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Penzel road crew in the 1930s |
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When your family's carpentry roots can be traced back to the 16th century you might expect to find traces of your ancestors along the way. That's exactly what happened when workers for Penzel Construction Company, Inc., discovered a time capsule at St. Paul Lutheran School, while preparing to build a new school. Inside the capsule were copies of every local newspaper printed the week of May 9, 1935, some coins, an English Bible, a German Bible, other religious items and memorabilia from Penzel Construction Company. Linus Penzel, who started Penzel Construction in 1910, built the original school in 1935. Phil Penzel's company of today built the new school in 1999. In between and beyond, is a story of a company that has led the region and the industry in innovation. The business began its rich history building houses and structures in the Jackson area. In 1915 the company expanded to build bridges in Cape Girardeau County. The Penzel family immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1853. John Penzel came to America to practice his trade of carpentry and cabinetmaking. His son Gustav Penzel worked in construction in Jackson, as did, his son Linus.
Carl acquired full ownership of the company in 1954 . The business operated again as a sole proprietorship until December 1958, when the company was incorporated with stockholders being Carl, his wife Mettie, his son Gene, and his daughter Carol Jane Ellington. After discharging from the Navy as a flight instructor in 1959, Gene joined the company full-time. During the mid 1970's, the Jackson Industrial Development Company was formed with Gene as a charter board member. The board decided to try to attract industry, and in 1982 a speculation building was built as a tool. The building eventually became the home of American Railcar Industries. Gene served as president of the Associated General Contractors of Missouri in 1980, and in 1981 he took over as president of Penzel Construction Company, Inc. As the company continued to provide quality work and exceptional service, it was time for the construction nation to stand up and take notice. On January 30, 1984 Gene traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico to accept the Construction Professional Development Award of the National Society of Professional Engineers. The award was based on the company’s professional career development and employment practices. |
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Construction of the I-155 Bridge at Caruthersville, Missouri crossing the Mississippi River |
KFVS Building under Construction in downtown Cape Girardeau in 1967 |
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Gene's son Phil joined the company full-time in 1987, after graduating with a Civil Engineering degree from the University of Missouri-Rolla. In October 1988 Penzel Construction became a registered engineering firm. The company does things a little differently today than in the past, but it has only augmented the company's ability to provide quality work. In 1990 Penzel became a member of the Jack Miller Network, an elite group of 500 professional construction firms from across the U.S. and Canada that practices win/win sharing of successes and failures, best practices, new methods and techniques, benchmarks and more. This networking has led to increased opportunities for Penzel and all those participating in the network, as well as added benefits to customers of Network members.
Phil became a registered civil engineer
in 1992 and served as president of the
Southeast Chapter of
In 1996 Penzel Construction Company, Inc. won the Mississippi Valley Family Business of the Year Award. The award was based on proven business success, positive family/business linkage, multi-generational and family business involvement, contribution to industry and community and innovative business practices or strategies. The reins of Penzel Construction Company, Inc., were placed in Phil Penzel's hands in 1996 and the company continues its commitment to its customers to provide quality work today as it approaches its 100th anniversary in 2010. That's the same promise Linus Penzel was making to his customers in 1910. |
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Osage Center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri |
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Some notable early works of the
company were the
Jackson High School in 1920, Jackson
Shoe Factory in 1922, eight highway
bridges in 1936 and the first completely
architectural concrete building in Southeast Missouri
in 1937. That building, the Marquette
Natatorium, is still in use today.
Highway construction was shutdown
during World War II, so Penzel
Construction shifted to building homes
at the Kentucky Ordinance Works and
entered the field of soil conservation.
In 1957 Penzel Construction built a
fireproof factory with 24-acre floor
space factory building in Dexter at a
cost of $3.25 per square foot, including
heating, plumbing and sprinkler work. It
was the lowest cost in Dodge Reports for
the
Midwest. The company also changed some
of what it was doing. It left the
business of residential construction and
focused on industrial, heavy and highway
construction projects. It began bidding
as bridge subcontractor on Interstate
and highway projects. Throughout the
1960s and 1970's, the company was very
active. Penzel Construction did most of
the bridge, culvert and paved ditch work
on Interstate 55 from Arkansas to
Bloomsdale. They built the Hirsch Building
in Cape Girardeau (1961), the original
Lee Rowan building (now Rubbermaid) and
12 subsequent additions. They built the
Jackson Shoe Factory in 1964 and in 1965
built the Cape Supply Company Building.
