Building a Bright Future
It all began in 1921, with three brothers who dreamed of building roads so that farmers could bring their crops to market. Today, each of our employees and clients collaborate to help us live our mission and together, we make our communities better. Our family continues to grow and we could not be more excited for our future.
CEO Message
On behalf of everyone at Goodfellow Bros. our CEO, Chad Goodfellow, would like to express a sincere appreciation to all those who have supported us over the last 100 years.
Virtual Museum
Welcome to the Goodfellow Bros. Virtual Museum. Here, you will be able to explore GBI’s history over the last 100 years.
Take a journey through our past and experience the unwavering passion passed down through generations.
Community Grant Opportunity
As part of our centennial celebration, Goodfellow Bros. is offering a $50,000 grant to a charitable organization located in, or directly serving, a community in which we live and work. This gesture is an expression of our sincerest and deepest gratitude for the communities and organizations that have supported us and made us who we are today.
Technology Timeline
- 1920
- 1923
- 1933
- 1942
- 1949
- 1953
- 1960
- 1965
- 1967
- 1970
- 1976
- 1985
- 1986
- 1989
- 1992
- 1992
- 1999
- 2003
- 2003
- 2009
- 2011
- 2013
- 2016
- 2019
- 2019
- 2019
- 2019
- 2019
- 2021
- 2021
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1920 – The First Job
Goodfellow Bros.’ first contract, the Swakane Road Extension project, used economical Fresno scrapers and a big horse-drawn plow team.
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1923 – Steam Shovels
Goodfellow Bros. rents wide iron-wheeled three-quarter yard “merry-go-round” Erie steam shovels to complete an irrigation job.
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1933 – Grand Coulee Dam
Grand Coulee Dam equipment: four diesel shovels, gas shovel, diesel tractor with Isaacson road builder, Caterpillar Sixty with bulldozer, Monarch 35 crawler tractor with No. 10 Adams grader, ten International trucks, six five-yard white trucks, five-yard Indiana truck, 110’ Sullivan compressor.
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1942 – “All Very Modern”
The company buys D-8 Cats, LeTourneau scrapers, Woolridge scrapers, and a Laplant Choate scraper. “All very modern,” says Jim Goodfellow Sr.
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1949 – Jim Goodfellow Sr. becomes President
Jim Goodfellow Sr. succeeds his brother, Jack, as president of Goodfellow Bros.
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1953 – Introduction of Hydraulics
The introduction of hydraulics increases construction reliability, power, and precision.
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1960 – Computer Age
Jim Jr.’s brother, Bob, a computer science major, orders a computer to develop a cost reporting system.
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1965 – Jim Goodfellow Jr. becomes President
Jim Goodfellow Jr. succeeds his father, Jim Sr., as. president of Goodfellow Bros.
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1967 – Soil Problems
Soils cause problems at the Starvation Dam Project. Goodfellow Bros. engages Oregon State University Civil Engineering Professor Fred Merryfield of CH2M for solutions.
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1970 – GBI Takes to the Air
To scout projects, instead of a 1911 Ford, the company uses an airplane. This technology lowers roadwork costs twenty-five percent compared to fifty years earlier.
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1976 – CAT’s D10 Dozer
Bud Junger uses a prototype of Caterpillar’s first D10 with high track technology on Bozeman Pass in Montana.
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1985 – Company’s first computer
Dan Reisenauer picks out the company’s first computer system for accounting.
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1986 – GBI’s first fax machine
“We’re in there plugged into the phone, and then we send a piece of paper over to Hawai’i. It took a minute to get there and we thought, “This is cooler than heck!”
~ Dan Reisenauer
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1989 – New Bidding System
Newly hired engineers like Lane Shinnick and Joe Correy help move forward a computerized bidding system created in-house.
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1992 – Steve Goodfellow becomes president
Steve Goodfellow succeeds his father, Jim Jr., as president of Goodfellow Bros.
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1992 – Cell Phones
Cell phones begin to be more widely used. “I remember the debates about whether we should have cell phones. Bud Junger said they were just an excuse for poor planning.”
~ Joe Correy
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1999 – Estimating Software
The Washington region, operating out of Lane Shinnick’s basement, begins using HCSS bid-to-completion estimating software.
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2003 – First GPS Unit
The Washington region buys the company’s first GPS unit ushering in a new era of three dimensional surveying and modeling.
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2003 – First Website
Goodfellow Bros. publishes its first website, ten years after World Wide Web technology enters the public domain.
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2009 – Zonar technology
To improve Goodfellow Bros.’ preventative maintenance program, Equipment Manager John Stump loans a staff member to Zonar to help develop the technology.
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2011 – Chad Goodfellow becomes president
Chad Goodfellow succeeds his father, Steve Goodfellow, as president of Goodfellow Bros.
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2013 – First Drone
The Washington region buys the company’s first drone, primarily used for taking photos and letting owners see progress on job sites.
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2016 – Moving to the cloud
Goodfellow Bros. moves its files to the cloud, making project data highly mobile and easily accessible on every job site. Project teams now have documentation and plan sets available on-demand in the palm of their hands.
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2019 – Licensed Drone Pilots
Every region in the company has at least one licensed drone pilot conducting autonomous pre-programmed flights that provide actionable, highly accurate 3D project data, visualization and quantity measurements.
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2019 – Chad Goodfellow becomes CEO
Chad Goodfellow succeeds his father, Steve, as CEO of Goodfellow Bros.
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2019 – First Electric High-Drive Dozer
The company’s first electric D6XE bulldozer provides more power and no delay and makes 100 percent of its torque at low RPMs.
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2019 – Renewable Diesel
Goodfellow Bros. begins using 100 percent renewable diesel made from waste products, translating to lower costs, less maintenance and 85 percent less sulfur than ultra-low sulfur diesel.
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2019 – Next Generation Navigation
Goodfellow Bros. invests in 20 machines wired for Trimble Earthworks, the next generation 3D Global Navigation Satellite System and Advanced Machine Control systems.
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2021 – Looking to the future
Putting people first and at the center, Goodfellow Bros. continues to explore and invest in data-rich and integrated business intelligence solutions including telematics, Artificial Intelligence, robotics, and remotely operated and autonomous vehicles to improve and advance future projects and job sites.
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2021 – Scott Blaine becomes president
Scott Blaine promoted to president of Goodfellow Bros.
“The Kootenai Tribe of Idaho has been implementing large-scale river restoration since 2011 and Goodfellow Bros. has been our construction contractor of choice for all of our projects. They have played an integral role on our project team in helping the Tribe achieve success in implementing important project goals and objectives. Their expertise is so valuable and they have a very special ability to connect with the people they are working with and for, which stems from a company philosophy that encourages those connections. We have so much appreciation for their assistance in helping achieve restoration of habitats for unique and culturally significance species, such as the Kootenai River white sturgeon and burbot. We consider our relationship with Goodfellow Bros. a valued, lasting friendship and wish them a very happy 100th birthday!”
~ Susan Ireland, Fish and Wildlife Department Director, Kootenai Tribe of Idaho
“To our Goodfellow Bros. Ohana, Happy 100th Birthday! The Maui Fire Department would like to recognize and thank you for your dedication in assisting our Department and the Maui community every day, but especially in times of crisis.”
~ David Thyne, Fire Chief, County of Maui
“At GBI our mission is clear, to be the contractor of choice for the communities we live and work in. It’s an honor to not only see the work we do building communities across our regions but to see everyone from our CEO to our laborers give back to their communities and each other.”
~ Nate Drescher, Assistant Controller