LaFollette Excavating makes finalist for national award

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2004 Contractor of the Year Award will be presented in March|ret||ret||tab|

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by Maria Hoover|ret||ret||tab|

Inside Business Editor|ret||ret||tab|

mhoover@sbj.net|ret||ret||tab|

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Strafford-based LaFollette Excavating is one of 12 U.S. companies in the running for Equipment World magazine's 2004 Contractor of the Year award. Owner Larry LaFollette said being named a finalist was a surprise he didn't even know the company had been nominated. |ret||ret||tab|

Marcia Gruver, editorial director of Equipment World, a Tuscaloosa, Ala.-based magazine, said the publication generally keeps information about who nominates companies for the award confidential, but she noted that companies can be self-nominated or nominated by others within the industry. |ret||ret||tab|

The 12 finalists came from a pool of about 100 nominees, Gruver said. To be eligible for the award, which is in its fourth year, each company's annual gross sales must be less than $5 million. Gruver said the publication also looks at and checks references for each nominated company. "We get some unenthusiastic references (but) definitely in Mr. LaFollette's case, his references were very enthusiastic," Gruver said. |ret||ret||tab|

During the nomination and application process, she said, company representatives also have to answer a variety of essay questions on topics including dealing with industry challenges and also addressing factors to which they attribute company growth and success.|ret||ret||tab|

For LaFollette, it's his staff that he credits with much of his success. Many of his crew members have been with him for several years. |ret||ret||tab|

"They're just a good bunch of guys. Their attitudes are great, they have character and morals. They're why I'm going they make me look good," LaFollette said. |ret||ret||tab|

LaFollette Excavating, which was founded in 1975, has between 12 and 15 employees, LaFollette said, depending on the time of year and the jobs being handled. Two of those employees are LaFollette's sons, Brad and Eric. |ret||ret||tab|

"We're kind of diversified in our field. We have a backhoe service and do a lot of residential utilities installations and septic systems. We dig for a lot of plumbers, electricians and builders."|ret||ret||tab|

The company also has track loaders, which are used to dig basements, crawl spaces and foundations for residential customers.|ret||ret||tab|

While much of the residential work is done for individual homes, LaFollette also does infrastructure and utilities for subdivisions, including Iron Bridge. |ret||ret||tab|

Through its commercial division, LaFollette said, his company handles small- and medium-sized commercial lots. |ret||ret||tab|

A third type of business agricultural-land improvement, which includes digging ponds rounds out LaFollette Excavating's primary services. |ret||ret||tab|

LaFollette said 60 percent of his business is residential, and commercial and agricultural-land improvement account for 20 percent each. |ret||ret||tab|

"It varies year to year which (area) is going to be best," he said. "Next year, if the market jumps up, commercial will keep going, but the residential may drop," LaFollette said. |ret||ret||tab|

Through the years, the company has had to adapt to marketplace conditions, but LaFollette said not everything he tried was a good fit for his business. |ret||ret||tab|

"We went into one area, for larger construction jobs and roads for the state and city," LaFollette said. |ret||ret||tab|

"But we keep coming right back to the builders and developers we work for, the plumbers and the electricians."|ret||ret||tab|

One thing that has changed since LaFollette entered the business is that it's now more important to work with developers before a project starts to be sure that the piece of land and what may be buried on it is determined exactly. |ret||ret||tab|

"Underground utilities are everywhere, especially with fiberoptics. It can be expensive if you hit one of those. It could cost you $100,000 to $500,000 if you hit them. If you break one fiberoptic cross country (cable), you better have good insurance," he said.|ret||ret||tab|

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Equipment|ret||ret||tab|

One neat thing about being in the final running for this award, LaFollette said, is being able to share the moment with his father, Amos, who helped him get a loan for his first piece of equipment. |ret||ret||tab|

"He taught me how to drive a straight line and turned me loose," LaFollette said.|ret||ret||tab|

The company has 20 pieces of equipment, including multiple backhoes, track loaders, bulldozers, excavators, scrapers and dump trucks. |ret||ret||tab|

"We're constantly upgrading our equipment. We buy at least one new piece of equipment, if not two or three, per year," LaFollette said.|ret||ret||tab|

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Relationships|ret||ret||tab|

Residential work is often done for individual homeowners, but LaFollette said his long-term relationships are with the builders, developers and tradesmen his company contracts with. |ret||ret||tab|

"We're one-on-one with them, helping them build their businesses and, in turn, ours grows," he said. |ret||ret||tab|

LaFollette said his crews and equipment have been involved with many homes and projects in and around Springfield, but most people probably aren't aware of that.|ret||ret||tab|

"We're kind of hidden in the dirt. You don't see us everything we do is covered up. Our trade isn't visible, but it's very important. We're the first ones there," he said. |ret||ret||tab|

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Anticipation|ret||ret||tab|

While LaFollette isn't generally a big fan of being in the limelight, he said that once he saw how excited his employees were about being part of an award-finalist company, he warmed up to the idea.|ret||ret||tab|

"Morale around here has been great," he said. |ret||ret||tab|

Beyond that, he noted, being selected as a finalist for the award is "very validating. A lot of times, in construction, you doubt whether you're doing the right thing for the customer. There's not always great money working for yourself, so you question why you're in the trade." |ret||ret||tab|

Equipment World will present its 2004 Contractor of the Year Award in March in Las Vegas. |ret||ret||tab|

LaFollette and many of his crew members and their wives will travel to the event. |ret||ret||tab|

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