Business Spotlight: Lazer Perfect Striping and Sealing Inc.

Not many employees bother to look at the condition of the parking lot when they pull into Bank One in Springfield.

As long as they don't take notice, then Paul Frizzell did his job right when he asphalted and striped the lot. His company, Lazer Perfect Striping and Sealing Inc., helps people with driveways and parking lots get the maximum life from their asphalt pavement.

"I pay attention to every detail," he said. "I'm a firm believer in quality. Quality is job one here along with customer satisfaction. Our customers are our greatest assets.'

Frizzell and his employees will mark Lazer Perfect's 10th anniversary this year at the company's new facility in Nixa. Although Lazer Perfect has grown steadily during the past decade, Frizzell still remembers the uncertainty he felt when he moved to the Ozarks and started his own business.

Prior to founding Lazer Perfect, Frizzell owned an asphalt sealing and striping business in Canada. In 1993, he sold his company to his younger brother and moved to Springfield where his wife, Debbie, was attending Southwest Missouri State University. Two years later, starting with only one striping machine, he founded Lazer Perfect.

Initially, Frizzell was the company's sole employee, and he worked out of a home office.

A year later, he moved his rapidly expanding company into a small shop near the corner of College Street and Kansas Expressway in Springfield.

In 1998, Lazer Perfect moved to its current location at 1253 N. Kelly in Nixa. Frizzell still maintains a home office in Springfield, but all of the company's work is based out of the Nixa facility, which is expanding rapidly.

"I bought two more lots next to us to give us more room for expanding our fleet of vehicles and equipment," he said. "I'm also making plans to expand the office area."

Frizzell's penchant for perfection led him to name his company Lazer Perfect. Although the company primarily is known for its asphalt striping and seal-coating work, it does offer a wide range of services to customers.

These services including new paving, driveway paving, driveway sealing, parking lot seal-coating, new concrete work, concrete repair, crack filling, asphalt repair, asphalt curbing, pavement striping and backhoe work.

Lazer Perfect is bonded, licensed and insured. The company also offers free estimates to customers at any time and handles a wide variety of jobs.

"We do everything from homeowners' driveways to the largest parking lots," he said.

Frizzell estimates that approximately 75 percent of his business comes from commercial customers. Most of these customers reside within a 50-mile radius of Springfield.

Although Frizzell doesn't lack for competition, he said he hasn't had any trouble carving out a niche in the Springfield market. Much of his business comes from repeat customers.

Lazer Perfect has grown every year since it was founded. The company now employs as many as 13 people, who operate equipment ranging from graders and pavers to asphalt curbing machines and paving stripers.

Like most construction-related companies, Lazer Perfect must deal with seasonal work fluctuations. Most jobs occur between March and November, and during the winter, employees spend most of their time servicing and repairing the equipment that will be used during the coming year.

"I'm really blessed with high-quality employees right now," said Frizzell. "Our seal-coating foreman has 18 years of experience, and the paving foreman has 14 years of experience."

Frizzell said he uses commercial-grade products on each job. One such product, Star-Seal Supreme, is used to seal asphalt pavement. This sealant, which is premixed, is more durable than the sealants homeowners buy at hardware stores, Frizzell said.

"Residential driveway sealing and repair also are a big part of our business," he said. "Most homeowners lack the equipment to clean and prep their driveway surface properly, and the sealants that they use often are inferior. Most pavement cracks require application of hot tar strips composed of a commercial-grade rubberized sealant that must be heated up to approximately 400 degrees. Seal-coating pavement also can be a messy job. It's work that we are equipped to handle."

Frizzell keeps abreast of new products that are being used in the industry by attending trade shows, including the National Pavement Expo, which was held this year in Charlotte, N.C. He also attends supplier seminars and subscribes to several niche market publications, which help him identify and track changes and trends.

Frizzell has been busy purchasing new equipment and hiring additional help to handle the increased demand for his services.

When he's not working at Lazer Perfect, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Debbie, and their two children, Brett and Katie, who attend Southwest Missouri State University and Glendale High School, respectively. He also enjoys playing and refereeing ice hockey.