Hensel Phelps

Timeline of Hensel Phelps Construction

Company

The year was 1937. Just west of Greeley, Colorado, a farmer named Hensel Phelps was struggling to provide a better living for his family. When his retired parents asked to make their home on the farm, Hensel decided to build one for them – his first building project.

Expanding on that experience, Hensel established a small one-man construction company supplying remodeling and new construction services while continuing his farming activities. Calling his firm Hensel Phelps General Contractor he emphasized quality while maintaining a low overhead.

From this simple beginning, Hensel’s dedication to performance became the basis for 70 years of astonishing success.

Joe Phelps was initiated into his father’s business by working after school picking up scrap and pulling nails. Summer work in 1944-45 on a government survey crew stimulated his interest in engineering, resulting in his enrollment at Colorado State University and completing a degree in Construction Management.

After returning to Colorado from a Navy tour in 1945, Joe rejoined Hensel Phelps and in 1955 they formed Hensel Phelps Construction Company together. Capitalized with $40,000, Joe’s portion consisted of a car and a $20,000 loan from Hensel.

For the next 20 years, joined by Rob Tointon in 1963, Joe built up the company with massive construction projects such as the Stapleton Int’l Airport Terminal in Denver, the Kodak mfg. complex in Colorado, and several terminals at the Dallas-Ft. Worth Int’l Airport.

In 1975, after Joe founded his winery in the Napa Valley, Bob Tointon took the helm of HPCC, expanding it even further. And under Bob’s tutelage, in 1985 Jerry Morgensen, who had joined the company in 1973 as a project manager, was appointed president.

In 2005, HPCC broke ground for the new Freestone winery, and on August 9, 2007, a festive dinner at the new winery celebrated the bond between the two companies and the presence
of four HPCC presidents, Joe Phelps, Bob Tointon, Jerry Mogensen and current president
Jeff Wenaas.