WEST LIBERTY –Yoder Concrete Construction LLC will celebrate its 25th year in business next spring. In October, co-owners Jeff and Roberta Yoder received an early anniversary present in the form of a Torch Award for Ethics, presented to the couple by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) serving central Ohio during a ceremony at the Ohio Union on the campus of The Ohio State University.
Located at 8874 N. U.S. Route 68 in West Liberty, Yoder Concrete Construction was one of six recipients of this year’s award, which recognizes for-profit and nonprofit companies/organizations that meet the BBB’s six “TRUST! Principles” of business ethics. These principles include transformation at the top, reinforce and build, unite the team, steer performance, treasure people and enthusiastically give back.
“A lot of the application process included references from our customers and vendors recommending us for the award,” Mrs. Yoder said. “That was very humbling to see the number of people that were willing to support us in this. With any business, you don’t always hear the positives of what you are doing right, and that was the neat part of this process, to get feedback on the things we are doing well.”
The business, Mrs. Yoder said, was started in 1991 by her husband.
“He was working for someone else doing construction work when he decided to go off on his own,” she said. “The company started as a more general construction business, but he really fell in love with concrete, so that’s the area he decided to focus the business on.”
Yoder Concrete Construction, which currently employs 14 individuals, provides commercial, industrial, residential and agricultural concrete construction.
“Grain bin foundations are kind of a specialty of ours,” Mrs. Yoder said. “We also do foundations, flatwork and decorative concrete. We do pretty much anything concrete, really.”
Giving back to the community
In a news release issued by the BBB detailing this year’s Torch Award for Ethics recipients, the Yoders were highlighted for their commitment to community service and for encouraging their employees to volunteer their time to the community.
Besides serving on local boards – Mrs. Yoder at Green Hills Community and Mr. Yoder at Adriel School– the Yoders try to give back to the community through service projects in which their business provides labor free of charge. Projects have included providing free labor for concrete work at Adriel School, Freedom Grove in Urbana, and the Champaign Aviation Museum (signage and foundation for plane on display in front of building) in Urbana.
This year, the business provided free labor to reseal the concrete at Freedom Grove and reseal the decorative courtyard at Oak Grove Mennonite Church in West Liberty.
“If it wasn’t for the community, we wouldn’t be here,” Mrs. Yoder said. “We have to have the support of the community to provide us with work, so to be able to give back to the community is important to us.”
The Yoders also encourage their employees to donate their time to volunteer endeavors.
“We have a policy where they can take a day off if they want to do volunteer work,” Mrs. Yoder said. “One of our employees is a volunteer firefighter, so he takes off quite a bit to take care of local emergencies.”
The Yoders, who have two children, live in West Liberty.
