Gearing up for Spring

Wow! It sure felt like spring yesterday, with temperatures near 60 degrees, reminding us that spring is right around the corner. We have spent the last few weeks cleaning and maintaining trucks and equipment so we are prepared when warmer weather sticks around. Here in the office, we have continued to bid projects keeping one crew busy working while many of our guys are resting up for another busy year.  

Did I mention we purchased a backhoe?  It's been on the wish list for a few years.  It will be a great time saver as we are digging more and more footers and trenches for customers, and we can self perform instead of relying on the schedule of an excavating contractor.  Let us know if we can help you.

With that being said, we are ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS for concrete finishers and laborers. There is also potential to lead a crew as we continue to grow and add trucks and equipment.  Experience in Commercial concrete, blue print reading and as an equipment operator or having a valid Class A CDL license are all helpful but not necessary. We offer paid sick and vacation time, retirement program, employee of the month and bonus incentives. We pride ourselves in offering training for our employees.  We have two crew members at the World of Concrete in Las Vegas as we speak!  They are having a great experience there.

If you are construction or concrete worker and looking to make a change into a positive and challenging environment, come see us.  We'd love to sit down and talk to see if there is a good fit with our company.  We would love to add you to our family!  Visit our office at 8874 N. US Hwy 68, just south of West Liberty for an application.

Well, it’s snowing again, so it confirms that it is still winter. But the groundhog says it'll be spring soon, right? We are ready!

Keeping Each Other Safe Pays Off

The employees of Yoder Concrete Construction, LLC, were honored with a safety award from the Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation at the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce's Safety Council meeting on Wednesday, April 18, 2012. Roberta Yoder, CEO, received the award for the employees. The award was given for two different categories: 100% Award for having zero injuries or illnesses resulting in a day or more away from work in the previous calendar year and also the Group Award for the lowest incident rate in our group. This is the second of such awards received in recent years. In 2008, the employees of Yoder Concrete received the 100% safety award and also the Achievement award for 25-percent reduction in incident rate from the previous year. The employees are committed to watching out for each other and keeping each other safe. Congratulations to everyone!

Now Hiring Concrete Workers

We are hiring! We have more work than our current crews can keep up with...which is not a bad problem to have as a company, but our customers are not going to appreciate it if we can't get the work done that we've promised.  Here is the ad that is being posted in local papers: Growing concrete contractor seeking skilled concrete finishers/form carpenters. 7 yrs+ experience preferred with leadership potential. Join a positive, team oriented work environment. Commercial, industrial & residential work, regular & decorative. Paid time off, holiday pay & retirement plan. Must have a valid driver’s license and pass a pre-employment drug screen. EEOC. Call Yoder Concrete Construction, LLC at 937-362-3210.  If you or someone you know is interested in applying, call us to schedule a time to come out to our office. We'll have you  complete an application and a few other forms. You get to see where we are located and find out a little about us, and we also get a chance to meet you face to face instead of making a first impression from a piece of paper.

Merry Christmas!

Today is December 23, 2009, just two days away from celebrating our Lord's birth. I want to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous new year. Remember this time as a time to thank the good Lord for sending his son to earth to be born, live and die a horrible death for all of us and for our sins. He loves YOU that much! Amazing.

This is the time of year that we show our appreciate to those we love and care for often with gifts. Not only to show our appreciation to those who work for us, but also to support the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce and local businesses in the Urbana/Champaign County area, we are giving our employees Chamber checks. There is a long list of businesses who honor those checks from restaurants, groceries, gift shops, hardwares and much more! They make great gifts, and are available at the Chamber office. By shopping in your local community instead of out of town or on the Internet, you are making sure your tax dollars are staying in your community for local emergency and government services and entities. Keep this in mind as you look for those last minute gifts. A few years ago I shopped almost entirely on the Internet. This year I shopped almost entirely in my local community. Shop local! The businesses appreciate it.

Thank you for spending time to read my blog post(s) and for being a part of Yoder Concrete Construction, LLC in one way or another. May you stay safe & healthy and may God bless you and your family this Christmas season and upcoming year. Merry Christmas!

Excellence award - excellent week

What a great week we've had here in Champaign County. So much so, I just had to share it. As you may be aware, we are working on developing a BNI (Business Networking International http://www.bni.com/ ) chapter in Champaign County. Monday I had lunch with an up & coming young man in the community, Adam Erwin, with Ohio National Financial Services, one of the top rated insurance companies in the country. It was great to get to know him and what he has to offer. He is very eager to meet with people, learn all he can about his industry and to grow his business. Tuesday morning was our weekly BNI meeting at Verde's at 7:30 am. We have a great bunch of positive people who are eager to get to know each other and pass referrals to each other. We still need a variety of businesses to join our group - if you know of a business that is also positive and wants to grow, have them contact me or join our group on Tuesday morning. Visitors are very welcome.

I also had lunch this week with a BNI member from the Logan County chapter of which I was a part of for the last two years. Susan Lahman is a representative for Premier Jewelry. I very much enjoyed talking to her about jewelry, our families and antiques. We ate at the Cream & Sugar in West Liberty, a favorite spot for me, and Susan grew up in West Liberty, so she enjoyed coming back into town.

On the fax this week was a signed proposal for another barn floor - over 3500 square feet of concrete. Nice to put another job onto the job board before the cold weather sets in. Thank you to EVCO Structures out of Mechanicsburg for the work. We enjoy working with you.

