Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/712836
tell my customers if something hap- pens, call me any time," he says. "My wife doesn't like it very much, but if you're not communicating with the people you're having problems with, you don't solve the problems. There are always problems, but there's always a solution." Client John Porcek of Bridge De- velopment Partners calls Porchetta "exceptional. He's a very conscien- tious person and always looks to make sure the project is being done in an efficient [manner]. He's always good in offering suggestions in how things can be done, or cost savings… and in his billing and invoicing he's always been fair." Client Ron Witt Jr. of Sweetwater Construction adds Joe is "conscien- tious on my sites. There's always a willingness to work together. [He's] not just looking out for himself." Porchetta says it's vital to keep these lines of communication open in order to build what may be the most important part of his company: relationships. "My philosophy is I'm not here to do one job and be done. I'm here to establish long-term relationships with good people, good customers," he says. "I've set my company up so that I don't have to take a job just to take a job." But Porchetta doesn't limit com- munication to those around him. He reaches beyond his circle in order to learn from his competitors. "I watch other people. I ask other people for advice," Joe says. "Good guys in my business that are the same as me, they're not afraid to share what they know. Those are the guys I want to compete against because they're at my same level." Managing people and machines As far as the advice Porchetta offers to others, much of it centers around managing people and machines. On the machine side, Porchetta highly recommends other companies integrate rental into their fleet strat- egy. He currently owns 90 percent of his fleet while renting the remaining 10, though he says this split fluctu- ates throughout the year. "We're thinking about going into paving and we're renting all the equipment for one season just to see if we can make it," he says. "If it doesn't work out? It all goes back. And it's still a win if you go forward since the money goes toward the equity of the machine." Porchetta, who says, "I'm only as good as my men," makes it a point to acknowledge good work, from something simple as telling his guys they did a good job that day or giv- ing a yearly bonus after particularly good years. Like thousands of contractors across the country, Porchetta has had some difficulty finding skilled labor- ers. Unlike many of those contrac- tors, he doesn't mind investing in younger and inexperienced workers. "I feel I should have done the work I did this year with another 10 men," he says with a sigh. "But I'll take somebody that wants to work and is not that qualified over some- body that has the ability but has a chip on their shoulder. They bring down the morale of everybody in the company. "I see the chip on the shoulders on the older guys. The new generation coming in they don't feel like they're entitled like some of the other gen- erations." Porchetta will spend as much as half of a work day in a trench teach- ing new employees how to install pipe. He says the key to rebuilding the industry's workforce lies in more contractors being willing to spend time with younger workers and guide them along the way. "I hired a 20-year-old kid last winter. He was going to an equip- ment training ground and I told him to forget everything he learned there because I would teach him how to run equipment the right way," he says. "He learned and he's getting better. He's been with me a year now. He's one of those guys he's working in my shop washing trucks because he wants to work. He chooses to do that because he doesn't want to get laid off. "You've got to be committed. Especially in this business. You lead by example." EquipmentWorld.com | August 2016 65 Head mechanic Jason Peters performs a weld inside GMP's equipment shop.