Jasper Construction Services expanding location in Newton

Steve Rhoads has been a co-owner of Jasper Construction Services Inc. since 1997, and now the business is growing by constructing a brand new building on their property in order to expand their capabilities.

In recent years, Rhoads bought out his former partner, and his son, Cliff, has stepped into the role of co-owner. Steve Rhoads said his son had worked for a large contractor before he came to work with him. He’s happy the business can now stay in the family.

“(Cliff) will carry the business on probably long after I am gone,” Steve Rhoads said.

Jasper Construction Services looks busy with heavy equipment and workers buzzing around as the company works on its expansion.

“We are building a new maintenance facility, a ‘shop’ if you wanna call it that ... That’ll allow us to better maintain and work on our dump trucks and heavy equipment,” Steve Rhoads said. “This facility will serve our business for years to come.”

While things may look different, Steve Rhoads said a lot of what they do locally is deliver rock and sand. During the expansion process, they had to move some of the bins that contained those materials, however Rhoads wants to make sure his customers know that service will still be offered.

“We are still going to be selling rock and sand,” Steve Rhoads said.

Construction equipment is heavily used between the miles driven and heavy loads stored in them. It is no secret this equipment needs ample maintenance and a big space to work on them.

“Right now we only have two mechanics because our shop is so small and our equipment fleet is getting bigger all the time and it takes maintenance,” Steve Rhoads said.

While this small but important upgrade deals with the near future, Steve Rhoads did say they always have the plan of growing the business further as time goes on.

“If we were going to add something, it would probably be some other construction service that we could provide,” Steve Rhoads said.

This building will serve many purposes not only for allowing them to work more proficiently on their equipment, but it will add opportunities for those who work there. It also adds the possibility for more jobs as well.

“I could see needing more mechanics and being able to keep more people busy in the winter where they might normally get laid off,” Steve Rhoads said.

The hope is the building will be completed in the near future. Although it may look like they are scattered, Steve Rhoads wants to make sure everyone knows it will be business as usual with a few changes such as the type of stone they have in stock due to changes with the storage bins.

“There might be times when we are little bit disrupted but we are still open and there will be a way to get in and get what you need,” Steve Rhoads said. “We appreciate all the local business that we get and want people to know that we are still going to be here.”

Contact Dustin Teays at 641-792-3121 ext. 6533 or dteays@newtondailynews.com