Mohawk Valley Materials began in 2007 with a load of mulch, a rented skid steer, a small shed and more ambition than experience.

Today, the Rome, N.Y.-based company has grown into a heavy civil contractor with a fleet of approximately 50 to 75 core machines, a workforce that ranges from approximately 50 to 150 depending on workload and a footprint that has extended far beyond central New York.

The company has worked on federal and Department of Defense jobs across the country, including military projects in Hawaii, and has expanded into mining, landfill operations and large-scale sitework.

But even with that reach, company leaders Joe Rutkowski and Trish Rutkowski say some of the biggest opportunities they have ever seen are now taking shape in their own backyard.

At the center of that is Micron's massive semiconductor project in Clay, N.Y.

Mohawk Valley Materials already is performing land-clearing work connected to the Micron development and expects much more to come as the project moves deeper into site preparation and mass excavation.

"We call ourselves a heavy civil contractor," said Joe Rutkowski, the company's vice president and primary business development leader. "That's everything horizontal. We don't build anything up. We clear land, excavate, move material and self-perform the majority of our work."

Rutkowski said that description fits the company's role on the Micron job, where Mohawk Valley Materials has been clearing land for the rail spur portion of the project and preparing areas needed for broader site development.

The work is part of what many in the industry see as one of the most significant construction efforts ever launched in upstate New York.

Rutkowski said the Micron site in Clay encompasses approximately 1,400 acres and has been in development for years through the IDA and engineering planning efforts designed to make it suitable for a project of this scale. He noted that the site includes hundreds of acres of wetlands, requiring substantial mitigation work, including the creation of replacement wetlands to offset impacted areas.

The soils themselves present another major challenge.

According to Rutkowski, the clay-heavy ground conditions in Clay are so poor that up to 9 ft. of unsuitable material is being removed in some areas and replaced with millions of tons of crushed stone to stabilize the site. He said Heidelberg Materials' role supplying stone for the project is expected to be the largest rock job in that company's history.

A dedicated rail spur is being built to move those materials into the site. That rail infrastructure also is expected to support future deliveries tied to building construction, including precast concrete floor panels needed for the clean-room structures.

"It's a 20-year project," Rutkowski said. "It's a $100 billion project. It is going to change this whole region."

He and others close to the work believe the effects will stretch well beyond Clay. In addition to Micron's direct hiring, Rutkowski said the project is expected to create ripple effects across housing, schools, restaurants, trucking, utilities and public infrastructure across central New York and beyond.

Contractors in Buffalo, Rochester and other markets already are trying to figure out how to get involved, he added.

For Mohawk Valley Materials, the current work on the Micron site is relatively modest compared with what may lie ahead. Rutkowski said the company currently has under $1 million in work there but anticipates substantially larger opportunities as the mass excavation packages move forward. He said the company has been positioned for approximately $30 million in earthwork tied to the next phase.

The company's current assignment centers on clearing trees, stumps and brush and preparing ground for future activity. That work carries its own pressure because of environmental restrictions, including the annual March 31 cutoff for clearing trees above a certain size due to endangered bat habitat regulations.

That creates a narrow window for contractors to remove wooded areas before spring conditions worsen already difficult soils.

"Cutting the trees is the easier part," Rutkowski said. "Pulling stumps out of that mud is another story."

The material being removed from the site must be managed carefully. Some trees are ground into mulch, some go into firewood markets and some are sold into other uses, including animal bedding.

Rutkowski said the company's long experience in land clearing, grinding and material handling helps it find practical outlets for whatever the job generates.

That experience goes back, in part, to his earlier career selling specialized recycling and land-clearing equipment, particularly Peterson Pacific horizontal grinders.

Before starting Mohawk Valley Materials, Rutkowski spent years in equipment sales, including with Lyons Equipment, where he sold Peterson grinders across a large multistate territory in the Northeast. He said that background gave him a deep understanding of grinders, chippers, forestry equipment and the specialized contractors who use them.

That history later played directly into Mohawk Valley Materials' relationship with Tracey Road Equipment.

Rutkowski already knew the Peterson brand well, having sold the machines years ago. So, when Tracey Road Equipment became the Peterson dealer in the region, it created a natural point of connection.

That relationship deepened when Tracey Road's Scott Collins and company leadership, including Jerry Tracey, sat down with Mohawk Valley Materials to learn more about its operations and equipment needs.

"What happened was when the Peterson rep, whom I had hired years ago, called me and said there was a new dealer in my backyard, that was Tracey Road," Rutkowski said. "Scott and Jerry came out to introduce themselves, and that really started things."

Collins said the Peterson line was the first step in building the relationship.

Mohawk Valley Materials' first purchase from Tracey Road was a Peterson 5710 grinder, one of the company's newest models. For Rutkowski, that machine was more than just another purchase.

He has owned multiple Peterson grinders over the years, including 2400, 4700 and 7400 models, and speaks about the brand with the familiarity of someone who has sold, owned and operated them.

"If there's any product I have passion for, it's Peterson grinders," Rutkowski said.

From there, the relationship expanded into excavators.

Mohawk Valley Materials had long been familiar with John Deere equipment, but Collins saw an opportunity to introduce the company to Hitachi after the Deere-Hitachi split reshaped the market.

