Black Dog Enterprises LLC has been in business since 1982 under the continuous ownership of Kenny Burnett although it has gone through
some name and structural changes. In 1982 we began as Kansas City Metropolitan Contractors (KC Metro Contractors) doing everything
from roofs to remodels to concrete. Within the first year we felt that our capability scope was too broad and narrowed our offerings
to predominantly concrete flatwork.
In 1994, Kenny’s wife Lynn came on board and the Company name was changed to American Construction
Enterprises, A.C.E., for short. As with KC Metro Contractors our emphasis remained on concrete flatwork.
In 2000, we branched out again
and changed our name and the direction of the company. Blackdog Enterprises LLC was incorporated. In addition to concrete flatwork
we saw an opportunity buying bank foreclosed and distressed houses and rehabbing them. Blackdog LLC purchased 15 properties, which
we completely rehabbed , marketed and resold.
In 2004 we were invited to our first disaster, Hurricane Ivan. We responded to Mobile,
Alabama with six crews and spent the fall and winter. Our work was performed under a USACE (United States Army Corps of Engineers)
contract through the management of Phillips and Jordan.
2005 brought the Big One, Hurricane Katrina. Again we got the call to respond
to the Gulf area. Katrina left a wide swath of destruction affecting several states. With New Orleans under water we staged once again
in Mobile, Alabama which took a massive blow for the second year in a row. We kept our crews busy clearing and hauling debris, predominantly
vegetation, waiting for the waters to recede in New Orleans. When the waters were pumped out for the final time we were among the
first clean-up crews allowed into the disaster area. We split our resources, leaving several crews in Mobile to finish that job and
relocated the “volunteers” to New Orleans. When Mobile wound down, all remaining crews came to New Orleans. That project lasted two
years; 7 days a week, 12 hours a day. During the project we employed 35 different crew numbers and 200 employees. We completed that
project on August 29th, 2007 and left New Orleans.
At this time we also became aware for the first time that a business classification
existed for disabled American veterans. Kenny Burnett is a disabled Army veteran with a 100% total and permanent VA disability rating having
been wounded in combat twice, once in Viet Nam in 1969 and once in Cambodia in 1970. With the appropriate documentation, Blackdog
Enterprises LLC became a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business. ( SDVOSB )
In January of 2008, Blackdog was offered the opportunity
to be the exclusive company to perform the vegetation debris cleanup in the aftermath of an ice storm in Versailles, Missouri. We
accepted and completed the project under the management of Phillips and Jordan, under the employ and supervision of Terry Tree Service.
September
1st, 2008 brought Hurricane Gustav. After briefly working in New Orleans on minor cleanup we situated our resources to Baton Rouge
where damages were considerably greater. On September 13th, Hurricane Ike introduced himself to the coast of Texas. As the work in
Baton Rouge neared completion we were released from that project and moved to Galveston Island where the damage was the heaviest.
The remainder of the Fall was spent beachfront.
On May 22nd, 2011, Joplin Missouri was devastated by an EF 5 tornado that cut a swath
¾ ths of a mile wide by 14 miles long through the center of town. Once again, with Terry Tree and Phillips & Jordan, we responded
with manpower and equipment. We remained there until August leaving acres of fields where neighborhoods once existed.
In October of
2011, a pressurized water line ruptured inside the Honeywell manufacturing plant at the National Nuclear Security Administrations
Kansas City facility. A loading dock floor and adjacent plant floor along with a 75 foot long concrete interior wall were all undermined
and buckled. Blackdog Enterprises LLC was contracted to perform the demolition and repairs to the concrete infrastructure.
Between
disasters, we continue to do light excavating and demolition.