In 1967 Carl oversaw the construction
of the
KFVS Television Building in downtown
Cape Girardeau. This was a
poured-in-place reinforced concrete
structure; a 50' by 80' clear span post
tensioned concrete roof over the studio;
with exposed aggregate concrete panels
for the structure. The panels were built
on site by company forces. In 1969 the
Florsheim Shoe Company Building and the
Central Packing Company Building in Cape
Girardeau was built. In 1971 Penzel
built the Missouri approach to the river bridge at
Caruthersville, Missouri and Dyersburg,
Tennessee.
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Bank of Missouri in Cape Girardeau, Missouri |
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Penzel Construction Company, Inc. continues to construct the landscape. We built the Jackson Exchange Bank in 1984, which they later renovated into Jackson City Hall in 1995. Midwest Sterilization Corporation was built in Jackson (1990), the Centenary Family Life Center (1991), River Eagle Distributors (1995), the Lutheran Home (1996), the Osage Center and Shawnee Soccer Complex (1997), Lynwood Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau (1998), the St. Francis Power Plant, Unit No. 2 in Glennonville, Missouri (2001), Immaculate Conception School (2002), The Bank of Missouri Branch Office's in Jackson, Cape and Marble Hill (2001-2003), 10 schools in Jackson and the surrounding area during the 1990s, and many others.
Penzel is a major contractor for the new federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, scheduled to be completed in late 2005. Penzel Construction Company, Inc., as it is known today, is in its fourth generation, and the roots of our family's carpentry and construction experience have been traced back at least nine generations. That would place our craftsman's heritage back to the early 1700's. Our carpentry roots, however, have been followed as far as the 1500s. After all these centuries, the trade skills, positive work ethic and quality craftsmanship that's been handed from generation to generation still exists today, strong as ever. Previous generations built an outstanding reputation, passed it on to their children, and later generations maintained and improved on it.
Through the years, each generation has
taken pride in training the next.
There has been an unwritten rule that
if a youth showed interest in the
company, the older generations would
make every effort to train him or her.
Each family member has started at the
bottom and earned their way up to a
managerial position, where warranted.
And although no family relationship is
perfect, ours has always maintained a
strong bond and commitment to the firm.
We are always trying to find new ways to
help ourselves, as well as our company.
By this, we mean keeping pace with the
times, hiring quality, competent
employees, purchasing state-of-the-art
equipment and continuing to take a
proactive approach to our business goal
planning.
There has never been a division of
responsibility so far as family members
are concerned. If we see something that
needs to be done, we either just do it
or delegate the task to one of our many
capable employees. In the early years of
the company, it was very difficult to
juggle home life and work; everyone was
busy working to grow the company. Now
that we are financially strong and the
company's employees have become among
the best around, we have more time for
family life and more opportunities to
set goals for ourselves, as well as for
the firm.
Our values are very simple -
always be honest. The first time
you aren't, your credibility is ruined Penzel maintains the most modern work environment. Every employee is provided the latest computer hardware and software, as well a good clean work area. We treat our people very well because we recognize we could not survive without them. Our employee turnover rate is virtually zero. We attempt to pay everyone above the industry standard for our area. This allows us to attract and retain high quality employees who share our work ethic. We encourage our staff's continued education and professional development, and we support their efforts.In our waiting room, the showcase displays the original tools owned by John G. Penzel when he came to America from Germany in 1855. Every now and then someone comes by just to view the display. |
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Linus left the area for a while but
came back to
Jackson after a brief stint of building
in San Antonio, Texas.
While in San Antonio, Carl Penzel was
born. When Linus returned, he started
the company that continues today. Carl
joined the company in 1930. In 1937
Linus and Carl formed Penzel
Construction Company, a partnership. 
forever. We never bid shop, give out
subcontractors' pricing before a bid,
and when we get a job, we don't beat
down our subcontractors' prices. Such
practices gain us the respect of our