About Grade Tech
Grade Tech Services is a family-owned company dedicated to providing grading and excavating services exclusively to power generation companies across the US. We are committed to our customers – providing the highest quality, most reliable services in the industry – and our employees – helping them to build sustainable careers and better lives.
We are experienced in performing the full gamut of excavating and grading services for the power industry, including right of way roadways/pathways for power line installation and site work for new substations, substation expansion and substation demolition. We also provide reclamation and restoration services.
At Grade Tech Services, we value people above all else. Safety for our customers and our employees comes first. Along with safety, we are dedicated to training, communication and accountability. We invest in the latest equipment and civil engineering technology in order to provide the highest quality work in the least possible time at a fair price.
Headquartered in Midvale, Utah, we are licensed in Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah. With our aviation fleet, our team is travel-ready – we can be anywhere in the Northwest U.S. in 24 hours, and are ready, willing and able to expand our footprint across the nation.
Get to Know the Owner
Rory Hall, Grade Tech’s Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder, provides a unique look into his personal motivation, passion for the job, and philosophy of success in a candid video. Ever wonder what makes Grade Tech successful, what it’s like to work at a company like Grade Tech, or how to build a successful (and fulfilling) career without a college degree? You’ll get a no-holds-barred look at what makes Rory tick—and what makes Grade Tech successful.
Putting Our Experience to Work for the Power Industry
“Dirt is in our blood” is an appropriate motto for the Hall family. What better way to describe three generations of excavators and graders? Co-owner and Chief Operating Officer, Rory Hall is at the helm of this family-owned and operated company today, following in the footsteps of his father, Billy, and his grandfather, Bill before him.
Back to the Beginning
Bill Hall started excavating and grading during World War II. He and his wife, Millie – whose family migrated to the western United States during the Great Depression for her father and brother to work on the Hoover Dam – traveled from state to state for work. Bill, an excavator, was instrumental in the development of numerous airports in the western states.
When their twin daughters turned 5 years old, the Hall family settled in Sandy, Utah where Millie still lives today. (Her house sits next door to Grade Tech’s office.) Bill got a job with a local construction company and then started purchasing equipment to start his own company. After purchasing a D4 CAT and a grader, he set out on his own. Other equipment – a Barber green paver and 3 dump trucks with snow plows – followed as Bill contracted with paving companies and helped to build the roads (and plow them in the winter) throughout the area.
Bill passed on his passion for the equipment and the work to his son, Billy, who started riding on the grader with Bill when he was just 5 years old. Billy loved the equipment so much that he taught himself how to fix it and aspired to be a diesel mechanic. After high school, Billy spent a brief period in Los Angeles working for his uncle constructing steel buildings, but he was missing the dirt.
Realizing that excavating was his calling, Billy returned to Utah to work with his dad. “I love to watch that dirt move,” Billy says. “There’s nothing else like it.”
After Bill retired, Billy bought his first piece of equipment (a grader), got his contracting license and, at 22-years-old, started his own company – Hall Excavating. Billy built his reputation by word of mouth and soon became the go-to guy for the asphalt/paving companies about town. After purchasing a scraper, Billy branched out into grading and excavating land for the construction of subdivisions. He continued to add equipment – a water truck and a roller – and hired two employees to help him. There were many bumps in the road, but Billy persevered.
The Third Generation
Like his dad before him, Billy passed his passion for moving dirt to his son, Rory. “My dad really loved his job, loved working with the machinery, loved to be a part of building something,” Rory says. “He passed that passion on to me.” Rory started working for Hall Excavating full-time (in the summer) when he was just 12 years old. By the time he was 16, he was working as an equipment operator and laborer on Billy’s crew during work release from his high school. In fact, Rory was so sure that he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps, he graduated from high school three semesters early to start his full-time career.
“Deep down, I always knew what I was going to do,” Rory explains. “My ultimate goal was to run the company my father had started.” He went from grade crew to
superintendent and estimator to vice president of the company in just a few short years, learning each and every aspect of the job as he moved up. Billy and Rory built Hall Excavating into a company that employed 150 people and owned over 200 vehicles and pieces of equipment. Then, in 2005, Billy sold it all to Kilgore Companies. Rory then headed up Kilgore’s excavation division.
