PWS is Minnesota’s premier Native American-owned contractor. Our focus is on delivering exceptional services in:
Customers rely on us to provide solutions for the most complex DOT, Met Council, and private and public projects. PWS has forged long-lasting relationships with our customers through mutual respect and effective collaboration on projects and budgets. Because of this, many remain customers for life.
We build tomorrow’s communities today by planning, designing, and building sustainable environments where communities can live and work. We work with public and private companies to achieve their dreams and goals.
Our Mission: Quality, Safety, Pride, and Performance.
This drives our commitment to community growth and the well-being of every individual involved in our many projects. We leverage that spirit in every project we do. While listening to the community’s needs, we uphold our industry’s highest standards to deliver with skill and integrity at every level.
PWS is now Minnesota’s largest Native-owned contracting company, but we didn’t start that way. PWS began as Pete’s Water and Sewer and was owned by a member of the Peterson family in the late 1970s.
The world has changed since the 70s, but PWS is still standing firm on the foundation upon which this family company was built. PWS has changed hands only twice since its founding. It has been Native owned since 2014 when Lee Meyer took over operations.
PWS continues to grow, but we maintain the values and integrity of a small local business. The jobs we do are for the places we live and the people we live with, so what we build is not just buildings. We build relationships, communities, and lasting foundations for the future.
Our success is built on our team of superintendents, project managers, operators, and laborers that culminates in generations of experience in construction and construction management. We take pride in embracing the next generation of leaders. We do this through thoughtful hiring of new positions, mentorships, and apprenticeships. Because of this, we have formed a team of innovative problem-solvers who approach every project with excitement and drive.
As a Native American, minority-owned company, PWS is a certified member of the following organizations:
Lee Meyer is a member of the White Earth Nation or White Earth Band of Ojibwe (Ojibwe: Gaa-waabaabiganikaag Anishinaabeg, lit. ‘People from where there is an abundance of white clay’) is a Native American band located in northwestern Minnesota. The band’s land base is the White Earth Indian Reservation.