Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/726012
and were extremely helpful in their payment structure," she says. "They're a good example of how a DBE can start up small and then do more and more work," says Darren Grille, an estimator at Barber Bros. Construction. "Tina's a good mentor on how to build a business with- out taking on more than you can handle." The company's fleet includes eight backhoes, along with compact ex- cavators, compact track loaders and rollers. DE now has an in-house me- chanic, and regularly trains operators by working with their local dealer. "They don't want anyone to have the excuse that they didn't know about something," says Mark McElroy with Louisiana Cat. "And they stay on top of preventive maintenance. There's no duct tape on their jobsites." A big little company "I like being a big little company," Tina says. "I would advise contrac- tors just starting out not to grow so fast. The market changes and the competition is crazy. I'd rather use a sub than hire and then have to fire someone." "They have the ability to grow young talent," McElroy says. "They are small enough to still be person- able, but large enough to expand. And because they are such a tight- knit group, they excel at solving problems." "Tina is an extremely capable construction professional," says Lawrence C. Gibbs, CEO of Gibbs Construction in Harahan, Louisiana. "She has consistently demonstrated a high level of integrity and abil- ity to complete a wide variety of demanding construction projects on time and in budget." DE has an excellent .78 experi- ence mod rate; a result due in part to adopting a "Thinking + Safety = Zero Accidents" program, headed up by Anthony. "They are going to do it right, no matter what," says Joe O'Conner with their insurance firm, Trimble-Batjer Insurance. "She's do- ing everything that we as risk man- agers want; the company is hitting it on all cylinders." A good life Tina says, simply: "We've done well, so we want our people to do well. We want them to have a good life." The rewards of this attitude became evident one Christmas when an em- ployee called her just to let her know that he was spending his first Christ- mas as the proud owner of a home … and as the very first homeowner in his family. As for her plans for the future, Tina appreciates the steady growth DE has experienced to date. "You have to get good at doing a particu- lar job before you go on," she says. "If you're not good at what's behind you, then it's going to be hard to grow." EquipmentWorld.com | September 2016 71 A DE crew constructing an ADA-compliant sidewalk curb in Algiers, Louisiana.