Klaus Construction works the I-55 corridor

By Jim Obert

Business Today

PERRYVILLE -- During the 22 years since Klaus Construction Co. was founded by Karl Klaus and his father, the company's most unusual undertaking was replacing the roof on Cape Girardeau's N' Orleans Restaurant -- twice. Klaus says that was right before the landmark building burned on March 8, 1990, and when it was rebuilt.

In the years before and after the fire, the company has kept active along Interstate 55 from Cape Girardeau to Festus.

"We started off doing residential, agri-related and some commercial work. Now we're 90 percent commercial work," said Klaus, adding that 80 percent of the company's current work is in Cape Girardeau County.

Klaus Construction was the general contractor for Buchheit's, the large general merchandise store that opened last year between Cape and Jackson. The company has also worked on Buchheit stores in Perryville and Herculaneum.

Raised in Perryville, Klaus attended the University of Missouri and graduated with a degree in forestry product management. He worked at a local lumberyard before going into the general contracting business.

Klaus Construction has done work in Fredericktown and Ste. Genevieve, and is currently working on the addition to Major Custom Cable in Fruitland, and new facilities for Premium Mechanical Contracting in Jackson and Timberline International Forest Products in Cape Girardeau.

In Perryville, the company is building an addition for East Perry Lumber Co. and is about to start work on an air-dry building for Rustic Wood Products.

"We try to keep a core group of eight to nine employees," said Klaus, a former 12-year presiding county commissioner. "But that number expands as projects come along. We had about 30 employees at the Buchheit project."

Klaus said his company subcontracts heating, air conditioning, electrical, flat concrete and plumbing work. The company works with architects, state agencies and business owners, and specializes in pre-engineered steel buildings.

"We do big volume with those kind of buildings," said Klaus, who is a member of the Perryville Development Corp. and other pro-business organizations.