So far, Collins said, Tracey Road has sold Mohawk Valley Materials three Hitachi excavators along with the Peterson grinder: a new ZX490-7, a ZX210 and most recently, an 850-size machine.

The flagship unit in that group is the ZX490-7, a 115,000-lb. excavator now working on the Micron-related site.

Rutkowski said operators took to the machine quickly.

"They do love the 490," he said. "The guys that know dirt equipment said it was an awesome machine. They love the power and performance."

Collins said Hitachi's reputation in large excavators, mining and hydraulic performance has helped open doors with contractors looking for a serious production machine. He noted that the brand has become one of Tracey Road's largest lines in a relatively short period of time.

The support behind the equipment has been just as important as the iron itself.

Rutkowski said field service, quick response and access to knowledgeable people make the difference on a heavy civil job, where downtime immediately becomes costly.

"The nice thing is I've got Scott Collins on the other end of the phone," Rutkowski said. "It's Sunday, I e-mail him and he responds in a minute. And if there's a support issue, he's group texting and getting his team moving almost instantly."

He added that he appreciates knowing company leadership is accessible if needed but said Tracey Road has put the right people in place, so issues usually get handled without having to go any higher.

That responsiveness matters on modern machines, which are more sophisticated than ever and often need setup help, attachments, hydraulic adjustments or fast field service.

"There's always a training element to running these machines," Rutkowski said. "There's always a hose that's going to blow, or a feature that needs to be adjusted, or an implement that needs to be added. To have a dealer with trained service techs and the trucks to get to your job, that's critical."

Mohawk Valley Materials also has benefited from financing support tied to the Hitachi purchases.

Trish Rutkowski, president of the construction company and the financial force behind much of its growth, said Zaxis Finance helped streamline year-end purchasing and gave the company quick access to capital.

She said the company initially was looking to finance a relatively small excavator purchase, but after providing standard financial documentation, it secured a $5 million line of credit in short order.

"It was quick, fast and easy," she said. "It wasn't weeks of back and forth. That allowed us to move on several purchases right when we needed to."

That access to financing has supported a broader fleet update. Rather than continue relying on older iron, the company has been selling off used machines and moving aggressively into newer units with updated emissions systems, warranty coverage and greater reliability.

Rutkowski said that shift is especially important now as the company prepares for the scale of work expected around Micron and other large regional developments.

Among those developments are the growing Chobani yogurt investment in the region, the I-81 work in Syracuse and other major public and private projects that together are reshaping the construction landscape in central New York.

Collins said Micron alone could become the single biggest economic driver Tracey Road Equipment has ever seen.

"All of New York State DOTs annual spend is about $5 billion a year," he said. "They're talking about spending that much per year in Syracuse for 20 years. That changes everything."

Mohawk Valley Materials believes it is well positioned to grow with that change.

The company's structure also gives it an advantage.

Because the business is woman-owned, it holds several certifications that help it compete for major work. Those include New York State WBE certification, federal WOSB certification — Woman-Owned Small Business — and DBE certifications in various states.

Those certifications are especially valuable on large projects where prime contractors need to meet participation goals.

"The fact that Mohawk Valley Materials has that WBE certification is very advantageous to the large contractors who need to meet goals on their job," Joe Rutkowski said. "On the federal level, we can go anywhere in the country and check a lot of boxes for the bigs."

Still, both Joe and Trish Rutkowski stress that the certifications are only part of the story.

They said the company's growth has come from building a real operating business, with field crews, office staff, equipment, bonding, credit, proposal writing, safety performance and a willingness to chase difficult work wherever it leads.

Trish Rutkowski said there is sometimes skepticism in the marketplace about woman-owned firms, but she made clear that Mohawk Valley Materials is not a paper designation.

She manages the financial side of the business, including bonding, credit, insurance and the back-office systems that support growth. She also emphasized the role of the broader team, from field operators to office staff, in helping the company handle larger and more complex projects.

"What we try to tell our people is everyone is a different spoke in the wheel," she said. "Together, we all make that wheel turn."

From the outside, Mohawk Valley Materials' rise can look dramatic.

Rutkowski said the company started with little more than a small mulch yard and hard-earned trial and error. The first day in business, in fact, did not go smoothly. The original operation in Rome was shut down by city officials before it really got started because the company had jumped in without fully understanding local permitting requirements.

But the Rutkowskis adjusted, learned and kept building.

The company eventually changed its name from Mohawk Valley Mulch to Mohawk Valley Materials as the scope of work expanded from bulk materials into excavation, land clearing, federal contracts and heavy civil construction.

Since then, the business has doubled repeatedly over its early years, eventually growing into a company that now measures projects in the millions and acquisitions in the tens of millions.

"We built that company from the ground up," Trish Rutkowski said. "There's no rich uncle, no daddy, no granddaddy. We built it doing many things the wrong way, learning valuable lessons, and then building on those lessons."

Even after working nationwide, both Joe and Trish Rutkowski say they are especially committed to building something lasting in central New York.

They have seen other regions benefit from major investment and believe this part of the state is finally entering a new period of opportunity.

For Mohawk Valley Materials, Micron is not just another big job.

It is the kind of project that can redefine a company, a dealer network and an entire region at the same time.

And for a business that started with one scoop of mulch and a lot of determination, that next chapter may be its biggest one yet. CEG