Fifty Years, As Del Beyer Remembers It

Del Beyer is an innovator, as well as an entrepreneur. In just a few decades his fertile imagination opened up so many opportunities, it's a wonder he stayed in the construction business. 

While juggling his duties at D.G. Beyer, Inc., Del recognized a need and started Milwaukee's first construction waste hauling company. He mechanized material handling by customizing forklifts to operate on construction sites. And between laying bricks and pouring concrete, he found time to exercise his new ideas and to continue collecting and restoring antique automobiles.

Del Beyer

"I've always looked for an easier way to do things," Del said. "I saw contractors riding around in their nice, new cars and trucks, checking on their jobs and I thought to myself, 'That looks better than the job I have.'" So, in 1951, Del started his own business, where he became the general contractor.

Starting Out Was Tough

"One of my first jobs was putting in a basement. I had no employees at the time. The contractor dug the hole and then it rained. My wife Margaret and I tramped through mud up to our ankles, she at one end of the tape and me on the other, taking the dimensions. We built basements and fireplaces, did masonry work, anything we could get to establish a reputation. Our first big job was building the Calvary Memorial Church at Congress Street and Highway 100 in Wauwatosa. That was 1954."

With the addition of contracts to build public schools and buildings for firms like Miller Brewery, Badger Paint and Master Lock, Beyer gained a reputation as a quality contractor. "We bought our first crane for the Badger Paint building. At one time we had 10 cranes that we rented to other contractors," Del explained.

"We did the masonry on Thomas Edison High School, where we had over 50 masons working. During recessions like the late '70s, when no one was doing new building, we took remodeling projects, often working nights from 5p.m. to 7a.m., when the office people weren't around." Beyer Innovations Benefit the Industry

Typical of Del's innovative nature were his efforts to get suppliers to palletize his orders. He pioneered the development and use of rubber-tired lift trucks for moving palletized materials on job sites. Failing to impress forklift manufacturers with the construction industry's need for a lift that could run on soft, muddy and rough terrain, Del resorted to customizing existing equipment, even fabricating a forklift of his own design. 

"Contractors came from all over the country to see how we were mechanizing material handling," Del said. Palletizing bricks and block reduced breakage and handling. After years of development, Del sold his forklift concept to Koehring Co. Today, SkyTrak International in Port Washington, Wisconsin, manufactures the product.

To cut the costs of construction clean-up, Del started the first industrial waste pickup company in Milwaukee; and that's what he called it, Industrial Waste. They fabricated their own steel tote boxes, and the business flourished. Today, steel tote boxes for industrial waste are common on construction sites. In 1957 it was a new concept. 

Del retired about 10 years ago; and George Beyer took over his father's business. George had worked with the company in project management for about 10 years prior to his father's retirement. Today, Beyer Construction, has about 80 employees, who account for annual volume between $30 and $40 million.

Throughout his 50 years since starting Beyer Construction, Del has always had an interest in anything mechanical. He's continued collecting and restoring cars, the older the better. Few people remember the Kissel with its factory in Hartford, Wisconsin, or the l909 Interstate, an automobile built in Indiana. Del has those, but he also owns seven older Lincolns. If he had a showroom, would he open his own antique car museum? When asked, Del replied, "No, antique car museums don't pay." It's obvious that he had already considered the proposition; but then, Del Beyer is businessman, as well as an innovator.

- Adapted from an article by John Campbell