Joe (left) and John Riley pictured in front of Riley Bros. Construction with four new scrapers purchased in 2005
Courtesy of Morris Sun & Tribune "Business Spotlight"

When Joe and John Riley started their construction business in the spring of 1974, they bought a 1948-model loader to do some small jobs on weekends and evenings.

A few months later, the brothers purchased a dozer and added some jobs for local farmers. Since they didn't own hauling equipment, they would crawl the dozer along the road from one job to the next.

Joe Riley began working the business full-time, but because the work wasn't bringing in a lot of money, John kept his job working for a Morris construction company.

The brothers would split John's paycheck and whatever else their business brought in to make ends meet. When they were able to buy a scraper, John quit his construction job.

"We were not into contracting then," Joe Riley said. "We did not have enough equipment, we had no employees and we couldn't get a bond. We did private work, a lot of site work."

"He ran the dozer," John said, "and I ran the scraper."

Today, Riley Bros. Companies--which includes Riley Bros. Construction, Inc. and Riley Bros. Properties, LLC--is a multi-million dollar operation employing 150 people in three states.

Just 30 years after beginning with little more than ambition and the dirt under their nails, the Riley brothers' goal is to NOT grow any further.

"We want to maintain what we have and keep doing a good job with that," Joe Riley said.

From their humble beginnings, Riley Bros. Construction now specializes in road construction, building site preparation, building demolition, land clearing, bituminous paving and sand and gravel work.

The 1948 loader with which they started the business has given way to 175 pieces of construction equipment, which includes 19 dozers, 17 scrapers, 11 loaders, five cranes, eight backhoes, seven motor graders, 18 rollers and packers, 24 semi-tractor and quad-axle dump trucks, four service trucks, three water trucks and four utility trucks.

Paul Leonard was their first employee, joining the business in 1976. The operation today includes equipment operators, truck drivers, laborers, mechanics, foremen, construction supervisors and office personnel.

Riley Bros.' first contract job was building Green River Road for the City of Morris in 1976. Their first state contract job was on Highway 27 near Hoffman and it took all 10 employees most of the season to complete the project.

Since then, Riley Bros. have worked on huge jobs, such as re-routing seven miles of the Sheyenne River from Horace, N.D. to West Fargo, a project that cost more than $4.4 million.

Perhaps Riley Bros.' biggest project is one that area residents see everyday.

In 1996, the company embarked on a $7.3 million project to build the Highway 59 bypass. Riley Bros. built almost 14 miles of road to connect Highway 59 north to Highway 59 south, including building a bridge over Highway 9 on Morris' city limits.

But while Riley Bros. is well-equipped and well-managed to take on giant projects, the company still does a lot of private work for area farmers, including farm drainage and land clearing, driveway paving, parking lots and commercial building sites.

And Riley Bros.' reach doesn't end there.

Since 1979, when Joe and John bought into an apartment building in Cyrus, they have operated what is now known as Riley Bros. Properties, LLC. The brothers site a strong interest in helping develop the communities in which they live and in which their children and grandchildren live.

Joe Riley with grandsons Jack and Jake standing proudly on a new scraper

"We do it all except concrete," Joe Riley said. "It was the natural thing to do."

The property company has developed more than 200 single-family residential lots in the Riley Addition, Riley's Riverside Addition, Riley's Hillside Addition, Skyview Estates and Addition, Riverview Estates, Pomme de Terre Golf Course Addition, Ballpark Townhomes, Crystal Lake Twinhomes, Iowa Avenue Townhomes and Riley's Riverview Townhomes.

The company also has seven housing developments in Alexandria including Lake Jessie Meadows Townhomes and Lake Mary Villas and in St. Cloud at the Territories Golf Course.

Riley Bros. Properties has also expanded into building spec and custom-built homes and projects for prospective single-family homeowners. The trend toward townhome ease of lifestyle has grown in this area with four townhomes built in Morris and one in Chokio in 2008.

Despite the downturned economy and stressed housing market, the area has proven to be more stable than most and Riley Bros. Properties continues to evolve and provide land and homes for west-central Minnesota residents.

The companies growth and continued commitment to this area is reflected in the attitude that the brothers, and now their children, maintain. "We were raised to treat people right, do our best and work hard--sometimes even harder than most," laughs Rachel Ward, the companies contract administator and John's eldest daughter. "Working for and with family is rarely easy--especially when expectations and risks are high--but it's worth it," said Chris Riley, a construction manager and Joe's son.  John's daughter Meghan Riley manages the payroll department and Joe's daughter-in-law, Jennifer Riley manages the real estate.

With so many ties to the community and so many fulfilling projects ahead, the Rileys don't even consider retirement. "It's OK for older people," Joe Riley said, smiling.

Which all leads one to think back about how the Rileys got involved in the construction business in the first place.

Their mother and father, Elizabeth and Thomas, farmed about five miles outside Morris. One day a construction crew was working on the road near the farm and Joe went out and asked if they had a job for him. He got the job and the rest is history. A rich and productive history.

"We like what we do," Joe Riley said, "and we've been fairly successful at it."