Dean and Kelton Maw greeted me as I stepped into the Case booth this morning on the first day of the annual World of Concrete show in Las Vegas.

A Case dealer since 1928, Odgen, Utah-based Maw Equipment Inc. is now in its fifth generation as a family business, with Kelton, 24, poised to be the firm's next leader.

"I've always taken an interest in the machinery," he says. "I spend 50% of my time in the shop and the rest in the office."

His father is equally passionate about heavy equipment. Asked about business in 2013, Dean, 53, launched into a primer on the Utah construction market, which, by his account, is booming.

"It's exploding in Utah," he said. "Utah is a conservative, traditional state, it is one of the best-managed states, and has one of the highest growth rates, at 2.9%."

Maw is moving a good deal of yellow iron this year for landscaping companies, which are getting busier as more households let go of discretionary income, Dean said.

"Since the first of October, people are making decisions faster, and money is moving," said Dean. "I mean cash. In 2006, we had lots of money moving, but it wasn't real money."

Housing is recovering, but even-bigger projects are boosting construction in the Beehive State. Dean cites two examples: A $100-million office building for Adobe Systems and a $2-billion data center for the National Security Agency.

"Utah is positioned not to be behind the recovery; rather, it is ahead of it," he said, adding that his company sold 40% more machines last year than in 2011.

Proud of his company's success, Dean waved over a Case credit manager, asking him the last time a collections agent had to call on a Maw customer for not paying bills.

"There was that one guy last year," said the credit rep. "But that's all."