| Estrem is statewide Contractor of the Year |
By: Corey Butler Jr.
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Posted: Wednesday, February 3, 2010 1:21 am
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Sooner or later he had to get the award.
Last month, Don Estrem was named “Contractor of the Year” by the Minnesota Land Improvement Contractors Association.
He has been a member since the mid-1970s.
“I guess it was my time to win it,” Estrem said on the phone from his 10-week winter home in New Mexico. “It’s a nice honor.”
Estrem, 66, runs Estrem Excavating out of Dennison with his family. He started the company in 1969 after working eight years in construction.
“We recommend someone we feel that has contributed a lot to the organization over the years,” said Doug Gysbers, a member of the MNLICA board. “He’s been a dedicated member.”
Estrem’s wife, Nordis, who also serves as executive director of the group, said the board looks for members who run good businesses and gives back to the community in which they live.
Estrem has been and continued to be involved in several roles in the community, including positions with his church, planning and zoning committees and the Goodhue County Historical Society.
“He does a lot,” said Nordis Estrem.
Despite her position, she didn’t have a say in her husband’s nomination and subsequent honor.
She said members of the board informed her that they would like to nominate Estrem.
That was in October, three months before the group’s annual convention.
As is this the case each year, Nordis Estrem kept mum about who was being honored.
It was a little more difficult this year, she said, as Don Estrem kept asking who was being named “Contractor of the Year.”
“I can’t tell you,” she would say. “You’ll find out when everyone does.”
Estrem has served in several roles in MNLICA, and said it’s important to pass on what he has learned.
He has done the same in his company, which operates mostly in Goodhue and Rice counties and parts of Dakota and Dodge.
It incorporated in 1996 and he now works with his son, Dan, daughter, Dee, and son-in-law, Tim.
“We’re working on phasing ourselves out of the business,” Estrem said of he and his wife.
But not before he spends some more time working with his family, including his grandson, Brian, who started working summers with the company the last few years.
“It’s a joy, too, to be able to share your knowledge and bring the next generation into the business,” he said. “He may not get into the business but he’s exposed to it.”
All in all, working with the family has been mostly positive.
“Sometimes it’s tough,” Estrem said. “We work together pretty well. It’s a joy.”
In recent years, the company has also worked toward being more energy efficient with its jobs.
Essentially, energy is expensive, Estrem said, and that has prompted the purchase of newer machinery with better fuel-burning efficiency.
“We’re still at the mercy of the oil companies, of course,” he said. “If you spend enough money, you can save some money.”
But it’s all about building for the future. He wants to leave his legacy to his family and let them strive with the company.
He knows his efforts will do just that.
“If I tip over dead tomorrow, I left something for the next generation,” he said.
— Reporter Corey Butler Jr. may be reached at 789-6161 or 333-3148. |
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