ForConstructionPros.com

With a focus on versatility and a goal of perfection, there wasn't much to prevent Sikes Asphalt Group from successfully completing a monster sealcoating and pavement repair job for Union Pacific Railroad last summer.

And nothing did. In 14 days, working 12-hour shifts around the clock, Jake Sikes and his six-person crew cleaned and cracksealed 2.7 million sq. ft. of parking lot pavement, performed 23,000 sq. ft. of remove-and-replace repairs, placed a fabric and overlay on 110,000 sq. ft., and then sealcoated the whole job. Twice.

"It was actually really hard but a really fun job," Sikes says. "And Union Pacific was blown away by how fast we finished and by how fast we worked day and night."

The Sikes Asphalt Group's ability to undertake and complete a job like this is rooted in Jake Sikes' approach to business: build relationships, run a versatile operation, and perform quality work.

"Since we're a smaller operation we probably have a better handle on everything that goes on and everything that we can do," Sikes says. "Everyone wears several hats and is trained on several jobs. We give people the opportunity to get on a machine here and there so we don't have just one guy who runs the sealcoating machine. A few people can do it, so if someone doesn't show up we can put someone else on that part of the job and we don't get slowed down."