Pittsburgh Operations — It’s all about the People!

The People

Hard Work. Commitment. Accountability. Integrity. Sacrifice. These words are the backbone to most meaningful endeavors, but without the people to execute, they are merely that: words.

As my uncle Vic DiGeronimo Sr. has stated numerous times, this business is about people, and what sets Independence Excavating apart is the people we are lucky enough to have in our organization.

In 2009, Independence Excavating decided to make its first geographic expansion by opening an office in the Pittsburgh region. At this moment, with the benefit of hindsight, it was a great move, but few can understand the tremendous fortitude it took to make this decision in the midst of our generation’s worst economic climate. Opening a new office requires investment, both human and monetary. At a time when most companies were shrinking, we  were trying to expand. It was a bet on the future. A bet on the market in western Pennsylvania and a bet that we could assemble a great group of people — vested in the ideals and culture that made us successful in Cleveland.

At the outset, we started with a small crew and a few customers. Our first “yard and shop” was a one acre piece of property and two Conex boxes; now our average job has more laydown and storage area than that.

From such small beginnings, we were able to deliver for our customers and — along the way — enjoy measurable success. As they say, success  breeds success; we continued to have steady work, and the size and scope of the projects kept increasing. The growing team continued to deliver results. What started out as a “small crew” of predominately transplants from Cleveland and Erie has evolved into a formidable, Western Pennsylvania-based construction company.

As of the writing of this article, I’m proud to report our forces number more than 150 people, and each and every one of them are an important member of the team. Laborers, operators, surveyors, safety specialists, mechanics, shop support staff, administrative assistants, supervision, project  managers, drivers; it takes all of these people — working together, pulling in the same direction, focused on delivering results to our customers and to each other — to continue to make the Pittsburgh branch a valuable asset to our parent organization.

The Work

As our staff has expanded, so has the scope of our services. Most of the work has been high profile, dynamic and difficult, but the teamwork approach we bring to projects has made them successful. These projects range from 150 acre bulk earthwork packages to the grading and utility installation for 150 low income homes in the Hill District and Larimer neighborhoods. We have demolished old hospitals in Oakland and helped build new hospital facilities in Shadyside and Wexford. We have built new retail centers for some of the largest and most prestigious developers in the market, yet can scale down to install steam vaults on college campuses. We have demolished the ceiling in both the Squirrel Hill Tunnel and the Fort Pitt Tunnel, but are currently building new roads for PennDOT and The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. We have experience developing sites for casinos, schools, railroads, energy infrastructure and intermodal facilities in this region.

As Pittsburgh continually reinvents itself, we are providing services required to aid the developers of old industrial sites along our rivers in the Strip District, the Yough Valley, Lawrenceville, Hazelwood, Neville Island, Aliquippa and Rankin.

Independence Excavating is proud to be a part of the Pittsburgh community. Since 2009, when we established ourselves in this region, we have been fortunate enough to gain new customers, and are humbled to do repeat business for most of them.

Together, we can continue to shape the region.