The A List - Concrete Contractors

Oostburg adjusts to the market

Oostburg Concrete Products has a strong family tradition.

Three generations of Veldboom men have worked for the company, which is the top firm on the concrete contractors A List this month. Gordon Veldboom Sr. founded the company, Gordy Veldboom Jr. is Oostburg’s president, and John Veldboom runs the company’s poured-wall division.

The elder Veldboom started the company with several partners in the mid-1940s. Then, they focused on drain tile, brick and concrete block foundations. For decades, those were the company’s mainstays.

Things started to change in the 1970s after Gordy joined the company following his father’s stroke. By 1979, Oostburg had expanded into poured concrete walls, which is when the firm “really blossomed,” Gordy said.

Over time, the company changed from a 90 percent focus on concrete block foundations to a 90 percent focus on poured concrete. Gordy said the company puts in about 1,000 foundations a year, accounting for millions of dollars in annual sales.

While Oostburg’s method has changed, its primary market is still residential construction, Gordy said, though it has branched out into commercial work. The company has put in the foundations for Taco Bell and McDonald’s restaurants as well as multiunit buildings.

Oostburg’s market area also has expanded, Gordy said, and the company now does a lot of work in the Milwaukee area.

“I like the challenge of the construction business in general,” he said. “[In residential concrete work], I kind of think we’re the best and probably the biggest, and we’re quite proud of that.”

While challenge is good, Gordy said, it’s not always easy.

“It was a very tough decision in 1980, when there was kind of a depression or big slow-down, whether to continue in business or not,” he said.

Veldboom said Oostburg is facing a similar situation now, but he expects the company to continue to grow.

“Right now we’re in a slow-down,” he said. “There’s quite a challenge in the construction industry, especially in the residential market.

“The challenge is now to get back to where we were as far as sales and jobs.”

— Janine Anderson