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But the transformation of Arrow Striping has a lot to do with the base the new owners started from and their insistence on pursuing the growth and profitability they saw in the company before they bought it.

"The original owner before was a one-man show," says Heath Whitney. "He started from scratch in college out of his house. The company has grown big but he wasn't doing anything internally in the company and he wasn't doing anything to allow it to grow. The potential for it to grow was there but he just wasn't allowing it to happen.

"Before we'd spend three or four hours in the office just figuring out what to do, and that just wasn't cutting it. Now with four people in the office we can have crews that just go out and paint every day. But he laid a foundation, developed a great reputation, and we're building on that."

Retaining quality workers
That "building" resulted in the loss of some employees and restructuring of crews, among other changes. But the impact is evident.

"When we took over we did a little revamping of the staff. We wanted people that wanted to come to work, who wanted to be around, and who had the work ethic we were after," Rottinghaus says. "Eventually we found them, and now we have a crew we like that's coming back. I can't say enough about them, the pride they have in their work, and their dependability."