Customer Highlight: Big Wolf Siteworks, L.L.C.

Published on March 8, 2024

Customer Highlight: Big Wolf Siteworks, L.L.C.

From a young age, Alexis Bostrom, owner of Big Wolf Siteworks L.L.C. in Taylors Falls, MN, has never backed down from a challenge. “When I was little kid I wanted to either be an ice road trucker, a Disney princess, or a police officer. Now I own a construction company and play in dirt all day.” While starting her own construction company may seem a little out of left field to some, it was a natural outgrowth of the work she and her husband, Nels, were already doing for neighbors and friends. “We already had some equipment, my husband had worked as an operator before, so I decided I may as well start my own company and make it official.”

While the company has grown steadily over the years, Big Wolf still faced a number of obstacles. One of the biggest struggles was finding the right equipment. Though she has a great relationship with Ziegler now, waiting to get into Cat equipment is one of Bostrom’s biggest regrets. “I thought that we weren’t big enough to get their attention, but I was completely wrong. As soon as we reached out they were willing to work with us right away.”

Beyond the normal challenges of starting a new business, Alexis also faces the unique hurdles involved with being a woman owner of a construction business. “While I own 100% of my company, and my husband is my employee, it’s been very common that people assume Nels owns the company or think that I need to talk to him about stuff.” When that happens, Alexis said Nels always has her back. “He’ll tell everyone, oh yeah, she’s the boss, you have to figure that out with her.” It’s in those moments that Bostrom leans on the friends and mentors she has through her membership in the Minnesota Chapter of the Association of Women Contractors (AWC). “It’s been great to have those relationships, and also to be able to give back and support other women in this industry.”

Over the past four years Big Wolf has continued to grow and gain more and more of a reputation in the community. “I don’t see competition,” says Alexis, “instead I want to support all of the other local companies in our community. There’s plenty of work for all of us, and not every job is the right fit for us. I love being able to support the other great companies in our area that we know and have grown with over the years.” As she looks to the future, Alexis is hoping to break into more commercial work. “We’ve done a lot of great work in the residential and site prep areas in our community, and we’re really good in those spaces. In the future we want to continue to develop our relationships with the businesses in our area and do more on the commercial side as well.”

With growth comes change, but some things will stay the same. The pride that Alexis takes in the work that Big Wolf does will never change. “No matter what job we do, big or small, what’s great is how this work allows us to be connected to our community in real, tangible ways.”