Everywhere You Go, Igo: How Family Built Igo Inc.

Some businesses are built on ambition, others on opportunity—but the strongest ones are built on family. For Terry and Trevor Igo, Igo Inc. isn’t just a company: it’s a living legacy that spans generations, rooted in hard work, trust, and pride.

Terry’s Beginning: A Doer, Not a Sponge

Terry grew up just outside of Bessie, Oklahoma, the fourth of five kids on a family farm. By age nine, he was already pulling a pickup and swather down the road. “The value for working for people and taking care of your customers was instilled into me at a very early age,” Terry says.

But Terry thought he would walk down a different path originally. He has a natural talent for art, and went to college for Commercial Art and Art Education. “I actually wanted to design cars,” he says, “I really thought I wanted to be an art teacher.” But whatever he was going to be, he was determined to do something different from his father—“I was adamant I wasn’t gonna be a farmer.”

So when it became clear the family farm couldn’t support two families, Terry sought out a path of his own. While working with this father, he noticed that it was difficult to find somebody to dig the ditches for water, oil, and gas installation. “If it’s that hard to find somebody to dig ditches, that might not be a bad business to get into,” he recalls. So with the smallest Ditch Witch made and a used backhoe, he taught himself to dig—literally practicing by digging holes in the yard and covering them back up.

While he was apprehensive about starting his own business, Terry’s childhood of hard work was a driving motivational force. “My dad taught me a meaningful lesson,” he tells, “You can be a doer or you can be a sponge. Don’t rely on other people to help you. If you’re gonna make something out of yourself, you have to take the initiative and go out and do it.”

With those guiding words behind him, what started as a way to fill a need soon became a thriving business. Rural water districts in the late 1970s needed someone reliable for trenching, leak repairs, and service lines, and Terry stepped in. “A lot of the contractors who put in the water lines in western Oklahoma didn’t want to come back and do the maintenance, so they contracted it out to me,” he tells.

That was enough business to sustain his venture, and he was able to officially start Igo Inc. in 1979. And he hasn’t looked back since:

“It’s like your schoolteacher always says, ‘If you don’t get your grades up, you’re gonna grow up to be a ditch digger.’ Well, I grew up to be a ditch digger. I didn’t grow up to be an art teacher, and I didn’t grow up to be a farmer. And I’m very well pleased that I did grow up to be a ditch digger.”

The Next Generation: Trevor’s Pivotal Choice

Trevor grew up in the business—digging ditches, laying pipe, and spending long days on jobsites with his dad. “Growing up as an Igo was a lot of work,” he laughs, remembering scraped hands and makeshift duct-tape bandages. Like Terry, though, Trevor swore he wouldn’t follow in his father’s footsteps.

After college, Trevor pursued law enforcement and was even hired by the Oklahoma City Police Department. But when a flood opened up 15 water bores back home, opportunity came calling. “I was eating lunch when the investigator called to ask what I was going to do,” Trevor recalls. “I said, ‘I think I’m gonna go the other way and take the family route.’ And the rest is history.”

That decision was a turning point—for Trevor, for Terry, and for Igo Inc. What was once a one-man operation became a true family business. Together, Terry and Trevor combined experience with innovation, grit with technology, and tradition with growth.

Father and Son: A Team of Two

Today, Igo Inc. is still just Terry and Trevor. They’ll hire extra help for big projects, but the day-to-day work is handled by father and son. That close-knit teamwork has its challenges, but the respect and trust run deep—which is what they believe sets them apart.

“We’ve worked together so long we can read each other’s minds,” Terry says. Trevor adds, “The smaller the crew, the tighter the relationship. You learn each other’s movements, expressions—you just know what needs to happen.”

On top of a deep-seeded understanding, they share a deep commitment to quality. “We want people to call us because we don’t cut corners,” Terry says. Trevor adds, “The Igo values are quality, pride in your work, and trust. People trust us given our reputation; and we know it’s something that’s earned and easily lost.”

And their reputation speaks for itself: the Igo name is recognized locally not because of advertising, but because of decades of word-of-mouth trust. When ditch-digging work needs to get done in western Oklahoma, the Igos are the first name on their list.

More Than Work: Family at the Core

For the Igos, family isn’t just something you go home to after work—it’s woven into everything they do. While the company keeps them busy, their greatest joy comes from time spent together outside of the jobsite.

Hunting is a tradition that runs deep. From building their own deer blinds to preparing feeders and clearing land, it’s a process that involves the whole family. Terry and Trevor both see hunting as more than sport—it’s a way to pass down life lessons about patience, responsibility, and respect for nature. The kids are included in every step, from practicing at the range to helping dress and prepare meat once the hunt is done. Nothing goes to waste. “Hunting means family,” Trevor says. “From building the stands to bringing the animal home and turning it into food—that’s what we do. And the kids are part of the whole process.”

Karate has also become a cornerstone of family life. Trevor’s wife and kids all signed up first, eventually challenging him to join. And what started as a family activity turned into a personal pursuit: Trevor earned his black belt this past January. For him, martial arts are about discipline, resilience, and leading by example. “There’s nothing better than a long day of work, going to karate, and coming home to make a cool dinner with the kids,” he says.

When they’re not on the jobsite, in the dojo, or in a deer stand, the Igos spend time tinkering and creating together. They work on Jeeps, try out new tools like 3D printers, and enjoy “stay-at-home days” where everyone gets involved in projects, games, or outdoor adventures. Terry, ever the artist at heart, builds things by hand—from deer blinds decorated with his grandkids’ painted camo handprints to a palm tree sculpture he made for his wife by the pool.

At the core of all these hobbies is one thing: togetherness. Whether it’s sweating through karate practice, waiting quietly in a tree stand, or building something in the shop, the Igos use every moment as a chance to strengthen bonds, share skills, and build memories. For them, family isn’t separate from the work—it is the work.

The Igo Legacy

What started in 1979 with one man and a backhoe has become a family legacy spanning three generations. Terry built the foundation. Trevor made the pivotal choice to grow it. And now, the grandchildren are learning what it means to be part of something bigger than themselves.

At the heart of it all are the Igo values: quality, pride, trust, and family.

Or, as Terry puts it simply: “I do my artwork in the dirt.”