Chain of Lakes, a family business

MARSHALL COUNTY — When Bill Ronk started Chain of Lakes Services in 1997, they had a backhoe and welded up dump truck. “Back behind the woods we had a hole with willow trees and stuff up in it so we an old backhoe and took it back and dug out dirt. They built their home down here and wanted black dirt. We started hauling dirt and it just went from there,” Bill said. “Everybody wanted something else and we started buying equipment and got at it.”

Twenty-three years later the business is going strong with three generations at the helm.

Chain of Lakes Services is a family-operated premier excavating company that serves the counties of Marshall, Starke, and Fulton. They specialize in excavating, snow removal, salting, demolition, farm drainage, trucking and hauling, land clearing, ponds retaining walls, lawn seeding, and more. They don’t do septic work, however.

The family business grew with the addition of Brandt and Chase Peters. If you ask them, they’ve been in the business for most of their lives. When they were kids, instead of staying inside playing video games they were outside playing with toy farm equipment.

After graduating high school, the two brothers decided to follow in their father’s and grandfather’s footsteps and become the third generation of Chain of Lakes Services. According to Brandt, the enjoyment of working outside with family was one of the main reasons why they stayed with the business.

According to the family, being family-owned is what sets them apart from other businesses that aren’t owned and operated by family members.

“With being family-owned, it makes you take a little bit more attention to detail because your names at risk, more than anything,” Chase said. “If people aren’t happy, we’re not happy.” When asked about working with family, Bill said communication was easier. “If we have a problem, we talk it out, so we all get along fine working together.”

When asked about where they see the business, the brothers plan to keep things operating. “We plan to keep it going,” Chase said. “Just taking it day by day. That’s about all we can do.”

To contact Chain of Lakes Services, give them a call at (574) 9367791, visit their website at www.chainoflakesin.com or look them up on Facebook by searching @ChainOfLakesServices.