The owners of Schilke Construction Co. of Hillsborough are usually the first to lend a helping hand.
By: Alec Moore
HILLSBOROUGH — When the township’s Department of Public Works is in a tight spot, Doug and Diane Schilke, owners of Schilke Construction Co. of Hillsborough, are usually the first ones to lend a helping hand.
"They’re always there when we need them," said Buck Sixt, Public Works deputy director, of Mr. and Ms. Schilke, who are brother and sister, not husband and wife.
"They’ve helped the town for as long as I can remember," Mr. Sixt said, reflecting on a variety of instances over the past 20 years where the Schilkes’ generosity has been invaluable to the township.
Most recently the Schilkes lent the DPW their track machine more commonly known as a bulldozer since the township’s bulldozer was inoperative at the time. Mr. Sixt explained that the township had borrowed Bridgewater’s track machine to help compact garbage, but unfortunately the Bridgewater bulldozer was not quite up to the challenge of compacting Hillsborough’s garbage.
"It was a little bit smaller and a little bit lighter," Mr. Sixt said, pointing out that it was taking much longer to compact the township’s garbage using the smaller bulldozer.
Since the DPW now has the Schilkes’ track machine on loan, the job takes considerably less time than it did with Bridgewater’s machine. Mr. Sixt said it would cost the township roughly $6,000 a month to rent a track machine like the Schilkes’ and about $150,000 to buy.
"They don’t do it for money, they don’t do it for recognition, they just do it because they want to help the town," Mr. Sixt said of their generosity, adding that Schilke Construction is among the contingent of construction companies that volunteered to provide their services to the school district for the installation of the artificial grass football field at Hillsborough High School.
"Money just isn’t on their minds, and never has been," Mr. Sixt added, referring to the family’s continuous selfless efforts to help the town.
"Part of the mission statement of our company is to help the community," said Ms. Schilke, who modestly confessed that anytime the town is in need of assistance, she and her brother are usually happy to oblige. "If (the township) needs equipment and we have it available, then we’ll lend it to them," she continued, pointing out that her family has deep roots in the community. "We’ve all been born and raised in this community."
In addition to supplying the DPW with supplies and equipment when the need arises, the Schilkes also donate roughly $30,000 a year to a variety of local charities.
"We’ve always been financially available to a number of nonprofit organizations," Ms. Schilke said, pointing out the Somerset County Food Bank, the Resource Center for Women and their Families in Hillsborough and the Run With Aimee, a nonprofit organization which provides scholarships, as some of the organizations that have benefited from the family’s generosity.
Schilke Construction has been in business in Hillsborough since 1973 and specializes in construction site work, water and sewer maintenance and hazardous remediations.