Our Company | RW Collins Co.

Our Company

RW COLLINS | YOUR EXPERIENCED PARTNER

We are Chicago and the Midwest’s leading environmental contractor for clients in need of quality site preparation and remediation work.

  • Clients include: engineering firms, developers, oil companies, utilities, Fortune 500 companies, municipalities, and government agencies
  • Serving the entire Midwest and Great Lakes regions
  • Over 70 years of experience
  • Extensive modern equipment fleet for a wide range of services
  • Family-owned and women-owned business

OUR HISTORY

In 1946, Robert W. Collins founded the R.W. Collins Company amid the growing need for underground tank installation in Chicago’s rapidly expanding neighborhoods and suburbs. Throughout the past 70 years, we’ve expanded our expertise to a much wider array of services.

Today, we’ve become the Midwest’s leading environmental contractor for a wide range of remediation and excavation services, with one of the most versatile equipment fleets in the environmental remediation and excavation industries. The entrepreneurial spirit and deep care exhibited by our founder are the foundation for the RW Collins culture today.

We help commercial and residential property owners in Chicago, the Midwest, and Great Lakes regions with excavation, environmental, soil-remediation and UST removal services.

We are a third-generation, family-owned and Illinois-based environmental contractor, and we are certified as a Women Owned Business by the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois.

our company

COMPANY TIMELINE & SIGNIFICANT MILESTONES

  • 1946: Following his duty as a U.S. Navy Seabee in WWII, Bob Collins starts his career as an excavating contractor in Chicago
  • 1950’s – 60’s: During the rush to build gas stations to satisfy America’s growing need for gasoline, RW Collins Co. establishes itself as a tank contractor. The company’s then ‘signature machine’ was the Bucyrus Erie 15-B cable backhoe
    antique backhoe
    A restored antique now sits outside of our offices!
  • 1970’s: The Company is moved to its current office and shop location; The second generation of family joins the business
  • 1980’s – 90’s: Increased environmental regulation and awareness allow tank removal and contaminated soil businesses to flourish
  • 2000 – 2010: Major long-term projects, particularly MGP sites, become our dominant market segment
  • 2010 – Present: Service area widens throughout the Midwest & Great Lakes regions; The third generation of family joins the business