Ark Valley News - Ditch Witch sets ground breaking for August

Ditch Witch sets ground breaking for August
By Matt Heilman
Last Updated: May 23, 2013

A longtime local business has targeted the groundbreaking of its new facility for sometime in Augusta. Ditch Witch of Kansas, currently at 125th North and Broadway is moving south to land just south of Hartman Arena near 77th North and I-135.

Ditch Witch CEO Jake Sadler, who has a 50/50 share in the company with his father Lenny Sadler, said plans call for construction of a 24,000 square-foot facility on eight acres.

The goal is to have the construction completed by mid January, he said.

He said Wichita's Sheldon architecture is designing the new facility with Hutton Construction contracted to build it.

"Once they get finished up, we'll start moving over," Sadler said.

When the plans for Ditch Witch to move its local operation were announced in February, Sadler said the company purchased the property near 77th North and I-135 from Johnny Stevens, the Wichita developer who owns the Kansas Coliseum property, including the Kansas Pavilions and the new home for the National Institute for Aviation Research that used to be Britt Brown Arena.

Sadler took over Ditch Witch of Kansas in September with the purchase of Kansas UnderCon Inc. Ditch Witch has had a presence in Kansas for more than 40 years.

That presence is going to expand as an underground construction dealer.

Sadler said the facility's move south will allow for "more of a retail feel to the parts department."

The new facility will include a retail part of the business, accompanied by a service department. In February, Sadler said the 24,000-square-foot structure near the interstate would serve as a hub for Ditch Witch's regional operation. Equipment will be sent to the new site before it's shipped to the company's other locations.

Ditch Witch also operates in counties in eastern New Mexico, the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, Nebraska and Wyoming.