“Moving heaven and earth.” That’s a saying to describe doing everything possible to make something happen.
Today we’ll meet a Kansas company which literally follows that philosophy. This company is an earth-moving business and much more.
Max Jantz founded Max Jantz Excavating in 1974 with a John Deere tractor, one pull-type earth scraper, and what he called “a love of the land.” The first work headquarters for the company was the old barn on the family place north of Montezuma, Kan.
Max primarily did dirt work for commercial and municipal projects. He sought opportunities throughout the Midwest to grow the operation by expanding his skills, crews and equipment fleet.
By 2001, Max had gone from a one-man operation to managing a staff of more than 40 employees and an equipment fleet of more than 130. At that time, a strategic decision was made to focus on the development of turn-key dairy and beef cattle feedyard facilities. The company also underwent a name change and became the more inclusive MJE LLC.
As the business continued to grow, Max’s son and daughter joined the company. Today, son Aaron Jantz is chief executive officer and daughter Heather Jantz is chief operating officer.
Aaron and his wife have two children, as do Heather and her husband Aaron Albers who is a project manager with the company. Megan Elsey is director of public relations.
