Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/816045
to learn about the business first, so he started at the company as a laborer and eventually became an equipment operator. "I started with a shovel in a ditch," Cutler recalls. "I did that for like a year and then I would run equipment once in a while and then I started paving. We had a really good paving operator and he taught me a lot." Now, Cutler mostly works on the paving side of the business but still oversees accounting. "I'm out in the field now more than I am in the of- fice," he says. The company performs full-scale site work packages, clearing trees, moving earth, installing utilities, paving and installing concrete curbs, sidewalks and landscaping. Boyce Excavating also does quite a bit of demolition, especially on sites they are contracted to prep with existing structures. Boyce says it is a pretty sizable differentiator for the company. "We do demolition probably more than most of our competition but maybe not as much as my grandfa- ther, though he was operating dur- ing a time of urban renewal in the 1950s," Boyce explains. "Demolition for us still ties into our site work. We rip a lot of buildings down to clear sites for new construction." Though much of the company's competition dwindled away dur- ing the recession, Boyce says, it kept a leg up on encroaching firms from nearby markets like Albany by maintaining a large and versatile equipment fleet. "We have a lot of equipment and people know that," he says. "They know that if you want to get a job done, we can knock it out. "Even during the recession, we stayed busy and kept a crew of at least 50 guys. We didn't make the profits we were making, but we hunkered down and made it through." Boyce says the company enjoys a 50/50 mix of public and private jobs. "Public job profits are lower but the chances of getting paid are better. A big private job is the home run for us," he says, "but we talk to local county government and we try to do as much research on the public customers as possible. I think the half-and-half mix is good because you've got some risk with the private guys, but your profits stay up." The company has also greatly benefited from a loyal and talented staff of employees, Boyce says, April 2017 | EquipmentWorld.com 64 contractor of the year | continued Boyce Excavating provides full-scale site work packages, paving and demolition.