To be successful contractors not only have to identify niches where they can provide a service, they also have to make themselves stand out within that service niche. Gloria Jeane Hauling and Highway Rehab Inc., Arlington, WA, has done both.

Beginning as a start-up oil hauling operation in 1991, Gloria Jeane Hauling, named after founder Gloria Tonsgard, added pavement milling to its services in the mid-1990s to capitalize on an ever-growing need for road rehabilitation and other infrastructure improvements.

But Gloria Tonsgard didn't want to run just another milling operation. She wanted to differentiate her company from the competition by providing a service they didn't provide. So she guaranteed pavement cleanup after all milling.

"We're known in our market for doing all the cleanup. That's what my Mom wanted when she started doing grinding," says Loren Tonsgard, general manager. "We started guaranteeing people the jobsite would be asphalt ready."

And Gloria Jeane has not only made itself stand out in the Washington market, it has raised the level of milling in the area because other contractors now offer cleanup also.