Coring |amp| Cutting makes the tough cuts in concrete

Drilling holes in concrete walls or floors, or cutting concrete at construction sites or bridges are just a few of the major tasks Coring & Cutting does on a daily basis. The company is located at 2074 N. James River Court in Nixa.

"Coring & Cutting has been called such since 1991 when Jim Hedges was bought out by our company president, Matt Miller," said Bill Featheringill, one of the two vice presidents of Coring & Cutting. "Prior to 1991, it was called Hedges Coring & Cutting because it was owned by local businessman Jim Hedges."

Featheringill and Jimmy Percival are the vice presidents of the Nixa office and oversee day-to-day operations. Six employees out in the field do the coring and cutting work, and three more employees, not including Percival and Featheringill, work in the office.

Coring & Cutting is one of 12 shops in the country franchised by the same company, K.C. Coring & Cutting. Miller, who works out of Kansas City, owns five of the shops and the others are owned by different individuals.

The company's services include sawing, or cutting into concrete to make windows and doors; cutting trenches into existing concrete floors to allow plumbers and electricians to do their work; drilling holes for plumbers and electricians to run pipes or wiring through; parapet wall removal on bridges, which is removing the wall so street lanes can be widened; and curb cuts for driveways.

"A curb cut is done by cutting out the customer's curb and gutter so that their driveway can run out onto the street," Percival said.

Coring & Cutting employees work with general contractors, subcontractors and industrial plants.

"We do residential, commercial, highway and bridge work in an eight-state area," Featheringill said. "We go after our own work here in Missouri, but we also do joint ventures with the other shops Miller owns."

The joint venture allows Coring & Cutting employees the chance to work in other states, such as Tennessee. The company has customers in Springfield, as well as other cities around the state such as Fort Leonard Wood, Carthage, Joplin and Lebanon.

"A new employee starts out on the easier jobs and then works his way up," Featheringill said. "The company supplies all the protective wear that's needed: protective eyewear, gloves, hard hats, ear plugs and rubber boots to keep the feet grounded and the shoes dry."

Both Percival and Featheringill started working out in the field and were eventually promoted to vice president.

"Every manager started in the field," Featheringill said. "We promote from within."

He said the Nixa office works on approximately 400 jobs in one month, with some jobs taking as little as half an hour and some taking up to three weeks.

According to Featheringill, Coring & Cutting is self-contained. "This means we have our own equipment that we carry on the truck with us," he said. "We keep our own generator, supplies such as saws and drills, and water sources with us at all times."

Percival said, "Our motto is On the mark, On the money, On time,' and we stick with that."