Grade Tech is Born
After 3 years with Kilgore, Rory and Billy came back together to form Grade Tech. Having a friend at a local electric company, Rory got introduced to the power industry and bid on a power job. He got it – and has never looked back. Realizing he had found his niche in serving the power industry, Rory continued to build Grade Tech’s reputation with other power companies. These days it’s Rory running the company and making the decisions.
Although Rory has shifted sectors, he still operates like his father and grandfather before him – placing a high value on people, safety and equipment. Grade Tech Power Service is built on the premise that to provide superior service, you need to invest in both equipment and people. To that end, Rory strives to keep pace with the latest equipment and goes to great lengths to provide a safe work environment, advanced training and opportunity for career growth for everyone at the company.
Billy–64 Years to the Day
Continuing the Tradition
The Hall family has been moving dirt for three generations, and once dirt is “in your blood,” it’s hard to get it out. In fact, although he officially passed the torch to Rory, Billy Hall still can’t stay away from the dirt for too long. He loves to come out to a job site, climb onto one of the company’s fleet of late-model construction vehicles and get back into the swing of things as an owner, foreman and operator. He just can’t get it out of his blood.
And now a fourth-generation is getting into the picture. Like his grandpa and dad before him, Rory is following in the family tradition, passing his passion for the trade on to his son, Tucker. The two can often be found out in the field on the equipment together, moving the dirt that has defined a family for more than 75 years.
The equipment and technology we use may have changed significantly over the years, but we haven’t changed the way we do business.
Grade Tech Power Service was built on the premise that to provide superior service, you need to invest in both equipment and people. To that end, we strive to keep pace with the latest equipment. We also go to great lengths to provide a safe work environment, advanced training, a sustainable work/life balance and opportunity for career growth for our team members. We value our employees above all else.
“We’ve built this business to where it is today by providing reliable, high-quality services with integrity and a focus on people,” explains Rory. “Our team is our extended family; we value them and aim to provide a sustainable career as well as favorable and safe working conditions.”
Early 1930’s
Great-grandma Millie’s family moves to Nevada where her father and brother work on the Hoover Dam, then settle in Idaho.
Early 1940’s
Millie marries Bill Hall.
During World War II
Millie and Bill Hall travel throughout the Western United States as Bill works as an excavator and is instrumental in building numerous airports.
Early 1950’s
Bill and Millie settle in Sandy, Utah with their two sets of twin daughters, Jean & Jane, Pamela & Tamela, and their son Billy.
Mid 1950’s
Working construction to make ends meet, Bill saves up enough money to buy a grader and begins providing excavating and grading services for paving companies.
1973
Billy Hall – who started riding with his dad when he was just 5 years old – buys his first piece of equipment (a grader), obtains his contracting license and starts his own company, Hall Excavating.
1990
Rory Hall, Billy’s son, begins working for Hall Excavating in the summer at 12 years old. Rory continues to work with his dad throughout his high school years. At 18, he joins the company full-time and, over the next several years, works his way up to Vice President.
Throughout the 1990’s
Billy and Rory built Hall Excavating into a company that employed 150 people and owned over 200 vehicles and pieces of equipment.
2005
Billy sells Hall Excavating to Kilgore Companies. Rory leads Kilgore’s excavation division.
Later in 2005
Billy founds Grade Tech and focuses their work on the Power Industry.
2008
Rory rejoins Billy at Grade Tech.
2020
Grade Tech celebrates 15 years in business. The company has completed projects in Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, Texas and Iowa.
YEARS IN BUSINESS
EMR
Mission Statement
“We Do Power.” We work with power utilities, but it’s more than just that. It’s also about our people – we em”power” our people to reach their personal goals by hiring those who fit in with our company culture, fostering team cohesiveness, and encouraging a positive mindset.
Core Values
Safety
Providing a safe work environment for employees and customers is our #1 priority.
Quality
Methodical preparation and years of experience are pivotal on our high-quality civil engineering projects.
Training
From operating excavators in high voltage substations to steam cleaning equipment, our team receives thorough training and instruction in all aspects of operations.
Accountability
Through transparent communication and an organized management structure, there is no grey area. We are able to hold all employees accountable for their actions.
Communication
We believe in 100% open communication between both employees and customers. Utilizing our communication platform, each employee can maintain an open door policy both in the field and office.