Special Feature from CNR Magazine’s April 2024 “Multi-Gen Construction Companies” Print Edition

Bloomsdale Excavating is looking ahead at its 78^th year in operation. This excavating company, headquartered in Bloomsdale, Mo., is involved in general contracting, road and rail construction as well as residential, commercial and industrial projects.

Soon after returning from service during World War II, in 1946 Marvin Drury, the founder of Bloomsdale Excavating, started the company, naming it after the southeast Missouri town in which it is rooted. The busy, multifaceted man owned a feed store and grocery store at the time while also working in excavating, trucking and well drilling. Drury recognized that it would be better to focus all his energy on one thing to be successful, and that became his excavating business.

Marvin Drury and his business partner began by building ponds and terraces for farmers and excavating gravel from area creek beds with a dual-wheeled Ford tractor and a two-ton dump truck. In 1948, Marvin’s decision to purchase a five-ton, 6×6 Army truck named the Shield Bantum – the same model he had driven in Germany and swore he’d never set foot in again – opened the door to jobs digging residential basements, installing public water supplies and sewage collection systems. In 1950, Drury bought out his business partner for $8,000 to become the sole owner of Bloomsdale Excavating Co., Inc. 1950 also saw Marvin’s brother, Ralph, join the business helping develop the utility installation scope of work as well as other ventures along the way. Drury would parlay his skills into commercial and industrial development as well as site work and slip-form paving. Marvin’s six sons (Tom, Larry, Wayne, Chris, Paul and Patrick) eventually joined the family business, expanding the company with a substantial amount of highway work throughout the 1980s and 1990s as larger site work came in during the 2000s. The 2010s saw the second and third generations (Scott, Gina, Craig and Kyle) expanding the territory of the company becoming a recognized brand of high quality, performance and safety throughout the Midwest and southern states.

Today, Bloomsdale Excavating continues its efforts in the federal, residential, environmental, energy, mining and quarry and project development markets performing work for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and numerous private-sector clients. Bloomsdale Excavating has been third generation-run since 2012 with President Scott Drury (Marvin’s grandson) at the helm, while also adding its first fourth-generation family member, Trevor Drury (Scott’s son), to the team in 2023.

Bloomsdale Excavating believes strongly in relationship-driven, value-based contracting and setting the bar in the industry.