This morning my day started at the Coffee Depot for the Champaign County Chamber's First Friday coffee hour. The place was packed with local businesses eager to be a positive part of the county and to share in the events & activities. A new restaurant has opened in Urbana, Nonesuch Fare, on the west end of town in the old Michael's Pizza building, and a new store will be opening soon downtown selling organic and health items. Congratulations to both businesses. It is very fun and exciting for me to meet new people and to re-connect with ones I have already met.

While at the Depot I was handed an Award of Commendation from C&N Industrial Contractors, Inc. They received an award from Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. for work done on the Springfield Museum of Art, and we were one of their subcontractors. Congratulations on this fine work and for allowing Yoder Concrete Construction, LLC, to be a part of it.

Tonight is our Sunday school class's Christmas party. I am looking forward to spending time with friends and eating good food as well. Tomorrow is the Cancer Society's Candlelight Tour of Homes in Champaign County. I can't wait to see the historic homes decorated for Christmas.

I hope you had a great week as well. May you have a good weekend, and I will talk to you again soon!

Pole barn floors, stenciled porch, & more

Hi! I thought I should at least jump on here and let you know we still exist! I wanted to post every week, but I had a little gap there, didn't I? Sorry!

Well, we have been busy. We have placed concrete for a decorative porch in Urbana, OH. I need to stop in and get pictures now that it is completely done. Jeff put the bottom row of siding back on the house last Friday. It is beautiful. We used a ...well, I'll wait and tell you more about it when I get the pictures up. The guys are pouring a barn floor today - I think total the floor used about 44 cy of concrete. We also have repaired a barn silo foundation outside of Urbana, replaced a garage floor in Quincy, and repaired and filled in a trench in a manufacturing facility in Sidney.

We are still bidding concrete jobs as well. A few bids that have recently gone out include another skate park, a set of barn floors for a beef operation, a decorative sidewalk, and a couple of driveway replacements.

Although we are not as busy as we have been in past years, we are still working strong with what we have, and we will be here for your business in the future. We appreciate each customer because without you, we wouldn't have a business. Let me know if we can be of service to you.

A note from a customer

This is a note I received from a customer when she mailed in her final payment. She said, "You are very fortunate to have capable workers to work with your projects. They know the concrete business and did a good job with my patio. I know I will enjoy it and it will be safe for me. I bought a patio set and hope I have time to sit out there." Signed Dorothy

Dorothy had recently fallen on her previous patio of uneven flagstone pavers and had to have stitches in her head. We are very happy that the customer was not only pleased with her new patio, but that it also created a safer environment for her. And we thank our employees for the good work that they did. Kudos to all.

Champaign County

This morning my day started at the Verde in Urbana, OH, for the First Friday Coffee Break (1st Friday of each month) sponsored by the Champaign Co. Chamber of Commerce. There were 36 attendees, an outstanding number of people for their first event of this type. Tina Knotts, Director of the Chamber, updated everyone on events going on around the county in the month of September - over 10 different events or activities just in one month! If you are looking for something to do, Champaign County is definitely the place to be. Just to touch on a couple of events, Sept 12-13 is the MERFI Fly-in at Grimes Airport in Urbana. Experimental aircraft is the highlight of this event. The following weekend, Sept 19-20 is a big weekend with the Barn Quilt tour (almost 60 quilts throughout the county) and the Ohio Fish & Shrimp Festival at Freshwater Farms just north of Urbana. For more information on what to do in Champaign County, visit www.champaignohio.com. I have a few tickets to the Barn Quilt Tour if you are interested in them. Let me know!

After Tina told us about area events, each person in the room was given a chance to introduce themselves and share the business they represented. It was great to meet other people who want to see Champaign County thrive. It was a very positive meeting and encouraged me about the area businesses and what they have to offer. I am looking forward to getting more involved in the county in the near future.

I also spent some time talking with Mike Morris, Economic Development Director for the County, about social media. Great to get to know him a little, and looking forward to a great twitter and facebook relationship. It is amazing how much you get to know someone or learn about their businesses through social media. It is a great tool. I love it!! It makes meeting face to face even easier when you know a little about them, plus you have an immediate mutual interest to kick start the conversation - social media.

A few places to find Yoder Concrete Construction, LLC concrete work, check out the concrete around The Depot Coffee shop on East Main St, the Skate Park at Melvin Miller Park and the concrete in and around the new facility at Cedar Bog, just to name a few! Many of our jobs are in people's front or back yards, so I probably shouldn't give you those addresses. Not sure they would appreciate it. :-)

Well, I really need to get the bills paid before the long weekend. Have a safe and blessed Labor Day weekend. If you see me at the West Liberty festival, stop me and tell me what you think of my blog. I'd love to hear from you!!

Need a concrete contractor?

Hi. Are you looking for a concrete contractor? Call me for an estimate! We specialize in concrete flatwork, such as driveways, barn and garage floors, basement floors, patios, etc. We focus our business to commercial, residential and agricultural customers. Visit our website for more information on our business. We would love to be your contractor.

Stop back by my blog for more information later on what to look for in a contractor. Don't just pick the lowest price - you will often times get what you pay for! We have ACI (American Concrete Institute) certified concrete technicians and finishers on our crews. They have been trained and have the experience to place the concrete correctly. You don't want to tear out your concrete three years after placement. Get the experts the first time! Call Yoder Concrete Construction, LLC! 866-466-8614

We serve the Champaign and Logan Counties and surrounding counties in Ohio.