2007 Dynamic Dozen Honoree: Ozark Laser & Shoring

Global Positioning Systems and construction surveying products are the bread and butter for OLS Inc., which does business as Ozark Laser & Shoring, but company President Ryan Zweerink is always scouting new markets.

That’s because Zweerink sees a point in the not-too-distant future when tractors won’t need drivers and spray rigs will be smart enough to analyze last year’s harvest and apply fertilizer where it’s needed most.

Zweerink’s innovative streak and capitalistic drive are central to the success of the company. Annual revenue at Ozark Laser & Shoring has grown at a clip of more than $1.5 million a year since 2003, according to figures provided by the company. Zweerink attributed much of the sales growth to GPS gadgets the company sells and rents to contractors, who use the super-precise instruments for everything from building roads to installing utilities to landscaping.

While building Pinnacle Hills Promenade – a recently completed outdoor shopping venue in Rogers, Ark., that’s similar to Branson Landing – virtually every contractor working on the project used GPS systems purchased through Ozark Laser & Shoring, Zweerink said.

“That way, everybody’s on the same sheet of music,” he said.

Aided by dozens of U.S. and Russian satellites orbiting the planet, GPS helps contractors and their crews find reference points within fractions of an inch.

Ozark Laser & Shoring is the exclusive regional dealer for equipment manufacturer Topcon Positioning Systems. Topcon entered the GPS market in 2003, and within months, Ozark Laser & Shoring was carrying the company’s myriad products.

Zweerink started his company as Ozark Laser Systems in April 2000 after selling Topcon equipment for three years with Shoring & Supply Co. Ozark Laser Systems recently changed its name to Ozark Laser & Shoring.

United Rentals bought Shoring & Supply in 1999, and Topcon decided not to sell its equipment through the new owner. Instead, Topcon approached Zweerink about starting a new dealership for southwest Missouri, northwest Arkansas and southeast Kansas. Topcon loaned Zweerink and then-partner Bill Smith about $70,000 for Ozark Laser Systems, which sold $450,000 in its first year. Smith retired in 2002 – the same year Ozark Laser & Shoring surpassed $1 million in revenue – and an unnamed silent partner took control of his half of the company.

While GPS has certainly been a revenue generator for Ozark Laser & Shoring, the company can’t subsist purely on the technology, Zweerink said.

“The truth is that at Ozark Laser, you can’t make it on positioning alone, and we recognize that,” Zweerink said, noting that the underground utility business and demand for trench boxes have proven lucrative in recent years. “Our niche market is kind of underground safety.”

As a safety instructor certified by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Zweerink understands the importance of keeping workers safe at construction sites. Ozark Laser & Shoring rents and sells equipment to test underground utilities and has about 75 rental trench boxes to keep workers in ditches safe.

In 2003, Ozark Laser & Shoring acquired the Topcon rights to the entire state of Oklahoma after it bought B&F Instruments, a Davis, Okla.-based Topcon dealer. The following year, the company bought the assets of former Springfield-based firm XYZ Precision Instruments.

Ozark Laser & Shoring also shares resources with sister company U.S. Photonics, a nanotechnology firm that was recently named a corporate affiliate at the Roy D. Blunt Jordan Valley Innovation Center in downtown Springfield.

Zweerink started U.S. Photonics with partner Jacob Conner in January 2006. Earlier this year, the company purchased a 10,000-square-foot building on Boonville Avenue right across the street from JVIC. The company uses ultrafine lasers to create tiny micromachines and nanomachines with potential applications in the biomedical and defense fields.

Information accurate at the time of the honor.[[In-content Ad]]