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E.C. Voit: A little bit countryPamela Cotant
The family business, which has evolved over the years and is now a ready-mix concrete plant, has always been intertwined with the farm, which was primarily a dairy operation. Family members traditionally worked on both. These days, the concrete business at 3450 Milwaukee St. is run by Arthur Voit and sons Tom and Art, all of Cottage Grove. They have one other employee who works out of the old wood building now covered with metal sheeting. At the farm with a traditional red barn, Arthur Voit usually plants something -- he is considering soybeans next spring -- and cows grazed there not that long ago. Arthur Voit, 75, gets pressured from time to time to sell the 68-acre property and is planning to develop it himself by putting houses on it, but for now he is content to run the business as he always has. The farm, which has been in the family for about 150 years, was first worked by Arthur Voit's great-grandfather, Christon Wessel, who served in the Civil War. Wessel's daughter Mary married George Voit, who hauled sand and gravel by horse and wagon before his son, Earhardt, officially established a sand and gravel business in the 1920s on part of the farmland. The company would haul sand and gravel to jobs and mix them together on site. Earhardt Voit's wife, Sarah Voit, who was Arthur's mother, worked as a bookkeeper. "She did a pretty good job of keeping us in line, too," Arthur Voit said. Today her desk in the simple office still sits on a platform, which was built on top of the concrete floor so Sarah Voit's feet wouldn't get cold in the winter. In 1936, Earhardt Voit started doing excavating. "He bought a shovel and dug basements," said Arthur Voit, whose grandfather had earlier used horses to dig some basements. In 1948, the company was incorporated as E.C. Voit & Sons and was converted to a ready-mix company. The initials came from Earhardt's first and middle name, which was Christian. The sons were Arthur Voit and his older brothers, Dick and Gordy, who all worked there. Dick Voit died in the mid-1990s. About that time Arthur and Gordy, now 78, split up the family businesses, which by then included Regas Co., a name formed with family members' initials. Regas erected and still leases buildings on family-owned property down from the farm near the post office on Milwaukee Street. Arthur Voit got the ready-mix company and Gordy, who lives across the street from the farm, took over Regas. Arthur Voit made his wife, Peggy, vice president when he took over the company. Peggy Voit, who died in 1997, never worked at the plant, but she served in an advisory position, sometimes coming up with ideas that he implemented. Arthur Voit said at age 11 he started driving his grandfather, who never got a license, around the farm in a 1931 Chevrolet coupe. The young Voit would drive down the lane to the cow pasture where he helped cut thistles and spread salt on the roots to kill them. He also ran errands for his grandfather on his bike. "He called my bicycle the 'wheel,' " Arthur Voit said. "He'd say, 'Get your wheel and go down to the store.' " The company's dairy farm operation ended in the 1950s but the family continued to graze beef cattle for other farmers in the summer until a few years ago. Arthur Voit said he would still be running that operation but it's hard to find small farmers who need that service. For years, carnival rides were set up at E.C. Voit & Sons for the summer festival put on by the East Side Business Men's Association. Ear-hardt Voit also was the town of Blooming Grove chairman for about 25 years. Arthur Voit hasn't set up many formal procedures but he does have certain rules and his kids know he's boss, just like his father was with him. Son Art Voit also remembers Uncle Gordy being in charge. "They were the bosses and now there is only one person who calls the shots," said Art Voit of his father, although Art does make decisions with his brother when their dad is not there. Arthur Voit has always been a stickler about workers showing up on time each day. He also wanted his children to work someplace else first because then they would know he expects certain things because he is the boss, not because he is their father. He also had them start with the most menial tasks. "They start in the gravel pit and they work up," he said. "I want them to know as much as I know or more." Tom Voit gets into disagreements with his brother but that happens less frequently as they age. The senior Voit and Jennifer Weisensel, dispatcher/bookkeeper, often make bets on how long the arguments will last. When the brothers start eating lunch together again, it's a sign they have worked things out, Arthur Voit said. "Sometimes we get a little at each other. Sometimes we walk away from each other," Tom Voit said. "The next day it's not so bad. It always seems to work out." Pamela Cotant is a Madison freelance writer. pcotant@mailbag.com madison.com ©2009 Capital Newspapers. All rights reserved. |
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