Part 1. Stutsman-Gerbaz Earthmoving

It is another beautiful fall morning in Aspen, Colorado where the clear blue skies and crisp fresh air surround the mountains that line and guard this valley. The locals are hoping for more snow, so they can finally get their skis out of storage. And business owners have their eyes on the sky in preparation for the millions of tourists who will pack Colorado’s Sawatch Range to enjoy the area’s slopes, shops, restaurants and resorts.  

On this particular day, downtown Aspen is bustling with activity; you can hear the sound of a Cat^® 336 excavator hard at work. There’s a new municipal building going up on Main Street and other renovations to neighboring facilities. In the middle of it all, Shay Stutsman, Stutsman-Gerbaz Earthmoving vice president, is directing his excavation crew, chatting with the mayor, and exchanging pleasantries with just about everyone who walks by the site.

Shay is at home. A home his family has known since the 1800s when their ancestors came to the Western Slope and began their lives in Colorado as ranchers and railroad workers. They witnessed first-hand the ups, downs and eventual end of the mining industry in Pitkin County, and then Aspen’s rebirth as one of the world’s best vacation retreats.  Shay’s grandfather, Dick Stutsman, and Dick’s brother-in-law, Jerry Gerbaz, seized upon the area’s economic upturn in the mid-1900s and purchased a small excavation company. That was the beginning of Stutsman-Gerbaz Earthmoving.

And now, here we are 60 years and countless projects later, with Shay preparing to take the reins. That small business that started with his grandfather and great uncle, and continued with his father, has become the largest excavation company in Aspen. Shay will tell you the Stutsman-Gerbaz history is more than father and son; it includes aunts, uncles, cousins, and a team of dedicated employees who continue to employ the hard work and entrepreneurial spirit that inspired and drove their predecessors.