In October 1975, K&W Construction Company was founded with a philosophy of providing quality underground construction services by surrounding themselves with successful people that have the same vision. Initially, K&W subcontracted water line services in Odessa, Missouri. Later in their first year of business, K&W signed a contract with the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company to begin burying house services in Johnson County, Kansas.

​

In January 1977, K&W became incorporated and developed a method of "plowing" dual coax cables to replace the method of open trenching, a first for the cable TV industry. In 1979, K&W began branching out in the CATV business to include wiring of residential homes, apartments, hotels and splicing of outside plant. K&W also began pre-writing newly constructed homes for cable TV and phones for builders in the Kansas City metro area. During the early 1980's, the company grew from 10 employees to over 40 employees and primarily specialized in cable TV-related construction, cabling and maintenance.

​

K&W Underground's history of innovation again was exemplified with their introduction of Aeronautical R.F. Leakage Detection Services in 1989. This method was done by using an airplane, equipped with very sophisticated electronic measuring devices, to measure radio frequency leaks for cable television systems. This service provided the most cost-effective means for cable television plant operators to detect leaks within their systems. The service also provided plant operators with the necessary data for FCC reporting and compliance.

​

In 1990, K&W Underground, Inc. formed a voice and data internal wiring division. With the formation of this division, K&W was able to offer to their customers what no other contractor in the Midwest could- complete installation and maintenance of outside plant, internal communications of voice, data and video with copper, coax and or fiber.

​

From 1990 to current, the number of employees at K&W grew to 85. During this time, K&W added multiple new services to their list of expertise including fiber optics, power conduit installation, mapping and design services, street and highway lighting, Automated Traffic Management Systems, and much more.

​

From 1993 to current, K&W became very active in underground utility damage prevention. K&W management have participated in multiple steering committees with the KCC, Co-Chairman of the Kansas Common Ground Alliance, ULCC meetings and sat on the Board of directors with the Kansas One Call. K&W is the industry leader in non- invasive methods of underground installation through vacuum excavation and directional drilling techniques.

​

Added in 2001, K&W provides a service of facilitating the sale or lease of existing conduit throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area. This provides the telecom service providers a quicker, less invasive and less expensive path to installing fiber optic networks. 

​

In 2005, K&W began work for the city of Overland Park, Kansas installing automated traffic management system fiber units. That service opened the door for expansion and growth for the company. Later that year, K&W built the first automated traffic management system fiber unit for the city of Olathe, Kansas. To this day, both cities are quality customers the company has had since. K&W used these systems to develop more sustainable and useful resources and services that they could provide to customers. These services include emergency response and maintenance, cameras, traffic detectors and more, as well as expanding their customer base to include schools, hospitals, libraries, MDOT, KDOT and SCOUT.

​

Later in 2010, Rex Schick, former President of K&W Underground, Inc. and now Director of Business Development, was named co-chairman of the Kansas City area Common Ground Alliance local chapter. This organization consists of utilities companies, government agencies, one call and locating companies and excavators that identifies and recommends utility damage prevention practices. In addition, in 2011, Kansas One Call System named Rex Schick to its Board of Directors.

​

In the years after the economic downturn, K&W has seemed to be better than ever. K&W continued to expand their services and customers to now include: AT&T, Surewest, TW Telecom, Zayo, Windstream, Sprint, Verizon, multiple local cities and municipalities and many more. K&W offers many services that are one of a kind in the local communication contracting area. K&W has added their turn-key approach to customers with services that include concept, route design, permitting, budgeting, construction, splicing, activation, certification, maintenance and emergency response and restoration. In addition, K&W continues to be experts in the field and on directional drilling using an assembly line technique that most do not do. K&W has experts who specialize in each and every part of the assembly line process to guarantee the job is done with quality and precision.

​

In addition, the team has secured agreements and provided telecom construction services to 9 of the top 10 telecommunication providers in the greater Kansas City area. In 2017, K&W developed their newest service of Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) that enabled them to expand their consulting and route design services, as well as continued expansion of their directional drilling services for water line installation.

​

“As the president of K&W, I am so proud of the fantastic achievements of all employees working together over the past 43 years to build a well-respected, successful business. There have been many challenging and exciting times made possible by the trust and loyalty of our many customers backed by the commitment to excellence of our employees,” Rex Schick, explained.

​

Over the past 43 years, K&W has continued to exemplify the need for services in the telecommunications industry as the world has evolved. Being a family ran company, Rex and Patty Schick have always believe that the best way to do business is to live by the golden rule “Treat others as you wish to be treated” and work hard for what you have. That is the same motto they instill in their company culture and to their employees. This has proven true to the success that K&W Underground has today.