Underground Construction - April 2019 - 20
Ken Beck | Contributing Writer
Forging Ahead the Cleary Way
Family Construction Company Overcomes Obstacles by Going Above and Beyond
Eleven years ago, wedged between a rock and a
hard place, Cleary Construction faced a bucket
load of challenging decisions.
Ronnie H. Cleary, who founded the family
business in 1985 in Tompkinsville, Ky., with
nothing more than an idea, a dump truck and
a front-end loader, died suddenly. The same
day of his passing, a tornado roared through
Monroe County and tore the roof off the
company office building, leaving everything
inside to be drenched by heavy rains.
Cleary's wife, Shirley, and son, Darren, had
to make some difficult decisions.
"Two thousand and eight was a terrible time
for contractors of any kind. It was a tough
economy. We had to figure out what we were
going to do. We all pulled together and got
stronger because we knew that we had to," said
20
APRIL 2019 | UConOnline.com
Darren, who, surveying the big picture a decade later, can see they made the right moves.
Today, the business continues to grow in
the able hands of three generations of Clearys
with Darren as president and CEO; Shirley,
secretary-treasurer and CFO; and Darren's
sons, Wesley, as vice president and chief
operating officer, and Joe, as vice president
and chief administrative officer.
Numbers tell the story
In 2008, Cleary Construction ran two crews
and employed 23. Today, the company operates 12 crews and employs 140.
A family of faith, the Cleary's know their
success did not happen overnight, but came by
hard work, savvy decisions, a dedicated staff
and by the grace of God.
The business began small, doing paving,
chip sealing and dozer and end loader work.
Darren joined his dad as an equipment operator and superintendent, and soon had crews
installing septic tanks and small-diameter
water lines, excavating residential foundations
and performing local soil conservation jobs.
Since then, they have expanded to performing
work covering the entire spectrum of municipal and commercial construction throughout
the Southeast and Great Lakes region.
"At our core, we're a utility contractor, but
we are unique in the sense we cover such a
large footprint and focus in large-diameter
pipe, tough projects in tough environments
that challenge even the most seasoned
contractors," said Darren. "We've recently
expanded into larger site grading projects
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Underground Construction - April 2019
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Underground Construction - April 2019
Contents
Underground Construction - April 2019 - FC
Underground Construction - April 2019 - IFC
Underground Construction - April 2019 - Contents
Underground Construction - April 2019 - 4
Underground Construction - April 2019 - 5
Underground Construction - April 2019 - 6
Underground Construction - April 2019 - 7
Underground Construction - April 2019 - 8
Underground Construction - April 2019 - 9
Underground Construction - April 2019 - 10
Underground Construction - April 2019 - 11
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Underground Construction - April 2019 - IBC
Underground Construction - April 2019 - BC
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