Contrary to rumors, the McAninch Corp. is not for sale, but it is downsizing in response to the slowing economy, said the company’s president.

“We’ve just had some excess people and some excess equipment, and we’re trimming back to fit the economy,” said Doug McAninch, the company’s president and chief operating officer. The West Des Moines-based company is one of the Midwest’s largest excavating and underground utility contractors.

Last Friday, McAninch laid off 10 truck drivers, the latest of several cutbacks that have trimmed more than 80 workers from the company’s payroll within the past two to three months, according to several former employees. The company has sold at least 35 of its trucks and laid off the foremen and crews associated with those pieces of equipment, said laid-off workers who asked not to be identified. One former driver said a company vice president told them on Friday that across-the-board cuts of 25 percent were planned, a figure Doug McAninch disputed.

“We have no specific numbers like that,” he said. As for rumors of a pending sale, “I’ve heard those all over town,” he said. “There’s no truth to it.”

The 10 drivers laid off Friday have been the only Teamsters union members let go recently by McAninch, said Matt Ballard, president of Teamsters Local No. 90. Despite high fuel prices and the economy, “we’ve really held our own,” he said, noting that the impact of higher diesel fuel prices has been offset by increased activity in larger mass shipments. The union represents between 1,200 and 1,300 workers in Central Iowa.

According to the company’s Web site, McAninch operates a fleet of more than 400 Caterpillar machines, specializing in large-scale mobilization of equipment for mass grading work. Among its major completed projects are the Iowa Speedway, Jordan Creek Town Center, the Iowa Highway 5 bypass and Deerfield Retirement Community.

The company currently has several million dollars in public and private projects under way. In West Des Moines, McAninch is the general contractor on $5.3 million in street extensions near Jordan Creek Town Center that involve the paving of Mills Civic Parkway from South Jordan Creek Parkway to South 81st Street and the extension of Cascade Avenue between those same streets.

Also, McAninch is the general contractor on a $1.6 million street construction project at 100th Street and Plum Drive in Urbandale.