Castle is Breaking New Ground in Omaha
Five years since planting a flag in the Cornhusker State, the local Castle team continues to expand, take on challenging projects and make its mark as a premier civil contractor.
The recent relocation of Castle’s Omaha operation to a larger office, warehouse, shop and yard reflects the company’s success in building a local business from scratch.
In just five years, Castle has evolved from a fledgling Omaha team working on a single project to a bustling business that engages with a growing list of clients across the region.
Located in southwest Omaha, Castle’s new Omaha home is based in a former forklift dealership that has been transformed into a hub for team members, equipment and other tools. The three-acre site includes a 12,770-square-foot building that includes offices, a clear-span warehouse and an expansive shop with two overhead cranes.
It’s a major step up from the cramped quarters that previously served as Castle’s Omaha headquarters. “Now we have an efficient way to set up our shop and warehouse so we can spin in and out with materials faster,” says Castle Project Director Kurt Dulle. “Because we can now maintain our own equipment, we can get it back on jobs faster, so we're more efficient.”
The new facility also enables Castle to take on larger, more complicated projects with its local clients, which include a broad array of M/E/P contractors, general contractors and owners. “We’ve differentiated ourselves as the civil contractor that can deliver challenging jobs that require a lot of pre-planning and coordination as well as quality equipment and skilled crafts professionals,” says Dulle.
Castle Omaha team members are currently overseeing a wide range of excavation, grading and site utilities assignments on jobs that include several data centers, a couple of OrthoNebraska healthcare facilities and several reconstruction projects at Offutt Air Force Base.
“We've worked ourselves into a position where we are the premier civil partner, and clients come to us because we do what we say we're going to do and we do it well,” says Castle Senior Project Manager Dustin Moyer.
Scaling Up a Business
Castle initially ventured into Omaha in 2018 to work on the Omaha VA Ambulatory Care Center, alongside construction manager McCarthy Building Companies. The positive experience convinced company leaders that the Omaha construction market was ripe for Castle’s specialized expertise. “Omaha is a growing market that needs more qualified civil contractors, so it was an ideal expansion market for us,” says Castle Senior Vice President of Operations Michael Pranger.
The addition of Moyer to the Castle team in 2019 added local boots on the ground to deliver projects and build relationships with potential clients. “When I came onboard, I worked out of a project trailer,” he recalls. “We had no future work contracted, so I spent a lot of time talking to folks to help get the word out that we were here and ready to help with any of their civil needs.”
Slowly, but surely Castle picked up a few projects and forged important relationships that started to bear fruit. “About a year later, we landed a few challenging projects that involved digging for steam lines and chilled water systems in a congested downtown area with lots of utilities,” Moyer says. The success of these projects have continued to generate ongoing opportunities to work for the mechanical contractors (The Waldinger Corporation and Grunwald Mechanical) and directly for the owner (Cordia, formerly Clearway Energy).
Castle also began to take on a series of data center projects, working for PayneCrest, an electrical contractor and long-term project partner in St. Louis, as well as general contractors that include Mortenson and Kiewit Corporation.
Pranger says local clients value Castle’s proactive and sophisticated approach to delivering its work. “There are some capable earthwork contractors in Omaha, but for the challenging utility work, we're the best partner in terms of quality, safety, execution and timeliness,” he says. “We fill an important niche in the market.”
A Bright Future
With an abundance of open farmland, strong power grid and pro-business government, Omaha is an excellent environment for future construction work. “It’s a progressive city that’s investing money and energy into downtown expansion and the infrastructure to prepare for future growth,” says Pranger.
To take advantage of upcoming project opportunities, Castle is focused on attracting qualified craft professionals to join its ranks. “We’re fortunate to be a fully employee-owned company, with competitive pay and the best benefits in the industry,” says Pranger.
As 2024 draws to a close, Castle’s Omaha office is expected to end the year with more than $10 million in revenue, more than a dozen active clients and about 30 full-time local field staff.
“We've come a long way in a short period of time,” notes Moyer. “When I first ventured out to introduce the company, nobody knew anything about us, but today we're well known and well respected.”
