Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/634023
A ndy Brown didn't grow up in construction. His parents and grandparents were success- ful in the restaurant business. But, what he learned from them -- about hard work and keeping a close eye on the books,-- has served him well. After high school in Atascadero, California, Brown apprenticed with the Operating Engineers Local 12 and worked for Granite Construction until he earned his jour- neyman's certificate. Even though he was making good money as a union operator, Brown aspired to someday start his own business. It was something he knew he wanted to do, even as a kid. In his mid-20s, Brown passed all the tests and applied for a contractor's license, but, California being California, the state waited a year before deciding to give him one. "They said I didn't have enough experience," he relates, which proved not to be the case. After finally earning his license, he bought a used backhoe from the foreman he was working for at the time. In his words, "It was all downhill from there. I turned that one backhoe into 30- plus pieces of equipment in 13 years." Brown began by digging a lot of swimming pools and teaming up with a buddy to do residential utility hook- ups. "I can remember running that backhoe for $50 an hour and thinking I was in tall cotton," he says. In nearby Santa Maria, he won a bid to install utili- ties and finish grading for a 400 home development. It was here that he learned of the bare-knuckled world of working for big developers; always angling to shave costs and bring in prices lower than the bid. "They know how to work you for something less, and it got to the point where every two years they'd have a regime change with their contractors. You were always battling them over this or that," he says. But the rough and tumble business climate in California real estate development didn't discourage Brown. "When somebody says, 'You're never going to pull that off,' and puts me in a corner, that motivates me. I work way better under pressure," he says. EquipmentWorld.com | February 2016 65 contractor of the year | by Tom Jackson | TJackson@randallreilly.com Quality work and loyal clients helped this contractor grow one backhoe into 30-plus pieces of equipment in just 13 years. Andrew Brown General Engineering Year started: 2002 Number of employees: 14 Annual revenue: $3 to $5 million Markets served: Earthwork, paving, underground Andrew Brown Paso Robles, California