Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/846046
EquipmentWorld.com | July 2017 61 A bout fi ve years ago, Leo Livengood got a phone call from a former client. The call was from the second generation of a family he and his father had worked with, and they had a ques- tion: Would Livengood Excavators do the site work on a new drive-in theater the family was building, which was going to be located right next to the one that Livengood had previously built? Recalls Leo: "I thought, gee, what an unusual opportunity to do the same job 60 years apart … so I got on a dozer and graded the ramps for the second drive-in myself." The Livengood construction heri- tage goes back to Leo's grandfather, Charles Livengood, who worked with horses to move material. Leo's father, Harvey Livengood, eventu- ally started digging house founda- tions. When Leo was around 12 years old, he got on his father's D4, and he was hooked. Leo still has the 1952 invoice for that D4, priced at $8,727.20. When a stroke disabled his father at 56 years old, Leo, then in his early 20s, knew that the continua- tion of the company was now on him. "There were contracts that had to be fulfi lled, and my mom, who owned the business, made me a deal that I could continue to run it as long as it was successful," Leo says. "Those were lean years. It was rough for a while." It helped that there was no short- age of a work ethic within Leo. "I've spent many a night in the shop so that we were ready to go out the next day. It was up to me. I was the guy." Leo fulfi lled his part of the bargain, with a ready assist from his wife, Betty Livengood, who handled the offi ce for many years. The company gained new strength when son Tim Livengood and daughter Tina Livengood joined its ranks. The 1980s were a period of expansion as the fi rm aggressively sought commercial accounts. "We saw a lot of growth in all sectors," Tim says. contractor of the year finalist | by Marcia Gruver Doyle | MGruver@randallreilly.com Fourth- generation fi rm carries on tradition of excellence Leo Livengood, Livengood Excavators City, State: Walnutport, Pennsylvania Year incorporated: 1970 Number of employees: 80 Annual revenue: $14-15 million Markets served: Site work, grad- ing, asphalt paving, underground utilities, trucking, demolition and snow removal