The Company
David Henry's three elementary-aged sons often visited him on the job with an eagerness to learn the construction skills their father had honed.
By 1930, all three boys had finished high school and, having no prospects for work in the looming Great Depression, they approached their father about joining and reinventing the business under a new focus: road construction.
David Henry mortgaged his farm to lend his sons start-up capital, and the brothers set out to procure equipment and work. Thus, in 1930, Bill Sr., Ervin, and Barney (Ken) Blattner joined their father to become D.H. Blattner & Sons.
While some businesses became trenched in the economic downturn of the Great Depression, the Blattner brothers proved light on their feet. They leveraged strong employee relationships to deliver repeatable quality, and they ensured their business remained alive and growing.
From 1930-1941, the company secured steady road construction work, primarily for county and township highway departments within a 50-mile radius of St. Cloud, Minnesota.
