Company History

Karl Konieczny and his eight siblings grew up during the depression on a small farm on River Drive in Hadley, MA. The strong relationships Karl had with his siblings helped him start Karl’s Excavating and Site Work.

In the late 1940s when his brother Edward returned from WWII, the Konieczny’s were still plowing their fields with a team of horses. Edward told Karl about the types of equipment used to make roads and airports in the Pacific. Edward saw first hand a new way of construction there. Instead of using massive cable shovels, scrapers and bulldozers, or alternatively shovels and horses, they were using modern, mobile, compact backhoes.

Using this knowledge, Karl, with the help of his brothers and sisters, purchased the first backhoe that was put to work in the Hadley area in the late 1940s. His plan was to do small jobs, replacing the horses and hand shovels. His plan worked out. North Hadley in 1950 was a rural agricultural-based community. As the area grew, so did his business.

The current success of Karl’s Excavating and Site Work is due to Karl’s hard work, vision and his commitment to his many employees and customers. Often Karl would loan employees money when needed and work with someone if they couldn’t pay their bill. On the flip side, Karl was also frugal. He could often be found wandering the aisles of the Hadley Flea Market trying to find a deal on tools.

Karl was blessed with a long life filled with lots of friends, a large family and a core group of employees that stuck with him in good times and in bad. The Pioneer Valley underwent massive changes in his lifetime and he worked on many of these projects. He had a core group of employees that started working at the business out of high school and retired after many years of service. Without the dedication of these people, the business would not have been successful.

Today, Karl's youngest son Al runs the company with the help of a dedicated staff of long time employees. His middle son, Will, joinned the team full time in 2021 after graduating Smith Vocational High School