Company History - About Us:
1951 - Present
The year was 1951 and the reason was the "Big Kansas Flood". Max, George and John Rieke ventured into the excavating business. It was somewhat of a part time business. It began as a
truck farming business. A high-loader and a dump truck were the only pieces of equipment. As the time passed the truck farming business decreased and the excavating business increased. George and John got involved in digging basements and Max started building ponds, terraces and anything else that a loader and dozer could do. The first place of business was 12101 West 55th street, the place where they were all born and raised. The first office was in Max's garage on 55th Street. There was no shop so oil changes and all mechanical work were done lying on the dirt ground.
The 1950's stayed pretty much a three-man business by Max, George, and John. They ran equipment all day, every day. In the 1960's the partnership started to grow and venture into a
bigger variety of jobs. A few more loaders, dozers and trucks were being added each year.
In 1968 Rieke's purchased a piece of ground at 15400 Midland Drive (at the time old 10 Highway) and proceeded to build a shop and an office to house their business. At that time all the equipment and trucks were parked every night in the new barn. The barn size was 175' X 75'. This remains the location of the company today where all business is conducted from.
In the 7O's and 8O's Rieke's continued to grow. The company took on bigger and more challenging jobs. These jobs required bigger equipment and more equipment. By this time the second generation of Rieke's started to take leadership roles in company operations. The late 8O's and early 90's brought some ownership changes to Rieke's. John Rieke and his son Johnny started their own company. George retired in the early 90's due to health reasons. Max stayed with the company until the late 90's and continued to visit on a regular basis until his death in February of 2008.
Today Rieke's is run by Leon Rieke (Max's son) & Steve Rieke (George's son), and Derrick Rieke (Leon's son). The equipment list has grown to over 300 pieces and employees range from 40 to 100 depending on the time of the year. We offer a variety of services including; heavy highway, site development, site utility work, retaining walls, structural excavation, earth material hauling, residential excavation and pond excavation.