Melvin L. Joseph Construction celebrates 75 years
In 1940, during the early days of World War II, the nation was beginning to emerge from the Great Depression. That's when Georgetown entrepreneur Melvin L. Joseph began earning money by hauling dirt to chicken houses, the genesis of a business that would shape the landscape of lower Delaware.
The Melvin L. Joseph construction company came to claim responsibility for paving most of the dirt roads in rural Sussex County. Seventy-five years later, the second and third generations of his family carry on the legacy, supplying materials and technicians for "everything up to the curb," and continuing to lay infrastructure for the fastest-growing county in the state.
"Way back when he first started, the business began with a truck and a shovel," Joseph's grandson and current company President Ken Adams said. "He just expanded over the years, moving dirt with a truck, and then DelDOT started paving dirt roads."
That's when Adams said his grandfather got involved with what was called the "dirt road program." He now estimates Joseph paved anywhere from 80 percent to 90 percent of the dirt roads in Sussex County.
Joseph's company developed some of the most impressive and impactful projects in lower Delaware, including the restoration of Delaware beaches after the Storm of '62, an expansion of Summit Airport in Middletown and the development and construction of Dover Downs, which his daughter, company Vice President JoAnn Adams, said was one of the NASCAR-loving founder's favorite projects,
Headquarters has moved three times since the early days, but only as far as to cross Route 113, from the north to southbound sides of the same stretch where the founder ran the business and raised his family.
"We lived on the property surrounding the business," JoAnn said. She has worked at the company full-time for the last 36 years.
Taking on the reins as company president in 2005 when his grandfather died, Adams is the third generation of this family-run business and attributes much of the success of Melvin L. Joseph Construction to its loyal employees.
Many members of their team have been working for the company as long as his mother, JoAnn. According to Bob Stickels, general manager for Joseph family companies, the longest-serving worker, Buck Middleton, has been employed at the company for 59 years. With a 48-year tenure, Melvin Brittingham is the next longest-serving employee and even their project manager, Chuck Ewing, has been with the company for 30 years.
The business has evolved from its origins in soil excavation and hauling dirt to construction, development and materials, establishing new companies and becoming a Sussex County institution along the way,
In 1990, the M.L Joseph Sand and Gravel Company was founded to become a premier supplier of aggregate to local concrete, masonry, construction and asphalt paving industries, supplied by four company-owned sand pits.
In 2006, Adams and his wife, Tracy, company secretary and treasurer, started Stockley Materials - a landscaping materials and recycling systems business in Stockley and Nassau - and in 2014 was named Small Business of the Year by the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce.
Adams said the company offers its services mostly on the Delmarva Peninsula, and company's strong work ethic and innovation have established them as a trendsetting company in local industry.
"We mostly work in Sussex County, and if the economy is good, we stay home," he said. "My grandfather, he built runways and terminals nationwide."
For more information about the Melvin L. Joseph company, call 302-856-7396 or go to www.melvinjoseph.com.
