A.W. Oakes & Son, Inc. has been in the construction industry since the early 1930s, starting with Arnold William (A.W.) Oakes, digging basements. Over time, in the 1940s, he began his own company, A.W. Oakes & Son, and formalized it as an incorporation in 1948. Working on some grading projects and some small landfill grading, the company began to grow.
Over time, A.W. Oakes & Son morphed into an asphalt paving company and paved the first parking lot at Six Flags Great America. The company continued to develop with the second generation in the late 1960s through the early 1980s, when Glenn Oakes took over and focused on landfill development and mass excavation.
When Glenn was ready to retire, Dan Oakes (third generation) was ready to take the reins. During his leadership, the company has become what it is today – a full-service civil contractor servicing Southeast Wisconsin and employing over 200 people. Dan is currently CEO and mentoring the fourth generation, President Max Oakes, to continue the success of A.W. Oakes & Son, Inc.
Family and Safety
A.W. Oakes & Son is a family-oriented company, something Dan and Max Oakes are committed to. "We take on projects within a 1-hour radius—although the majority are much closer—so workers can be home at night with their families; able to go to their kids’ ball games, not wishing they were from some hotel room or trailer four or five nights a week," says Dan. "As a result, we have second and even third generations of families in our workforce. We’re firm believers in the theory 'Happy at home; Happy at work.'"
A.W. Oakes & Son is also committed to keeping every worker safe. To ensure that, a full-time safety coordinator was hired four years ago. She visits every job site throughout the week and talks to the foreman and the guys in the field to ensure all are safe and have the proper PPE (Protective Personal Equipment). If there’s an issue, a “stand down” stops all work, the issue is discussed and once resolved, work begins again. The new office addition includes a large safety training room where employees get toolbox talks and other essential safety training. As Safety Director, Max sees that the company focus on safety has greatly reduced the severity and frequency of accidents.
Innovation
A.W. Oakes is also committed to keeping up with technology. The technology department along with college interns explore ways to benefit from Artificial Intelligence (AI) and innovations in smart equipment and AutoCAD soft ware technology. “We’ve virtually eliminated hand staking where a guy draws a sharpie line on a stake and equipment pushes the dirt up to that line,” says Dan. “Now the bulldozers, graders, excavators and concrete pavers are equipped with satellite-controlled GPS systems, so operators see everything on a screen. If we’re putting curbs in for a parking lot, we can start out in a gravel lot with nothing marked and put curbing in at the proper height without one stake. The stringless operation is safer since no one is tripping over things and trucks can pull in anywhere.” Stringless also saves on large amounts of unnecessary manual labor, saving shoulders and backs, while reducing tripping hazards from removing string.
A.W. Oakes benefits from the strong partnerships they have with equipment manufacturers like Komatsu. They had the opportunity to test drive two new bulldozer models—the first in the US to do so—and provide feedback. Recently A.W. Oakes engaged drones to fl y for site surveying and photographing their jobs, reducing manual surveying ti me while increasing accuracy when the situation applied.
Community
Over the years many local enterprises have benefited from A.W. Oakes’ charitable donations, including the Racine Zoo, Saint Catherine’s and other schools, Gateway Technical College, the RPD’s Policeman's Ball, Prairie School, the Racine Parks Department, and youth sports teams, to name a few. “It’s just part of our Tradition of Quality,” says Dan. “Whether it’s improving infrastructure, reclaiming brownfields or donating benches to a school, we are here to help the community to be a better place.”
Our Future
At A.W. Oakes & Son, Inc., our people are our most important resource. We believe that by creating a culture of safety and providing on-the-job training from our quality, highly skilled, veteran employees, we can ensure that our customers receive the highest quality services possible.
We also believe that providing our employees with a quality fleet of equipment and tools, maintained by our experienced mechanics in our full-service shop, is essential to our success. This investment in our people and our equipment is what has kept us in business for over 75 years, and it is what we strive to do every day.
Our philosophy is "Do it right the first time," and our culture is one of safety. We believe that by taking the time to do things right, we can avoid costly mistakes and ensure the safety of our employees and our customers.
We are proud to be a leading civil contractor in Southeast Wisconsin, and we are committed to providing our clients with the best possible service. We thank our employees for their dedication and hard work, and we look forward to continuing our tradition of quality for many years to come.
