Dane Jorgensen
Owner

Dana Jorgensen
Superintendent

The third generation in his family to own a grading company, Dane Jorgensen has professional roots that run deep in the dirt around Omaha. His grandfather, James Jorgensen, moved dirt in Omaha starting in the 1950s, grading many roads and building sites still in use today. Dana Jorgensen, second generation in the dirt in Omaha, founded and ran a grading company in the 1980’s.

Playing in the dirt

As a boy in the 1990s, Dane (not to be confused with Dana) was on cloud nine whenever he followed his dad to work. If asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he would reply “a dirt contractor”— an answer that would never change. With a passion for hard work and heavy equipment since before Dane could crawl, his future was paved in dirt. Dane was running equipment by age five and following his dad to work as often as he was allowed. By age 12, Dane was full time every summer running scrapers, dozers, and excavators for his dad. Even at that young age, he had both an eye for grading and a talent for understanding projects.

From Gig to Glory

After his father retired from the grading business, Dane made a summer job of serving one of Omaha’s larger grading companies in high school. With strong ambition and a head for business, Dane started doing landscaping and lawn care, on the side, by age 15. He started out using a trailer he borrowed from his grandpa and an old, broken-down push mower. Working late into the evenings after school and on weekends, he built a sizeable clientele while saving and planning for something bigger. During college, Dane bought his first dump truck and began selling and delivering black dirt, fill dirt, and sand; not one to settle for the status quo, he bought his first skid loader and began grading later the same year. A few years later, Dane got bonded and bid his first job for an SID in Omaha—a silt basin removal, which is one of the things Jorgensen Grading still specializes in today. Having an opportunity to bid on projects through engineering firms, competing against the companies he once worked for, Dane knew he was on the right track.

Across the Generation Gap

Over the next four years, Dane continued doing smaller projects in the Omaha area as well as subcontracting with his equipment for larger companies. In 2014, at age 27, Dane had the opportunity to bid on a 160-acre housing development in Elkhorn—an effort that earned him a seven-figure contract. Dane enlisted the help of his father, Dana, to help him learn the ropes on a larger scale. Dane will tell you he’s lucky to get to work with his dad every day just as he did as a young boy. That year, he formed DEJ Grading LLC, using his initials as the company’s namesake. DEJ Grading quickly grew from one employee to eight as it continued to receive large grading contracts—several into the million-cubic-yard range. Dane was finally playing with the big boys.

By 2017, the company incorporated and became Jorgensen Grading—just like his father before him, and his grandfather before that. Jorgensen Grading grew steadily over the next few years, updating to new, highly efficient equipment. Today, the company proudly employees 17 highly skilled people and strives to provide its clients with quality work completed in a timely manner. Dane has always believed hard work and integrity are imperative for success in business and life.