Our Story
40+ Years Of Doing It Right
The Origin 1985 – 1989
Eddie Dean opened Dean Brothers in Harrisonburg in August 1985 with one truck and $8,500.
1976
Ten Years in His Father’s Shop
Eddie earned his master electrician’s license in 1976 and spent the next ten years working in his father’s appliance and electrical business before going out on his own.
August 1985
Dean Brothers Opens
Eddie started with $8,500: $3,500 from selling personal belongings and a $5,000 bank loan for a truck. The reason was simple. He wanted his wife, a schoolteacher, to be able to leave her job and stay home with their kids.
$0Starting capital
1985 – 1987
Eighty to a Hundred Hours a Week
Eddie ran every part of the business himself: estimating, design, project management, and every service call. Dean Brothers also worked as an on-call generator servicing dealer.
1987
Douglas M. Dean Comes Aboard
Eddie’s father closed his own business and joined Dean Brothers.
Late 1980s
The Wampler Foods Pellet Mills
Dean Brothers automated two 350 horsepower pellet mills for Wampler Foods, the most technically demanding job the company had taken on.
1988
Six on the Team
A crew of about six was running commercial and residential service calls across the Valley.
0Employees
Building the
Dean Brothers Business
1990s
Through the nineties Dean Brothers took almost any work that came its way: residential, telecom, irrigation, and industrial.
Early 1990s
Steve Dean Starts the Residential Division
Custom homes, townhouses, and communities across the Valley and into Charlottesville. At its peak the division brought in $4 to $5 million a year.
1990s
Working with Continental Telephone
Eddie spent years working for Continental Telephone of Virginia in Mechanicsville. He never said no and never missed a deadline, and the work carried real weight.
1990s
Irrigation, Presses, and Tire Shredders
Work outside electrical kept the lights on: irrigation systems starting with Rockingham Memorial Hospital, mechanical work on presses for local printers, and a tire shredder for Big L Tire.
1990s
Licensed in Three States
Virginia, North Carolina, and West Virginia. Builder relationships from these years include Martin Horn, Whiting-Turner, Bernhart’s Contracting, and Oakcrest Builders.
0States licensed
Commercial and
Industrial Take Hold
2000 – 2018
Commercial and industrial work grew into the core of Dean Brothers, with a portfolio across hotels, restaurants, apartments, senior living, and public schools.
2000s – 2010s
Hospitality Across the Valley
Hotels, restaurants, and apartment communities became a steady part of the work. Projects from these years include the Marriott Residence Inn and Courtyard in Harrisonburg, the Hilton Garden Inn in Falls Church, and the 865 Port Road apartment community.
11Restaurants
10Hotels
11Apartment complexes
2000s – 2010s
Supporting Seniors in Our Communities
Assisted living and retirement communities across the region became part of our portfolio, including Bridgewater Retirement Community. The work happens around residents who call these buildings home.
0Senior assisted living facilities
2007
Walking Away From Residential
Dean Brothers shut down the residential side to put everything into commercial and industrial. It is the decision that shaped the company that exists today.
2010s
The Start of a Relationship With Rockingham County Public Schools
Our first projects for Rockingham County Public Schools included John Wayland Elementary School, Pleasant Valley Elementary School, and Rockingham Academy.
2015
Forty Seven on the Team
Headcount had grown steadily through fifteen years of commercial and industrial work.
0Employees
Divisions and Scale 2019 – Present
Five divisions, a fabrication shop, an acquisition, and a team that has more than doubled since 2015.
October 2019
Fabrication Division
Dean Brothers bought the building that became its dedicated Fabrication Shop, and the Welding and Fabrication Division opened with it.
Fabrication2019 – 2024
Growth in Stuarts Draft
Dean Brothers completed five major expansions at The Hershey Company’s Stuarts Draft facility over six years.
0Square feet, roughly
2019 – 2026
Back to School
Rockingham County Public Schools kept bringing us back. Over these years we completed work at John C. Myers Elementary School, Fulks Run Elementary School, Pleasant Valley Elementary School, Elkton Elementary School, McGaheysville Elementary School, and Broadway High School.
2022
Telecom and Fiber Optics
Zach Dean took the division, and he and two teammates earned their Fiber Optic Association certification. Their first big job was the Hershey office expansion, with access control and security cameras alongside the cabling.
0Cables pulled on one job
Telecommunications2023
Medium Voltage Division
The Medium Voltage Division brought switchgear, transformers, and distribution systems in house.
Medium Voltage2024
The Team Reaches Seventy Eight
Up from 47 a decade earlier, across four divisions.
0Employees
2024
Featured in Virginia Construction Elite
Dean Brothers was featured in the 2024 edition of Virginia Construction Elite magazine.
Read MoreJanuary 1, 2026
Advanced Telephone & Data Joins
Dean Brothers acquired Advanced Telephone & Data, expanding the Telecommunication Division at Dean Brothers.
0Teammates welcomed
2026
A Team of Over 120
Dean Brothers is still one of the few locally owned contractors in the Shenandoah Valley, with a large team that’s only expanding.
0Employees today
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