HERMISTON – Four brothers who grew up on a Grant County ranch have centralized their diverse businesses in Hermiston.

Swaggart Bros. Inc. provides commercial and industrial excavation and construction, plus logging. The brothers bought property last year and established temporary offices at 31989 Feedville Road, where it intersects with U.S. Highway 395.

“This will be our home base,” general manager Lincoln Swaggart said. “We plan to build offices and a shop here this year.”

Lincoln and his brothers Ben, John and Blake jointly manage the business. Ben is the excavation manager. John heads up the construction division and John the logging department.

“The four of us boys have been in business together since September 2002,” Lincoln said. “Things up here grew so rapidly and we just thought it was in our best interest to get all of our resources in a closer geographic area to where we’re working.”

One of the first major projects Swaggart Bros. completed in the Hermiston area was two metal barns at the new Keltic Pride Dairy, east of Hermiston.

“It’s done,” Lincoln said. “They’re milking cows.”

The company began construction at the dairy in early August, he said, and finished Nov. 6.

“We basically built that dairy from the ground up in three months,” he said.

Swaggart Bros. employs 100 in all divisions, Lincoln said, and has employed as many as 124. The brothers started with about 15 employees four years ago.

“We’re primarily an industrial and commercial building contractor,” Lincoln said. “We kinda specialize in ag-related industrial work.”

Pacific Ethanol, which is building at the Port of Morrow, hired Swaggart Bros. to prepare the plant site. Lincoln said Ben directed the grading, leveling and utility work there. The company also prepared the $1 million concrete foundation for the plant’s corn silos.

Tom Koehler, Pacific Ethanol’s vice president, said he’s pleased with their work.

“The Swaggarts have been great to work with,” Koehler said. “They are natural problem-solvers and have done high-quality work on our project.”

Success on that job has led to others. Pacific Ethanol has hired Swaggart Bros. as general contractor for its administration building and a fire pump building, according to the website maintained by the Hermiston Plan Center, a clearinghouse for regional construction projects.

In other Morrow County work, Swaggart Bros. has done construction at Threemile Canyon Farms, including work on manure-handling systems at the dairy. They also have a contract with R.D. Offutt for the site work and utilities at the company’s new potato processing plant at the Port of Morrow.

“We’ll be done with our part probably in May,” Lincoln said.

The increasing number of contracts in the region, which Lincoln said he expects to general $12 million in gross income this year, prompted the move to Hermiston from John Day.

“We’re kinda happy. We’re at the right place at the right time here,” Lincoln said. “This is where we plan to keep doing business and keep growing our company.”