The Robert M. Newcomb Founders Award

The Robert M. Newcomb Co., Inc. was founded on June 1, 1975, by Bob Newcomb. At its inception, the Robert M. Newcomb Co. constructed porches, decks, and some residential projects. The company started with three primary employees, two of which — Bob Newcomb and Ted Parrish — are now retired from the company. Success was measured by customer satisfaction and quality craftsmanship. Bob grew his company into one of the largest design-build general contractors in Dane County. Bret Newcomb joined the family business in 1992. Six months later, Bret landed their first concrete tilt-up job — the first in Southern Wisconsin. Since then, the business has designed and built more than 100 projects using the concrete tilt-up method.

In 2001, the Robert M. Newcomb Company was sold to Newcomb Construction Company. Under the leadership of Bret Newcomb, Newcomb Construction Company plans on perpetuating its niche as Southern Wisconsin’s premier design-build general contractor, specializing in concrete tilt-up construction.

"The continuation and perpetuation of the business is the top priority of myself and our loyal employees. Our mission can be simply stated as ‘find, serve, and keep the customer.’ This is the essence of Bob Newcomb’s legacy."

— Bret Newcomb

In 2019, The Robert M. Newcomb Founders Award was established and honors the employee who best embodies the core values on which Newcomb Construction was built in 1975. The things that were most important to Bob Newcomb back at the beginning – quality craftmanship, attention to detail, creative problem solving, proactiveness, mentoring, and client satisfaction – are our guiding principles today. Newcomb Construction is indebted to the employees who continually strive to improve and who help build concrete relationships with each other and the community through our buildings.

The Robert M. Newcomb Founders Award is given out annually to a Newcomb team member who embodies the spirit and theme of quality, continuous improvement, and relationships. Each year, previous founder awardees nominate the next Founders Award recipient and the award is announced in the year end employee event. The previous awardees are Vice President of Operations, Preston Tokheim and General Superintendent, Marty Pulver. The 2021 Robert M. Newcomb Founders Award recipient is Richie Disch. Richie is a construction industry professional for forty plus years and has been a valued employee of Newcomb Construction Company for fifteen years. 

“I worked with Richie as a summer laborer in college. He taught me a lot, at a young age, about craftsmanship, problem solving and attention to detail. I couldn’t be more pleased that he is being recognized for this prestigious award.”

— Bret Newcomb