Bill Anskis Company Inc

William Anskis founded Bill Anskis Company Inc. (BAC) in 1964 as a small contractor in Shamokin, Pa. Performing residential and smaller concrete jobs around the area, William worked with his two sons, Bruce and Mark. The brothers accompanied their father during summer breaks throughout high school and after graduation, joined the family business full time. Recognizing that BAI needed to grow in order to sustain all three partners and their families, William, Mark and Bruce began reinvesting in the business in order to diversify services. The Anskis team purchased new equipment, opening up capabilities for larger projects.

The team worked its way up the chain, diversifying into renovations and more involved structural work. The Anskis began picking up major clients such as Bell Telephone, Foster Wheeler and Viking Energy. The team also fostered relationships with institutional clients, including the Pennsylvania Department of General Services, Merck & Company, Geisinger Medical Center and several regional schools.

“We became incorporated in June 1986,” says Melissa Haggerty, marketing representative for BAC. “We started out doing mostly residential projects and that moved into performing major renovations for a local hospital where our team installed a new surgical wing. We also performed quite a bit of masonry work to construct the front of the building. We soon moved to a larger facility in Elysburg, Pa., and started doing concrete restoration and repair, as well as bridge rehabilitation projects.”

The team continued to diversify over the years. “In 2009, the company landed its first bridge rehabilitation project with Pennsylvania Department of Transportation [Penn DOT],” Melissa continues. “Since then, we have completed work for not only Penn DOT, but also DCNR and the PA Turnpike Commission. For the most part that is what we focus on. We occasionally still perform masonry work. Many of our projects run at over $3 million.” With long-term public customers, including Penn DOT, BAC has achieved stability and geographic reach, working on complex projects all over the state.

The Difference is Diversity

Bill is now retired, but his sons continue to operate the business with younger brother, Dean, who joined the team in the 1980s. Melissa notes that BAI draws strength from experience and dedication, as Bruce, Mark and Dean grew up in the business and have witnessed and participated in the full range of the company’s capabilities. A six-day workweek was typical for the company in the ’80s and ’90s, and Melissa notes, “They were always working on Saturday to get ready for Monday. It was just the norm.”

BAC offers a broad range of capabilities relative to the company’s size. With a staff fluctuating between 20 and 50, dependent on season and ongoing projects, the team is small. “To be honest with you, we stand out because we are a smaller company that is able to compete with larger contractors on the bigger projects,” Melissa explains. “We usually get the job done faster with less cost. Typically for our bridge work, we do all of the concrete and any kind of bridge deck repair. The only component we sub out every single time would be landscaping or traffic control. We work with select subcontractors, which are often the same companies, but we do watch prices.”

The team builds from the ground up, and the many long-term team members have been working in underground utilities, concrete, civil and structural construction. Bruce’s strong leadership keeps the team on target, shooting for early completion while maintaining the standards required by clients. With enduring relationships with subcontractors and suppliers alike, the company can ensure minimal interruptions in the supply chain.

The business also employs a leading safety program to ensure the well-being of employees and end-users. Additionally, the team works in full compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), meeting or exceeding all standards for safe operation. On-site and at the office, employees engage in meaningful training sessions guided by the business’ written policies and procedures.

Putting the Experience to Work

“We also do projects that contain work with epoxy injection, chemical grout and flood restoration,” says Melissa. “We install traffic coatings on state highway bridges. At this point, we are doing projects throughout the state of Pennsylvania and parts of New Jersey. We have also been featured in several publications, including a case study published by Cera Tech in which we were commended for our work with one of their products, Pavemend SL, on a project that we were doing for the PA Turnpike Commission; that was a somewhat complex undertaking. We were only closing parts of the highway for small amount of time, to allow traffic flow to continue. We finished in early December 2012. It was about a $3 million project.”

The BAC team is currently undertaking another project for the state’s department of transportation. The complex endeavor has been growing steadily since the state awarded BAI the contract. “Penn DOT is adding more bridges to the work we have already begun. Originally, we were performing work on six bridges, but now we are up to 12. It will be a three-year project and we are one year in.”

Like many contractors, BAC has had to face challenges throughout the last few years. While still stable despite the recent recession, Melissa mentions a string of heavy floods that interrupted projects throughout the region. Bad weather is an unavoidable disturbance to business, but BAC manages to maintain efficiency, planning ahead in order to stay on target whenever possible. Bruce and his team minimize the risk of other disruptions through building relationships with reliable subcontractors and suppliers.

BAC has been in business for nearly half a century, and Bruce and his team continue to embrace a culture of quality and safety rarely seen in the business. Staying small allows the business has quality control over every aspect of operations. Therefore, from safety to attention to detail, repeat clients such as the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation have come to rely on the team for solid, durable bridges and other major structures. “Our management feels that the ultimate success of the company can be attributed to estimators, project managers, office staff and all our dedicated employees working in the field,” Melissa notes. Bill Anskis Company Inc. remains a local fixture, representing commitment to a job well-done throughout the Mid-Atlantic.

For more information about Bill Anskis Company Inc., please visit: http://www.anskis.com.