The Dunaway Story Part 3: Built on People, Values & Doing Things Right

The Dunaway Story Part 3: Built on People, Values & Doing Things Right

Nearly 20 years.

A lot can change in that amount of time. A company can grow. The projects can get bigger. The team can expand. Markets change, challenges come and go, and the vision you once had around a kitchen table can become something far greater than you imagined. But some things shouldn’t change. For Dunaway Brothers, our commitment to doing things the right way has been there from the beginning.

It’s what we call The Dunaway.

The Way You Do the Work Matters

Throughout this series, we’ve shared where Dunaway Brothers began and some of the challenges that shaped us along the way.

But longevity isn’t only about surviving difficult seasons.

It’s about deciding what kind of company you want to be when you come out the other side.

For us, that means building a company where our brand, our work, and our customers can be our best salespeople.

It means holding ourselves to values that have guided us for nearly two decades:

Integrity. Quality. Consistency. Diligence. Accountability.

Those aren’t words we chose because they sound good on a website. They describe how we believe business should be done. Because the way you do the work matters just as much as the work itself.

A Company Is Only as Strong as Its People

We’ve also learned that you can have the best plans, tools, equipment, and processes in the world, but a company is ultimately built by its people.

Culture matters here.

Safety matters here.

Long-term success matters here.

It’s the people who show up every day who carry the Dunaway Brothers name forward. They’re the ones serving our customers, solving problems, working through challenges, paying attention to the details, and holding themselves to the standard our customers have come to expect. They are the heartbeat of Dunaway Brothers.

So, How Many Dunaway Brothers Are There?

It’s a question we’ve been asked more than once. And the answer is pretty simple.

Every person who works here is our brother or sister because this company is a family.

Dunaway Brothers may have started with two brothers, but it was never going to grow through two people alone. Our story belongs to the people who helped build this company alongside us. It belongs to our employees. Our trade partners. Our customers. Our families.

And the communities that have trusted us with their homes, businesses, churches, gathering places, and projects over the years.

From Mom’s Kitchen to Nearly 20 Years

It’s worth remembering where all of this started.

Dunaway Brothers began in our mom’s kitchen, inside an 800-square-foot World War II tract home in Wheaton, Illinois.

There was no corporate headquarters.

There wasn’t a decades-long business plan sitting on the table.

There were two brothers willing to work.

From that kitchen table to where we stand today, there have been good times and difficult ones. There have been wins, losses, lessons, growth, and plenty of change along the way.

And yet, nearly 20 years later:

We’re still here.

Still standing.

Still building.

Still learning.

Still moving forward.

What Comes Next

Twenty years is a milestone worth celebrating. But we’re not interested in treating it like a finish line. There’s more to build. More customers to serve. More opportunities for our people. More relationships to develop. More communities to be part of. And through whatever comes next, the commitment remains the same:

Work hard.

Do things the right way.

Take care of our people.

Serve our customers well.

Build something that lasts.

Keep moving forward.

That’s where we started.

That’s what has carried us through nearly 20 years.

And that’s The Dunaway.

Built the Right Way. The Dunaway.