Paul’s father was an attorney. And then there was Paul’s Great-Grandfather’s company. Ryan worked as a marketing consultant for this family's construction business before being elected to Congress.
From: http://www.ryancentral.com/history.html
Founded in 1884 with a single team of mules building railroad embankments in Southern Wisconsin, Ryan Incorporated Central has grown into one of the nation's largest site-work contractors. Today the Company performs residential, commercial, industrial and power site work, landfill construction and capping and full-service golf course building/remodeling for both public and private customers. Throughout its 125 year history, Ryan Incorporated Central has remained committed to safety, excellent work, customer service and professional integrity.
Ryan Incorporated Central has been shaping the earth since 1884. The Company started in Janesville, Wisconsin with a team of mules building railroad embankment in Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. As it grew, it added road work and mining in the early 1900's. By the 1940's the Company had become a full-service grading contractor serving both private industrial and public transportation customers, including some of the original work at what would become O'Hare Airport. During the 1970's and 1980's, Ryan expanded its services to include landfill construction and waste remediation, and in the 1990's added golf course construction. Today, Ryan Incorporated Central is one of the nation's premier mass excavation and site-work contractors with expertise in residential, commercial, transportation, entertainment, energy and environmental work. This including extensive experience in power and industrial site-work, state-of-the-art municipal and industrial landfill construction and capping and full service golf course construction. The Company's project size ranges in dollar value from $10,000 to $50,000,000.
As the Company has grown its capabilities, it has also expanded geographically having successfully completed projects in over 25 states. While Janesville, Wisconsin is still the Company's corporate headquarters, it now has offices in Elgin, Illinois and Hagerstown, Maryland and a permanent presence throughout the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions.
From horses to motor scrapers, from railroad embankments to power plants, landfills, subdivisions and golf courses and from Wisconsin to Virginia, the company has evolved and grown over 125 years. But as the company prepares its fifth generation to take the reins, the entire organization's commitment to safety, excellent work, customer service and professional integrity remains unchanged.
1884
Patrick W. Ryan began an earthmoving company specializing in railroad construction. In 1913, William H. Ryan, Patrick's oldest son, a graduate Civil Engineer, started P.W. Ryan Sons, an earthmoving firm which became one of the first road building organizations in the State of Wisconsin.
1952
William, Thomas, and Donald Ryan, the sons of William H. Ryan, upon graduation as Civil Engineers, began their own highway building partnership, Ryan Brothers Company. In 1957, Ryan Incorporated of Wisconsin was created to better serve the growing business of Ryan Brothers Company.
1985
Throughout the 1970's and 1980's, operations expanded to serve clients on a nationwide basis. In 1985, Ryan Incorporated Central was formed under the management of the fourth generation of Ryans: Adam, David, James, Matthew, Nancy, and Patrick to continue this tradition of service.
