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CASSOPOLIS — Last week, under a foggy sunrise, Cassopolis business leaders put their shovels in the dirt to welcome an expanding business to the community.

Excavating and septic services business Dig-It Excavating recently broke ground on a new Cassopolis location. When completed, the new 9,600-square-foot facility will house a series of offices, a conference room, four truck bays for parking and mechanical work, and a wash bay.

The groundbreaking ceremony hosted last week was attended by Dervin Witmer and James Sanders of Dig-It Excavating, Inc., Tony Harman and Rick McColough from J.A. Wagner Construction, the company handling the project, as well as Steven Brown from Old National Bank.

“It was exciting,” Witmer said of the groundbreaking. “We purchased the land about two years ago, so we have been doing a lot of planning, working with builders and permits, so it feels good to get this project going.”

Witmer founded Dig-It Excavating in 2005 primarily to serve the excavating industry. With early opportunities to connect homes to the new Porter Township Sewer System and Treatment Plant in southern Michigan, the need arose for septic services. In 2006, the Pump That Septic service brand was added to Dig-It Excavating. This marketing tool began a journey of complete septic services offered by Dig-It, including septic tank pumping, septic inspections, drain cleaning and jetting, hydro-vac services along with septic system repairs and full systems installations.

In 2019, Dig-It expanded its septic pumping to Indiana, and the business grew even more this year, as the COVID-19 pandemic has been keeping people home and putting added stress on septic systems.

“We have seen record pumping calls and have been busy handling the emergencies and routine servicing needed to keep septic systems functioning properly during these uncertain times,” Witmer said. “We are here to serve, and this expansion will continue to help us strengthen our septic service division slogan, ‘Prompt. Professional. Always reliable.’…  This location on the south side of Cassopolis gives us close access to Elkhart, Granger and South Bend customers.”

According to Witmer, the new location will also provide an upgrade to Dig-It’s staff and services.

When Dig-It first got its start, it was operating from a pole barn on Witmer’s property. Now, 15 years later, Witmer said he is happy to see that his business has grown enough to warrant an expansion in a new building.

“It’s a good feeling,” he said. “It’s a tribute to the quality work we do and the employees that we have. Everything is done professionally, and I think that speaks for itself.”

Witmer expects the building to be completed in April or May 2021. Once construction is completed and Dig-It has moved into its new headquarters, Witmer hopes the new location will prove to be a benefit for both the business and the Cassopolis community.

“We are just looking to continuing to provide quality services and be a reliable company in the area, and be a good company to have a career with,” he said. “We are just happy to be a part of the Cassopolis community. We are excited to see the downtown revitalization that is going on, and we are hoping that our move to the edge of the village there can be used to encourage growth and expansion.”