Buddy Wessner to open landscaping supply business
Buddy Wessner has been operating Wessner’s Excavating LLC for 21 years. The business started out as a residential excavating service but became more commercial over time. Wessner said he started out farming and still farms about 300 acres. “I went from farming to excavating as a young feller.”
Recent projects for Wessner’s Excavating include site improvement contracts for Northwestern Elementary School, Hereford Elementary School, East Penn Self Storage Center, DeSales University and Carbon Plaza Mall.
Located in New Tripoli, Wessner’s childhood home, the business has grown and has now outgrown its site. Wessner needed a new location.
He and his wife Cheree found the ideal site in the former Betz Supply. That business, located at 7209 Kernsville Road, Orefield, PA, was for sale and the Wessner’s bought it in August of 2008. The site will allow Wessner to relocate his excavating business to a larger property.
The location is even large enough for storage of part of a bridge span intended for Lowhill Township. While interviewing Wessner, he received a call from Lowhill Township. The township needed a place to store part of the bridge. Without hesitating Wessner agreed. “We’ll find a spot for it,” said Wessner who serves on Lowhill’s Zoning Hearing Board.
Wessner’s roots are in that area as are his wife’s. Both are Northwestern Lehigh graduates. Daughter Justine, 19, graduated from there as well. She is a student at Penn State studying accounting.
Daughter Kristin attends Northwestern Lehigh. Wessner said Kristin has been accepted at Bloomsburg University and wants to major in early childhood education.
Son, Brandon, completes the trio of children at Northwestern Lehigh. The 15-year-old is “very interested in heavy equipment,” his father said.
Right now, both heavy equipment and carpentry skills are transforming the former Betz site.
In addition to the excavating business, the Wessners will operate a new venture, Stone Haven Supply. The supply business is an evolution from the Betz Supply business.
Wessner did not continue the coal or masonry supply business formerly carried by the former owners. He is, however, continuing to sell fuel oil through a subsidiary company.
He will also provide construction recycling services to process brush, trees and concrete debris. Some of it will find its way back into large bins on the property. Wessner wants to make his own mulch in the spring.
The major change, however, is the development of Stone Haven Supply into a major supplier of landscaping materials. Wessner said he will offer mulch, topsoil, decorative stone, wall stone and “everything that related to landscaping.”
To show off the potential uses of the products, the supply company has constructed a decorative wall adjacent to the office building. The wall and walkway showcase various building materials with bins of mulch and topsoil behind, in addition to containing the sign for Stone Haven Supply.
The business is still in a pre-opening stage as renovations continue on the office. The Wessners want to be finished with construction and ready for a Mother’s Day 2009 grand opening. In the meantime, they are open and selling landscaping supplies.
Although he has “not done a major push” to advertise the business before it’s opening, Wessner said he has been pleased with the response so far. “We’ve probably been busier then we expected,” he said. “The customers are pretty excited.”
The Wessners expected to continue to handle new products as demand increases. “It is better then having your eggs in one basket,” Wessner said.
His wife is the self-described “bookkeeper, secretary and accountant” for the business. Cheree said she is “busier” with the added business lines. She pointed out the “certified scale” outside of the office. “Everything will be weighed,” she said describing the sale of bulk items. The Wessners say they will give fairer value by selling by weight and not by volume.
Wessner was asked what the family does outside of the businesses. “There isn’t much time left over,” he explained, adding that he has a little cabin to get away to in New York State. “But we don’t get there as much as we would like.”
For more information, contact the Wessners at 610-395-3318.
This information was based upon an article originally published December 11, 2008 by The Press. (www.tnonline.com) and written by Ken Petrini (kpetrini@tnonline.com).
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