Equipment World Digital Magazine
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He inherited some of that attitude from his father, who Brown says helped him develop the fortitude and mental habits to make good business decisions. When Andy was just 20, his dad ripped into him for missing an insurance payment on his truck. "He said 'I never want to see this again. If there is anything the Browns do, it's pay their bills. You don't want to be the guy who doesn't pay his bills and lose everybody's respect.'" And when he had to ask his dad for a loan for repairs (after blowing out the rear end on said truck): "It was one of the lowest parts of my early adult life," says Brown. Finding the right clients Despite the hardball tactics of some developers, Brown soldiered on, and his reputation for quality work brought in better jobs. He found fa- vor with some custom homebuilders, who were putting up $2 and $3 mil- lion homes, and eventually branched out into doing work for the burgeon- ing vineyard business in Central California's wine industry. "The vineyard work is what we truly love," says Brown. "A lot of it is design-build, and the vine- yards helped carry us through the recession." The technical tolerances in vine- yards are not as challenging as those in civil work. It's mostly basic earth- moving, cutting terraces, building water storage ponds and installing irrigation systems. But, the clients are typically multi-millionaire business- men and women -- who expect every detail to be perfect. "That's what I enjoy most about it," Brown says. "Our company is very particular," says client Kevin Wilkinson. "We deal with high-end properties, and everything has to be clean and pre- cise. Andy's equipment was always pristine. His employees can handle themselves equally well in the field, or in a meeting in a conference room. Andy and I are business owners with the same attitude, which is to over deliver every time. That's what got me going with Andy; his willingness to go the extra mile." Aesthetics is one of those attri- butes that doesn't show up in a bid or scope of work for earthmoving projects, but it is critical to vineyard owners. "A lot of people are bound by the bid, but if Andy sees some- thing he can do to make something look better, he'll take it on himself with our permission," says Wilkinson. "Nobody does it better." The desire for perfection in the details also applies to the business processes of contractors who work for vineyard owners. Here again, the company does not disappoint. "From day one, Mr. Brown and his team worked closely with us on providing detailed project timelines and budgets, and continually kept us informed if plans needed to change," says Paul Kaselionis, vineyard and grower relations manager for Justin Vineyards and Winery. "No project is too big or too small. His team is professional, timely, and incredibly savvy," he says. On the opposite end of the techni- cal spectrum, Brown's expertise in marine and offshore work (putting in caissons, drilling, and excavating from a barge) has also set his com- pany apart. "He's first class," says Paul Gil- len, president of Associated Pacific Constructors. "We use him whenever we have near-shore or on-shore earthmoving to be done. He has good crews. They are very involved with the site. The operators know what they're doing, and there are no apprentices on the machines. The equipment is always well maintained, and he's very good about environ- mental best practices and safety." Equipment philosophy When it comes to the yellow iron, Brown admits, "I'm in love with the tractors. All our stuff is cherry. We take good care of it. We take pride in our fleet." That includes his trucks, which are all painted fire engine red. While many contractors grumble about the cost and complexity of the Tier 4 Final engines in new equip- ment, Brown takes a more balanced approach. "It's a double edged sword," he admits. "But, we need to clean up our air…bottom line. We should have done it 25 years ago, but the technology wasn't there. For us, having new equipment will be a good thing, because now we're all compliant." Brown says that one benefit of the cost increases of new regulations will be to push some of February 2016 | EquipmentWorld.com 66 contractor of the year | continued Brown acknowledges the cost of new emissions regulations, but says, "we should have done this 25 years ago." " Andy and I are business owners with the same attitude; which is to over deliver every time. "