Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/426956
EquipmentWorld.com | December 2014 55 tor I've worked with in 30 years, hands down. I wish I could have them on every project," he says. "I'll be at bid meetings and I'll hear guys from the municipalities say they hope Guyer gets the low bid," says Kevin Tanger, senior locations manager at L/B Water. "Sometimes they'll even go out of their way to try and make sure Guyer is doing the work for them." Keys to success When talking to the brothers about the reasons for their success, the biggest thing that stands out is the respect and trust they have in one another and how well splitting responsibilities between the jobsite and the office have worked. "I don't want anything to do with that stuff," Shawn says of the busi- ness side of things. "He's really good at it too. Kevin is really good about finding us work. And when it comes time for him to make a big decision, he doesn't have to consult with me. He knows exactly how I think." Beyond their relationship, the brothers agree that their employees are their biggest asset. And Kevin says a big part of that is Shawn's ability to manage a jobsite. "My brother has a lot of drive and push behind him and his guys are all really good guys," he says. And that's not an accident. Everyone that works at the company has been hand-picked and most are relatives or longtime friends. Though not everyone at the com- pany is family, the brothers do their best to treat them that way. "We pay everybody an operator's rate," Kevin Guyer says. "When I was working elsewhere I always felt that, yeah, the guy in the backhoe has a big responsibility. But so does the guy in the mud and the mess of it. We try to treat everybody and pay everybody as best as we can." As an added bonus, the brothers take all their employees on a big archery hunt every year. And when- ever it's time for ConExpo-Con/Agg, the company pays for any of its employees who want to make the trip to Las Vegas to do so. For the 2014 show, the company brought 18 of its employees. Looking to the future and how the company will sustain its suc- cess, Kevin Guyer says much of it will depend on working hard in its current market and finding new ways of doing the same jobs more efficiently. "It seems like profit is tougher. If you want to stay busy and keep the guys moving, profits shrink a bit. You've got to innovate and come up with faster ways to do things," he explains. "We've talked about the gas indus- try and there's a lot of work there. But that looks like it has hit its high point and there's a lot of other com- panies doing that work. And I feel like with those companies, if you're in, you're in, so we've tried to stick with what we know." Whatever comes, the broth- ers know their relationship, their employees and the loyalty of their customers will play a big role in the company's future. Though they've been in business for 15 years, they say the feeling of finding and com- pleting jobs at the company they own never gets old. "We've always enjoyed a challenge, I guess you could say, " Kevin Guyer says. "And at the end of the day when you've had a great day – where everything clicked – there's a feeling from that that you can't get working for somebody else." Shawn and Kevin Guyer, middle left and right, listen closely during a roundtable at the Contractor of the Year event in Las Vegas.