When George Vogel moved to Madison from Iowa in 1875, he set up shop crafting wooden wagons and cabinets.

As wagons gave way to cars, he turned to building homes and brought his two sons, George Jr. and Henry, into the business, incorporating in 1928.

Commercial buildings took center stage. One of Vogel Bros.' first was the Eastwood Theater, 2090 Atwood Ave., now the Barrymore Theatre. When it opened in December 1929, it was Madison's "most glamorous" theater, the first in town built for "talking pictures," newspaper reports say.

George Jr. led the business for 40 years. His son, David, took over in 1969.

Today, Vogel Bros. Building Co. is still going strong, with operations in Madison and central Florida, 120 employees and annual revenue of about $70 million.

David Vogel is chairman of the board and his son, Pete Vogel, George's great-grandson, is president. That makes Vogel Bros. a fourth-generation Madison business, about to celebrate its 80th anniversary in December.

Pete Vogel worked his way to the top, spending five years as a laborer in Washington, D.C., and Florida, pouring concrete, installing windows and hanging doors. He has a bachelor's degree from UW-Madison in construction administration and a master's in real estate appraisal and investment analysis.

In 1995, Pete and his brother, Dan, bought the business from their father, with Pete in charge of the Madison operation and Dan at the helm in Florida.

You might recognize some Vogel Bros. buildings. They include the Pacific Cycle headquarters, 4902 Hammersley Road; the MGE Innovation Center, 505 S. Rosa Road; Oakwood Village's East Side campus; and remodeling of Metcalfe's Sentry Foods at Hillale, 726 Midvale Blvd.

Q: How has Vogel Bros. managed to survive for eight decades, through the Depression years, World War II, and all sorts of economic ups and downs?

A: My father, David Vogel, brought the company forward to where it is today. He has given Vogel Bros. a clear set of values, how we ought to treat not only our customers but our employees and subcontractors. My father is a great humanitarian whose foundation is to evaluate your options and then do the right thing.

He believes in taking a long-term view, to look at what true stewardship is and what good corporate citizenship is. You need to pick your head up and look down the road, and not just look at quarter to quarter. I think people who only consider the short term have been responsible for a lot of the problems the economy is having now.

Q: What made the company open an office in Florida?

A: That was my father's idea. The late 1970s and early 1980s weren't all that kind to the construction industry here in the Midwest. My father decided to diversify, so he branched out to Lakeland in 1980. People were moving to Florida and construction companies could work there year-round.

We went after a different type of client there, mainly governments and schools. We have built a lot of water and wastewater treatment plants, also schools and power plants.

My brother, Dan, built that division up. He was a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate in civil engineering, like our father. Dan saw the ability to take his strong technical background and apply it to the marketplace.

When he died in a traffic accident in 2004, at age 50, I took over that division, too.

Q: Do you go after a certain type of project in the Madison area?

A: The high-tech/biotech field. We just broke ground on a new building for SAFC in Verona, and we finished a building for Mentor Biologics in University Research Park. Also, the health-care market. Those are a couple of areas we anticipate are going to continue to be strong. That is going to be, or already is, the New Economy. We also build schools, religious institutions, long-term care facilities and senior housing.

Q: How do you work with your clients?

A: We feel we are a tool for clients; we can be part of their strategic plan. We need to understand how their businesses operate. We get involved in planning and designing the facility. It can be one or two years to go through that process, before construction finally starts.

Q: With the financial markets in turmoil and the economy so uncertain now, how is Vogel Bros. holding up?

A: We're fortunate -- we have good work right now that is moving forward in both divisions. But our pipeline of future projects certainly isn't full. Clients want to see what shakes out here during the coming months. There's going to be some pain, but there are a lot of good things about the economy even though the financial markets are upside down.

In talking with my counterparts and looking at industry data, I've seen that some projects are on hold. Construction revenues overall will be down. But certain markets are stable or growing, and I would say this is one of them. I'm optimistic that we'll work our way through this.

Q: What are your biggest challenges right now?

A: In addition to the uncertain economy, there's significant volatility in commodities prices. We've seen some unprecedented increases in materials pricing over the last 12 months. That's hard for some clients to understand, with the economic slowdown, but global demand in emerging markets (such as China and India) is raising prices for steel and copper.

Q: Vogel Bros. has been active in community projects, too, hasn't it?

A: We've always felt very strongly that we should give back to our communities. We have been a big supporter of United Way for 50 years. We also spearhead an annual school-supplies drive. With contributions from the community, our staff buys, sorts and distributes the school supplies to needy children. We have delivered more than $50,000 worth over the past 14 years.

We also helped establish the offices at Habitat for Humanity's ReStore in Madison and we're helping with plans and fundraising for the Restoring Hope Transplant House.

Q: What are your joys from the job?

A: Helping clients fulfill their goals. The ability to learn about and understand their businesses. I get to see some of the neat science going on out there. And to develop people within our organization, to help them fulfill their aspirations. Those are all gratifying to me.

Plus, at the end of the day, when the jobs are done and buildings finished, we get to see a very tangible accomplishment. That's pretty satisfying.

PETE VOGEL

President of Vogel Bros. Building Co.

Locations: 2701 Packers Ave. in Madison and Lakeland, Fla.

Annual revenue: About $70 million

Employees: 120

Incorporated: 1928

Web site: www.vogelbldg.com