Town of Kewaskum, WI – In an age where estimates arrive by App notification and customer service can feel like a chatbot trapped in a maze, MAC Paving in Washington County, WI, still operates with a refreshingly human blueprint: answer the phone, show up, work hard, and leave the property looking better than when you arrived.
The family-owned paving company based in the Town of Kewaskum has been laying asphalt across southeastern Wisconsin since 1972, when founder McCarthy struck out on his own after years traveling the country building portable asphalt plants during the interstate highway boom of the 1950s and 1960s.
“He used to work at a place called White’s Construction before it became Payne and Dolan,” said second-generation owner Brian McAndrews. “He and his brother would go around the country setting up portable asphalt plants. When that company got bought out, that’s when he started MAC Incorporated in the early ’70s.”
The company name itself carries a little family shorthand. “MAC is an abbreviation for ‘Mc,’” McAndrews said. “His last name was McCarthy. My last name is McAndrews. It just fit.”
Today, MAC Paving serves a roughly 30-mile radius around West Bend, stretching into Washington, Ozaukee, Dodge, Fond du Lac and Sheboygan counties. Their specialty is residential driveways, commercial parking lots, and long country driveways that ribbon through rural Wisconsin farmland and wooded lots.
“We are a family-owned business, and our main thing is quality,” said longtime salesman Paul White. “We’re not set up like some of the bigger city companies. We’re used to working out here in the country.”
That commitment to craftsmanship has helped the small nine-person crew build a loyal following over decades. While competitors may flood into the area during slower seasons, White said MAC Paving has stayed busy by focusing on reputation instead of racing to the bottom on price.
“Our customers seem to be pretty happy with everything they pay for and receive,” White said. “It’s the personal touches.”
The company remains proudly old-school. Estimates are still handwritten. Conversations matter more than text messages. McAndrews himself carries a flip phone and prefers face-to-face discussions over email chains stripped of tone and trust.
“I would rather have a conversation than a text,” he said.
That straightforward philosophy mirrors McAndrews’ own path to the business.
A senior at Vincent High School in Milwaukee in 1984, McAndrews enlisted in the United States Marine Corps immediately after graduation.
He completed boot camp in San Diego before serving 10 years in the infantry, including deployments to Honduras, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Japan, and Alaska. Along the way, he trained in anti-tank weapons and motorized infantry before eventually being medically retired from service.
After the Marines, McAndrews attended Edgewood College and earned an accounting degree. For a short time, he worked at Roundy’s corporate offices.
It didn’t last.
“I was stuck in a cubicle,” he said. “It was the first time I ever had a job inside.”
During summers, he continued helping his father-in-law with paving jobs. Eventually, the pull of the field became stronger than fluorescent office lights and spreadsheets.
“I asked him what he was going to do with the business,” McAndrews said. “Then the process took over and I took over the company.”
White believes the transition made perfect sense.
“Brian is what’s known as a worker bee,” White said. “He’s not somebody to sit in an office. He’s hands-on. He’s on every job that goes through this place.”
Even now at age 60, McAndrews still grabs a shovel and works alongside younger crew members.
“He’ll show the young boys the way it is,” White said. “A lot of that comes from his Marine background. The pride in doing things right.”
That pride is visible in the finished product.
McAndrews said one of the most rewarding parts of paving is watching a project transform from rough gravel and dirt into a polished final layer that completes a property.
“When you walk into someone’s house or property and then when we leave, it looks completely different,” he said. “It’s the finishing touch.”
The company has become particularly known for large country driveways and complex storage facility projects where drainage and grading become crucial.
Those jobs often require careful logistics involving multiple dump trucks hauling hot asphalt from area plants while crews race against time and temperature.
“It’s very physical work,” White said. “It’s hot. Certain people are just cut out to do it.”
Still, for the right people, the work offers something tangible that many modern jobs do not.
Freedom. Fresh air. Visible accomplishment.
And perhaps most importantly, connection.
While technology has changed the world around them, MAC Paving continues building its reputation the same way it always has: one driveway, one parking lot, and one conversation at a time.
