He didn’t join the family business. He started his own.
At nineteen, Foster Pybus founded Belfost Hydro Excavation in Stockbridge, Michigan — his hometown, and the same town where his father has run Belfost Construction since 2011. He could have joined the family company. Instead he chose to work for himself, in his own trade, while still finishing high school.
Belfost Hydro Excavation is an owner-operated hydro excavation company based in Stockbridge, Michigan, serving the Mid-Michigan market with utility locating, potholing, trenching, catch basin cleanout, jetting, sewer inspection, and flooded property cleanup. It was founded by Foster Pybus at the age of nineteen, after three years of hands-on excavation work he picked up while still in high school. The name Belfost was already in his family: his father coined it in 2011for a different business in the same small town.
The name was picked when Foster was still a kid
In 2011, Todd and Jody Pybus started a business in Stockbridge, Michigan, the small Michigan town where their two children — Bella and Foster — went to school. According to Stockbridge Community News, Todd named the new company after the kids. Combine the first three letters of Bella’s name with the first four of Foster’s and you get the result: Bel + Fost = Belfost Construction.
Belfost Construction has operated in Stockbridge since 2011. Industry directories list its specialties as drywall, metal stud framing, acoustical ceilings, rough carpentry, and painting — a finishing-trades shop, not an excavation business. The local paper’s profile of Todd ran under the headline “Low-key businessman finds Stockbridge a good place to live and do business.”
Foster — the “Fost” in the name — is now the second person in his family to put that name on a company, in a different trade.
Three years of hands-on work before the diploma
Per the company’s About page, Foster Pybus began working in excavation while still in high school, accumulating about three years of hands-on experience before starting his own company. He graduated with the class of 2025 and is now the owner-operator of Belfost Hydro Excavation.
The company’s own description of him, published on the same page, is plainspoken:
“A strong work ethic and a passion for doing quality work while serving customers throughout the local community.”
The service categories on the company’s site
These are the services Belfost Hydro Excavation publishes on belfosthydroexcavation.com. The company has not published technical specifications (depths, tank sizes, equipment make), so this list is the categories only.
Hydrovac excavation
Safe digging
Utility locating
Trenching
Potholing
Jetting
Catch basin cleanout
Flooded basement / business cleanup
Sewer inspection
Pipeline excavation
Pipe cleaning
Source: belfosthydroexcavation.com.
He didn’t take a job. He started a company.
At nineteen, with three years of hands-on excavation experience and a family that had been running its own Stockbridge construction company since 2011, Foster Pybus had an obvious off-ramp: join the family business. He didn’t.
Instead he started Belfost Hydro Excavation — a separate company, in a different trade than Belfost Construction, under the same family name. The company describes itself in its own materials as “owner-operated.” Foster is the owner. He is also the operator.
That is the part worth pointing at. There is a meaningful difference between growing up around the trades and choosing, at nineteen, to work for yourself in one. Foster made that choice before he had a high-school diploma.
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers about Belfost Hydro Excavation and its founder, drawn from the company’s published materials atbelfosthydroexcavation.comand reporting from Stockbridge Community News.
- Who owns Belfost Hydro Excavation?
- Belfost Hydro Excavation is owned and operated by Foster Pybus, who founded the company at age 19 in his hometown of Stockbridge, Michigan. He started the business while still finishing high school, after roughly three years of hands-on excavation experience.
- Where does the name "Belfost" come from?
- The name was coined in 2011 by Foster's father, Todd Pybus, when he started Belfost Construction, a Stockbridge-based drywall and carpentry contractor. He built it from the first letters of his two children's names — Bella and Foster — so "Belfost" is, quite literally, "Bel" + "Fost". Foster's hydrovac company carries the same name into a new trade.
- Is Belfost Hydro Excavation related to Belfost Construction?
- They share a name and a family. Belfost Construction was founded by Todd Pybus in 2011 and specializes in drywall, metal stud framing, acoustical ceilings, rough carpentry, and painting. Belfost Hydro Excavation is a separate, owner-operated business launched by Foster Pybus that focuses on hydro excavation — a different service line entirely, but built on the same family brand.
- Where is Belfost Hydro Excavation located and what is the service area?
- The company is based at 5601 Green Rd, Stockbridge, MI 49285 and serves the Mid-Michigan area, including Stockbridge and the surrounding communities. Dispatch is available Monday through Friday 8:00 AM – 7:00 PM and Saturday 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM.
- What services does Belfost Hydro Excavation offer?
- The published service list includes hydrovac excavation, safe digging, utility locating, trenching, potholing, jetting, catch basin cleanout, flooded basement and property cleanup, sewer inspection, pipeline excavation, and pipe cleaning. The company describes itself as offering emergency services in addition to scheduled work.
- How do I contact Belfost Hydro Excavation?
- The company lists (517) 930-2084 as its phone number and accepts inquiries through the contact form on belfosthydroexcavation.com. Per the site, the business is owner-operated.
- Why is Belfost being profiled as a "rising star"?
- Hydrovac News spotlights operators at the start of their careers as well as established ones. Foster Pybus founded Belfost Hydro Excavation at age 19, after about three years of hands-on excavation work picked up while still in high school. He chose to start his own company rather than join the existing family construction business (Belfost Construction, founded by his father in 2011). That decision — working for himself, in his own trade, at that age — is the story.
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Troy brings 34 years of personal experience in hydro excavation to Hydrovac News, with a background owning and operating hydrovac companies. He is a recognized advocate for reducing preventable utility strikes through hydrovac adoption.
