brothers team can detect a failure before it happens. Knowing that a machine needs serviced also allows for better scheduling and decreased machine downtime. The Cleveland Brothers oil sampling is so efficient and effective that Neiswonger routinely samples oil from every machine he owns.
In addition to taking advantage of the S∙O∙S services, TLC agreements, parts, equipment and service, Neiswonger also works frequently with the rental team. He noted, “We love your Cranberry [One Call Rentals] Rental location. From hammers to skid steers, we rent it all. It’s so convenient. Our guys pull off one exit and grab what they need.” With the ability to get thousands of parts the same or next day, quick rental options and reliable service, Neiswonger and his team rely heavily on Cleveland Brothers.
Bigger Support = Bigger Jobs
With a partnership this strong, Neiswonger Construction can take on bigger jobs, including their biggest job to date in Pittsburgh, Pa. Officially obtained in Dec. 2019, the company is moving 750,000 yards of dirt at the Pittsburgh airport to support a new 300,000 sq. ft. warehouse. While involved in land clearing and earth moving, Neiswonger Construction is also supplying all the limestone for this jobsite, which is used for all the site utilities road base, concrete and blacktop. This job will continue for another six months and is expected to reach completion in the summer of 2021.
This massive sitework job requires a lot of Neiswonger Construction’s Cat equipment to get the job done on time and on budget. Neiswonger Construction owns and operates about 50 pieces of Cat machinery, including D11T dozers, 349 excavators and even 773 articulated trucks. While the company chooses Cat equipment for its durability and dependability, Neiswonger also acknowledges an intangible benefit that goes beyond earthmoving. “When you pull onto a job and see all Cat equipment, you know the company is professional. Customers know you aren’t messing around. It builds credibility and your customers know they can trust you and they are in good hands.”
When you can have top-performing equipment accompanied with parts availability, expert service and a reliable partner, your business can skyrocket exponentially and take on projects bigger than ever imagined. That’s why Neiswonger Construction and Cleveland Brothers are proud partners of more than 20 years and look forward to decades more collaboration in the future.
For more information on complete services offered by Cleveland Brothers, call to speak with a representative today.