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Arrow Striping is an example of what the right people, who join together at the right time, and bring the right ideas, can do to help a company thrive.

This small pavement marking company, which specializes in parking lot and airport striping, has over the years become a growing, profitable, smoothly running pavement marking business - and a great place to work - by allowing its owners and employees to play to their strengths. And it's a model other contractors, stripers or not, can use as a blueprint for their own operations.

Started in 1986, Arrow Striping, Lincoln, NE, has evolved since the company was sold in 2006 to the four current principals: Sue Rottinghaus, president; Don Rottinghaus, vice president; Heath Whitney, executive director; and Renae Whitney, secretary/treasurer.

Sue Rottinghaus and husband, Don, didn't know anything about pavement marking prior to joining the partnership. Sue had been involved in real estate and has 10 years office management experience, particularly in accounting and insurance, and she now handles the office and administrative functions of the company. Don had worked with a construction company, so he had an idea of the contracting business - but not pavement marking. Heath Whitney, on the other hand, is the Arrow Striping technical expert, with 10 years under his belt with Arrow Striping as an employee before becoming partner. Renae Whitney, Heath's wife, worked for Arrow Striping for several years and now handles the company's human resources, website, and mailing efforts among other jobs. Office manager Linda Anderson, while not an owner, has played a key role as well. "We're all kind of diversified in what we know and what we do, and it works well," Sue Rottinghaus says.

Parking lots and airports
Working with the major contractors in the area as well as the larger property management firms, Arrow Striping generates 51% of its income from parking lot striping, 37% coming from airport striping, and the remainder from indoor striping and marking athletic fields.