Our History

Providing excavation and grading service to residential home builders, using a Caterpillar 955 Traxcavator and single-axle dump truck, Frank provided honest prices and quality work to his clients solidifying his place in the local construction market.

With his first son, Tony here at age 2, born the same year he started his business, Frank had his family in mind from day one. Frank often brought Tony with him to work where Tony developed a lifelong passion for machinery and heavy construction equipment. Spending countless hours watching his dad form relationships with both customers and employees gave Tony an appreciation for integrity, quality and hard work. Today, Tony continues doing what he loves most, “working hard to provide the best quality of work to our customers.”

As new equipment came on the market, in 1978, Frank was one of the first in the area to make the switch from traxcavator to hydraulic excavator. Purchasing the machine of choice for residential excavation and for sites requiring soil corrections under foundations, Frank’s brand new John Deere 690B brought with it new opportunities to serve the commercial construction market.

As his company continued to grow, in 1979 Frank Frattalone incorporates the firm as F.M. Frattalone Excavating and Grading, Inc. and also introduces the first company logo.

With continued growth and the need for more office and shop space, FM Frattalone Excavating and Grading acquires a facility at 3066 Spruce Street in Little Canada.

In 1985 Frattalone began offering expanded services to its growing client base when it formed the Underground Utility Division. By providing self-performed site utility work, the team was able to enhance project delivery to better meet the needs of their clients’ and project partners.

Driving a culture of hard work, dedication and service, Frank began awarding employees with an “anniversary” ring to commemorate their tenth year of service. Arlen “Red” Richter, pictured here with Frank, was one of Frank’s first employees. Red, along with Jeff Jacobsen and Gene Hansen were the first employees to receive a 10-year anniversary ring. Red retired in 2016 after 41 years of service to the company.

In 1991, Frattalone Excavating & Grading introduces a new modernized logo to the market. The new logo features updated equipment to showcase the firm’s dedicated focus on commercial construction. The revised font and color palette represent a passion and excitement for heavy equipment bringing the firm into the new decade with strength and enthusiasm.

In 1993, the company began purchasing Peterbilt trucks for the first time, a conversion to their existing fleet that would continue for many years.

On the cold morning of Sunday, January 7th, 1996 the community gathered to watch Frattalone Excavating take down the 75 year old Montgomery Wards building and tower. The Midway structure was demolished using 1200 lbs of dynamite and was the first implosion the firm would perform.

Big changes came to downtown St Paul in the 1990s with the construction of the new Minnesota Mutual/Securian and St Paul Companies’ Headquarter buildings. Frattalone provided civil site work for both projects, helping change the landscape of Minnesota’s capital city.

The Johnson Street Quarry, in Northeast Minneapolis was an abandoned brownfield site, that with the help of Frattalone, was converted to The Quarry Shopping Center.

When you like equipment as much as we do, there is no better gift than two new CAT 627 scrapers. In 1997, these two machines were purchased to help support our growing site development work, arriving just in time for the holidays!

Frattalone partners with Stubbs Housemovers and International Chimney Corp to help relocate the heaviest structure ever moved, the 3000 ton Schubert Theatre. The theatre was moved from one city block to the next in downtown Minneapolis. Frattalone was responsible for site preparation to ensure that when the structure reached its new home, it was ready.

The new millennium brought a number of exciting changes for Frattalone Excavating and Grading. A new headquarters complex with office and maintenance shop was built and the company rebranded as Frattalone Companies, bringing all of the affiliate operations under one umbrella.

Frattalone was hired to demolish grain elevators northeast of TCF Bank Stadium, making way for stadium parking and new bioscience research buildings for the University of Minnesota.

The acquisition of the Dawnway Demolition Landfill brought the opportunity to provide full demolition and disposal services to clients in the Twin Cities Metro area.

Frattalone Companies expands their services and begins to perform work for the renewal energy industry, starting with a project in Woodstock, MN. Work included building the infrastructure, as well as excavating and backfilling the foundations, for 15 wind turbines.

As the first phase in construction of the US Bank Stadium, Frattalone Companies was hired to demolish the HHH Metrodome, former home of the MN Vikings and MN Twins. This major project called for major equipment, including a new a high-reach excavator that safely reaches up to 90 feet. At project completion, more than 80% of the building’s demoed materials were recycled.

Construction of Minnesota’s first Amazon building had an extremely fast-paced schedule. Site preparation included 73 acres of grading, 280,000 cubic yards of on-site material moved, 50,000 cubic yards of rock excavation and 200,000 cubic yards of sand imported. The site was turned over three (3) months earlier than the original schedule.

Construction of the CityPlace development project drastically changed the landscape of the eastern metro. Former home to State Farm Insurance HQ the site was transformed into a 100-acre mixed-use development that includes offices, retail, hotel and hospitality spaces, and healthcare.

Frattalone Companies continues to gain traction in the renewable energy market and expands their services to include solar. After purchasing two (2) Vermeer PD10 pile driving machines, the team installs over 22,350 piles in their first season alone! Projects that season included the Aurora Solar project, and the Camp Ripley solar power plant.

Although safety has always been a focus of Frattalone Companies, reaching one million (1,000,000) man hours with zero lost-time was no small feat. This goal took the focus and dedication of 200+ employees over four (4) construction seasons and is an accomplishment we are extremely proud of.

Partnering with the owner and general contractor, the Frattalone team demolishes 400,000 SF of office space, moves over 825,000 cubic yards of material and installs nearly nine (9) miles of utility pipe to prepare for another iconic MN sports facility.

Continually grateful for all that they have accomplished, Frattalone Companies turns 50 and surpasses two million (2,000,000) safe hours!

After two years of delay as a result of the global pandemic, on May 19th the Frattalone team was honored to come together with clients, industry partners, friends and family to officially celebrate the 50th anniversary of Frattalone Companies.