One of the advantages of using larger excavators is they allow Ram Jack West to install longer extensions, as shown here, cutting down on both cost and installation time.

Together, Ken Marquardt and his wife, Emily, have grown Ram Jack West. For the first six years, Ken handled sales and Emily ran the office, while they both managed crews. Now they have a team of experts working for them, with the business consisting of 70 percent residential and 30 percent commercial.

Ken Marquardt, owner of Ram Jack West in Eugene, Oregon, is as solid about his commitment to his business as the product he represents. His company is the exclusive Ram Jack dealer for Oregon and Washington and serves customers from its office in Eugene and offices in Portland and Seattle.

As a franchisee member of Ram Jack Systems Distribution, Ken’s company specializes in helical piles/push piles for residential, commercial and industrial buildings, and provides underpinning and shoring of existing buildings.

“Ram Jack has been used to repair foundations since 1984,” Ken says. “We came on board in 2001 and plan to be doing this forever because it’s such a reliable product and we’ve been able to help so many people with it.”

The innovative Ram Jack System was developed to solve foundation repair issues with a reliable method for supporting residential and commercial foundations using unique brackets for driving piles as well as related foundation support products manufactured from American-made steel.

Taking the Chance

The opportunity with Ram Jack fit Ken’s profile of the ideal way to make a living based on his construction business experience. In high school, he worked for a painting contractor in Troy, Michigan. Then he started his own painting company while a student at the University of Oregon in Eugene, where he decided to go after a skiing trip at Mount Hood. “I loved the area and knew I wanted to stay. Plus I saw business opportunity here,” he says.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in economics, he started a different business—one that transports structures, primarily private homes. “In 1994, we moved our first house. In 2001, an engineer working with us told me about Ram Jack and I decided it was the business I really wanted to be in because then I could fix the problems we saw around the Willamette Valley,” Ken says.

Moving Forward

His first Ram Jack project was in 2002. Three years later, the Ram Jack part of his business was so successful, he decided to drop house moving and construction work to focus solely on Ram Jack business.

“Now we repair foundations every day for residential and commercial buildings up to six stories. One of the biggest was The Chandler Building, a five-story apartment building in Coos Bay, Oregon, that was 8 inches down. We installed 22 large-diameter piles and lifted the brick building. We knew how to raise the structure without causing damage because of our house moving experience and our Ram Jack training. This was one of our most rewarding commercial projects. That was four years ago and it’s doing fine,” he says.

For the first six years with Ram Jack, Ken’s business focused only on residential. “My wife Emily and I grew this business together,” he says. “At the beginning, it was me selling, Emily running the office, and both of us working with the crews. She’s very smart and has been a driving force throughout. Plus, during all of this we had two children, so she was the expert at multitasking,” he says.

Planning to Change Direction

When Ken saw more opportunity in commercial work, he looked for people who could help grow that side of the business. “First I hired John Colburn, a guy who can solve any problem. He’s now our superintendent, and when the engineers come up with an idea to fix something, John is a key part of making it happen.”

Then he expanded the sales effort. “I found a great salesman in Chris Klein. He was my only salesperson for a while, and two years ago was named the top Ram Jack salesman in the country. Now he handles the Seattle area and is our guy for presenting lunch and learns where we explain to realtors, engineers or contractors what we do and how we do it. This works well for us and has helped grow our commercial business,” Ken notes. Today, his business is 70 percent residential and 30 percent commercial, with commercial heading for more expansion.

Supporting the Corporate Side

The business support from Ram Jack has also been a key part of Ken’s success. The company provides training and certification of all new installers supplemented by annual training updates. Ram Jack products also come with lifetime warranties backed by a warranty trust. “A lot of companies say this, but we really do it. Through our association, all dealers contribute to the fund that backs up the warranties, so it’s not just a piece of paper; it’s real,” he says.

As a company, Ram Jack claims its success stems from a commitment to quality products and customer satisfaction, a theme that Ken reinforces daily. “We focus on quality people, from sales to crew teams and customer service. We rely on referral business, so I’m always thinking about customer service and how everyone is committed to the customer throughout the project. We do our best to avoid change orders and cost overruns. Customer service is No. 1 and safety is first. That’s our motto,” he says.

Ram Jack West uses a safety consultant to manage its safety program, which includes company-wide meetings, each focusing on a different topic, and a weekly Monday meeting that covers a new topic each time, such as avoiding heatstroke during hot weather.

"We focus on quality people, from sales to crew teams and customer service. We rely on referral business, so I’m always thinking about customer service and how everyone is committed to the customer throughout the project.” Ken Marquardt, Owner, Ram Jack West

Maintaining Quality People

The attitude within the company is a key part of keeping quality people. “Our company has a welcoming culture and operates with high integrity, which is why people want to work with us,” Ken says. “A number of the crew chiefs have been with us for 10 to 12 years. When someone likes what they do and who they work for, it translates into great customer service. We are also family oriented, have great benefits, and it really is a fun place to be, especially in our indoor basketball half-court in the Eugene office. It’s a great way to have fun and expand the team spirit,” he says.

That strong team spirit has also helped the company nationally. Ram Jack West was named dealer of the year for three years in a row. “We aren’t the biggest Ram Jack company, but we had the biggest volume of business for the number of households in our region. Customer service is very important for receiving this recognition from Ram Jack. They rate all the things a customer wants from a contractor, and we did them all,” he adds.

Giving Back

Not only does Ram Jack West strengthen building foundations, it supports organizations that help others. “We get a lot of requests for donations and we evaluate each one,” Ken says. “We’ve helped a neighborhood bike safety program, sponsored the Structural Engineers of Oregon golf tournament and donated to development programs for the rural areas around here. But our most consistent charity is the Muscular Dystrophy Association. We’ve worked with them for the last two to three years.”

For Ken Marquardt, the process of raising up buildings to keep them from sinking or collapsing easily transfers to helping communities and lifting up people who need a boost to keep their lives moving forward.