Not The Biggest, Just The Best

By John Rumler

"If you don't give back to the industry you are in, you shouldn't be in it."

When he was still in high school, Roy Moore launched his career in the construction industry by digging ditches with a shovel. "I was a grunt," he says with a smile. His grandfather, father and an uncle started Moore Excavation Company in 1956 in outer Southeast Portland with a backhoe and a couple of dump trucks. "They reinvested nearly every penny they made back into the company," Moore recalls.

After graduating from high school, Moore also graduated to operating heavy equipment. "I took to it naturally," he says. He worked 10 to 14 hours a day, seven days a week, operating backhoes, cranes, and driving dump trucks. He gradually became more involved in the managing end, and in 1985, he bought his father out. At the time, the company had five employees, but Roy grew the company up to its present 140 employees working on projects in Oregon and Washington in the $250,000 to $15 million range. Now based in Northeast Portland on the Gresham border, Moore Excavation, with its industry leading expertise in pipe bursting, deep trench, large pipe installation, and infrastructure restoration, averages annual revenues of approximately $30 million.

For the first half of his career, Moore was so caught up in the day-to-day, he didn't think about the bigger picture. "Then I realized I had an obligation to give back. If you can't give back to the industry you are in, you shouldn't be in it in the first place," he says. "The vast majority of people just look out for number one."

In 1998, he helped found the local NUCA chapter and served as secretary/treasurer, vice president, and president. Moore, who has sponsored numerous apprentices, also helped charter the NWCC and is a board member. Moore Excavation is also an AGC member and Roy serves as a trustee for the Construction Industry Training Trust (CITT) and as a committee member for the Oregon-Columbia Heavy Equipment Operators Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee (JATC).

Jim Gonzales, owner of Gonzales Boring and Tunneling, based in North Plains, has worked as a subcontractor on many projects for Moore Excavation over the years. "Roy has a huge amount of integrity and knowledge. He's built his company to being so diversified they can handle any phase of excavation," he says. Gonzales describes Moore as a leader and a role model. "Besides all his services for the industry, he's also involved with charities such as Habitat for Humanity and he sponsors baseball and softball teams."

For all accomplishments and leadership positions, Moore is a humble, usually quiet man who is quick to credit others for his success-such as the Case dealer who, during the lean, early years, helped the company acquire a 580 CK backhoe loader enabling them to greatly expand their business. But by far, his greatest asset and his biggest ally over the years is his wife, Kathy. "It's a tough, demanding business and you need someone behind you all the way. Without her constant help and encouragement, we wouldn't be where we are today."

Moore is a passionate advocate for the NWCC. "It's addressing our biggest need, which is having a young, skilled workforce," he says. "That was critical 10 years ago, now it's passed being critical."

Youngsters are not following their parents into the building trades like they used to, Moore explains, and the ones that do enter, aren't prepared and most of them don't know how to work. "It's largely an attitude thing," he summarizes.

Moore thinks NWCC will keep growing and soon need to expand. "They're doing it the right way. It is a group of good, highly professional people who are very skilled at what they do."

The construction industry is changing rapidly, Moore says. "It's so hard to keep up with the rules and regulations, and the technology is exploding. A lot of the old ways no longer work. You still need some of the crusty old guys, but you also need the young educated guys with top training and skills."

The best thing about his career, Moore says, is the relationships. "You get to know terrific people. You earn lifelong friends in this business." The hardest part is the time away from family. "Since I was 17, I've lived this job. I never took a Sunday off until I was in my forties."

With 30-plus years in the construction industry, Moore's philosophy isn't complicated. "Treat people the way you want to be treated," he says, "and don't be the biggest, just be the best."

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