Diverse Success Stories

Typically this mid-season issue focuses on "top-performing contractors" offering insights into how they do what they do. But because this is the 25th year of publication we decided to revisit some of the contractors we've written about over the years. We started with about 40 companies selected based on type of service and geographic location. We narrowed it down using the same criteria, adding year of publication as a third filter. Then we started calling.

Profiled in this issue are the seven companies we settled on. They represent all segments of the paving and pavement maintenance business and they are all doing well (which was not a criteria for writing about them). Two of the companies are now in the hands of new owners, and only two of the 40 companies we initially targeted couldn't be located. Whether they were sold, closed their doors, or morphed into a new company we don't know, but we think that's a pretty sound statement, especially if it can be extrapolated across the rest of the industry.

Another interesting finding is that almost all of the companies we reinterviewed have diversified. You'll read where Jacketta Sweeping Service now offers striping, power washing and scrubbing; Clark Pavement Marking has added marking removal and sweeping; and Speck USA has added striping, repair, sealcoating, and decorative concrete. But there's still room for specialization as V & V Line Striping's success proves.

So here's a random, unscientific look at what some contractors have been through since this magazine started publishing 25 years ago - and where they stand, successfully, today. We hope you see some of your successes in their stories - and we hope you'll get some new ideas, too. To read the original articles as they appeared in Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction visit our website, www.pavementonline.com.