ForConstructionPros.com

Contractors respond to tough economic times in different ways. Some hunker down, pare back their workforce, and just try to survive until the market picks up.

Then there are companies like J&J Sealcoating Pavement Inc., Salem, WI. Started in 1996 by Jason Bader with a pickup truck and a homemade sealcoating unit, the 15-person pavement maintenance firm has been a growth-oriented business since day one. And the current economic conditions haven't changed that.

More than sealcoating
Originally a residential sealcoating contractor, J&J now splits its business between residential and commercial work. Bader says residential is his "fill in" work and commercial is his "weekend" work.

Even with a downturn in the economy and the residential construction market, Bader isn't giving up on where his business started. "I'm never going to shy away from what got me here, and residential got me here."

But Bader soon realized that to gain customers and grow his business he would have to expand his services, so while the primary business was always sealcoating, J&J quickly added crack filling, striping, overlays, and hot and cold patching. Recently he has expanded even more.