Rylie Equipment & Contracting

What Rylie Equipment & Contracting does

Rylie Equipment & Contracting Co. is a privately held underground utility construction and telecommunications infrastructure contractor founded in 1952 and headquartered in Kansas City, Kansas, with a branch office in Topeka, Kansas. The company installs buried and aerial fiber optic and copper cable, water systems, manholes, and conduit for private telephone companies and utilities throughout the Midwest, operating across diverse terrain including creek and river crossings, established subdivisions, and downtown city streets. Its core equipment fleet spans mini-x track machines, trenchers, cable plows, rip-and-plow cats, and directional bore machines ranging from Vermeer 7/11 through Vermeer 24/40 units plus a Ditch Witch AT2720; roughly 75% of communication cable placement is performed via directional bore to minimize surface restoration. A fiber optic SuperJet Blowing Machine, capable of blowing cable at up to 60 meters per minute, is a featured specialty used for road-move and relocation projects, and an aerial crew with at least 15 years of pole-placement experience in high-voltage environments is supported by BNSF and Union Pacific railroad certifications.

The company generates revenue through project-based, quote-driven contracts for utility construction, directional drilling, cable plowing, rock sawing, HDPE fusing, fiber optic splicing, and manhole installation services, with go-to-market executed through direct engagement with project managers at telephone companies and utilities in the Midwest. Owner-style operating leadership (President George H. Shaw, Vice President Tony Niemeyer, Exec VP Scott Vaughn) and tenured field supervisors across both offices underpin a relationship-driven sales model. No public financials, investor backing, M&A activity, or AI/digital product capability are disclosed; the business is a traditional, labor- and equipment-intensive regional contractor with no apparent platform or recurring-revenue component.

Name

Rylie Equipment & Contracting

Legal name

Rylie Equipment & Contracting Co.

Website

https://rylieequipment.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1952

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Rylie Equipment & Contracting Co. is a privately held Midwest underground utility and telecommunications construction contractor, founded in 1952, that installs buried and aerial fiber optic, copper cable, water systems, and manholes for private telephone companies and utilities from offices in Kansas City and Topeka, Kansas.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Utility Construction Services

NAICS

Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors (23821)

SIC

Construction - Special Trade Contractors (1700)

akta.pro primary industry

Cable Installation & Construction Services (trenching, duct banks, HDD, pulling, cable laying) (EUADADAI)

Keywords

• Utility construction
• Directional drilling
• Telecommunications infrastructure
• Underground utilities
• Rock boring plowing

Headquarters

HQ city

Kansas City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Equipment or Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Infrastructure Construction Services: Project-based contracting services for underground utilities, telecommunications, and manhole installation. Revenue is generated through project fees for utility installation, directional drilling, cable plowing, and related construction services throughout the Midwest region.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Core offering

Rylie Equipment & Contracting is a utility construction contractor that installs underground telecommunications and utility infrastructure for telephone companies and utility providers. The company provides directional drilling, rock boring/plowing, manhole installation, and underground utility construction services using specialized equipment and dedicated crews across Kansas and the surrounding region.

Product overview

Rylie Equipment & Contracting Co. is a utility construction and contracting company offering a comprehensive suite of infrastructure services. The company operates as a single unified service offering rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. Core services include directional drilling (using Vermeer and Ditch Witch equipment), rock boring/plowing, telecommunications installation (aerial and buried), underground utilities, and manhole/pre-cast installation. The company also operates a Fiber Optic SuperJet Blowing Machine capable of blowing fiber cable at up to 60 meters per minute. Services include HDPE fusing and installation, cable plowing for copper and fiber optic, fiber optic splicing, and emergency repair services. The company holds BNSF & UP railroad certifications and operates throughout the Midwest from offices in Kansas City, KS and Topeka, KS.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Directional Drilling Services Trenchless drilling service that installs underground cables and conduits without surface excavation, primarily used by telephone companies and utilities to deploy telecommunications and power infrastructure.
• Rock Boring and Plowing Services

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• MasTec: Large diversified infrastructure construction firm with a sizable communications segment covering fiber, wireless, and utility builds; competes for the same telco-driven underground and aerial work as Rylie but at national scale across many end markets.
• Black & Veatch: Overland Park, KS-based global engineering, procurement, and construction firm serving water, power, and telecommunications infrastructure; competes for overlapping utility and telecom construction work in the same Midwest geography as Rylie.
• Quanta Services: Leading utility infrastructure services provider with electric, pipeline, and communications construction; competes with Rylie for telecom and utility underground work but operates as a much larger incumbent across multiple infrastructure verticals.
• Burns & McDonnell: Kansas City-headquartered engineering, architecture, and construction firm with significant telecom, utility, and T&D practices; a regional incumbent competing for similar Midwest infrastructure projects though with a broader EPC scope than Rylie.

Direct peers

• MYR Group: Specialty electrical construction firm with significant transmission, distribution, and commercial/industrial work; comparable to Rylie in providing infrastructure construction services to utilities and communications customers using a project-based contracting model.
• Dycom Industries: National specialty contractor providing underground utility construction, aerial fiber deployment, and maintenance services to telecommunications providers—directly overlapping Rylie's core directional drilling, cable plowing, and fiber installation offerings.
• Primoris Services Corporation: Specialty contractor serving utilities, communications, and pipeline markets with underground and infrastructure construction services—directly comparable to Rylie's underground utility, telecom, and pipeline-adjacent capabilities.
• Henkels & McCoy: Privately held national infrastructure contractor focused on electric, gas, telecommunications, and pipeline construction—directly comparable to Rylie in underground utility installation, cable plowing, and telecom build-out services.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rylie-equipment-and-contg-co

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rylie Equipment & Contracting