PENZEL FAMILY BUILDS THE REGION THROUGH CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS

Penzel was building the Osage Park Community Center along North Kingshighway.

Construction equipment used by Penzel included a crane on site at Osage Park.

A local business is being honored by Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville for its 86 years in the construction business.

Penzel Construction Co. Inc. was named the 1996 Mississippi Valley Family Business of the Year from the Family Business Forum of the School of Business at SIUE. The award represents a recognition of five generations of excellence and effort by the Penzel family, dating to 1855 when Johan Gottleib Penzel immigrated to the area from Germany.

Linus Penzel founded Penzel Construction on April 1, 1910. At that time, Linus and Robert Penzel would build quality homes, many of which still stand, for $1,000. Gene Penzel, current president, said his great-grandfather, Gustav, built the First Lutheran Church in Jackson for $714, more than 100 years ago.

These days it is a little different. Penzel Construction became a major player in the building industry after World War II, when a push for a modern road system swept the nation. Gene Penzel said the company has built 70 bridges along Interstate 55, as just an example of the amount of work available.

Penzel continued this pace for many years and branched into Illinois, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky. When Gene Penzel took over the company from his father, Carl, in 1981, the Penzel corporation was doing extensive work outside the state.

And while road and bridge construction dominated Penzel's workload for many years, the company kept a hand in local building construction. Recently, the company has turned from roadwork to focus more on local building projects.

Penzel Construction, which employs as many as 250 people a year, works from 15 to 20 projects a month. Vice President Phillip Penzel said the company likes to have four or five big jobs, in the $1 million range, every month. Almost all of those projects are local. Gene Penzel said it was becoming too expensive to transport and house the crews and equipment for any length of time away from the area.

There is plenty of work locally. Penzel was low bidder for such projects as Osage Park in Cape Girardeau, BFI Corp. near Scott City, a number of community schools and the Jackson City Hall renovation.

Gene, Phillip and Chris Penzel have worked together on all these projects in separate ways. A secret to the Penzels' success in the construction business is the way the family pulls together on big projects without conflict.

It is the way the family has been able to run its business for so many years. Phillip is the heir to Penzel Construction, not so much because he is the older brother of Chris, but because he has taken the greatest interest in the business.

Chris, who had less fervor for construction, went into the health field and contributes to the company now as a safety supervisor.

All the Penzels worked their way up through the ranks of the company. Both Gene and Phillip began their careers when they were teen-agers, as laborers. Phillip began supervising construction crews even before he had graduated from college. This way the owners of the company don't lose touch with the workings in the field.

Phillip has already begun to influence the company by introducing state-of-the-art computer knowledge and equipment. This will help to insure Penzel Construction's continuance into the next century.

Even though the one thing Penzel Construction doesn't do anymore is build homes, an example of one of the earliest projects from a member of the Penzel line still stands in Johan's hometown in Germany. A house, constructed in the mid-1500s, housed the Penzels for centuries before Johan's immigration to the United States.

Is construction in the Penzel blood?

"It must be," Phillip said. "So many of us have been doing it for so long."