Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/816123
May 2017 | EquipmentWorld.com 22 his father of the plan. During a sur- prise visit in March 1995, Chipley's father expressed his doubts after he learned of his son's idea. "He said there was no business here. I disagreed," Chipley recalls. He then drove all over Florence stir- ring up opportunities that his father hadn't been able to chase down. "I told him, 'You're the brains; I'm the blood, sweat and tears,'" Chipley recalls, noting that he hit the ground running once his father agreed to a transition plan. "I began doing all the estimating; I did draw- ings. I brought in computer tech- nology." It was only six months after he moved back home that Chipley received his biggest test. Though his father never had health is- sues before, he fell ill and couldn't work for about two years. By then, though, Chipley was ready to take the reins. "Once I turned my life to the Lord, I can look back into my past and see Him," Chipley says, ex- plaining how his time away from home prepared him not only to re- turn but to carry the family business on his shoulders. "I left to go make my way, and I did make my way, and it made me stronger." Making it his own Chipley's father died in 2010. But in the 15 years he spent learning at his side, Chipley soaked up every ounce of knowledge and experi- ence he could, while sprinkling in his own instincts and understanding along the way. Now, Chipley's company is an $8.5 million per year business. "My dad was part of that greatest gen- eration of World War II," Roy says. "And whatever they did, they did 100 percent. And he was brilliant. That was who I had as my business partner." The company, which now em- ploys 42 people, has transformed into a full-service site contractor serving primarily commercial clients and doing an occasional residential job. "Our overhead is not so great that we can't go do people's drive- ways," Roy says. "Back in the old days that might have been a strong part of the bread and butter. We've not lost sight of that and never will." Chipley Company self-performs just about everything, includ- ing earthwork, water, sewer, fire systems (vaults, hydrants, etc.), all storm drainage, erosion control measures, concrete work, grading and paving. "And we do mainte- nance like seal coating and paint- ing," Chipley says. "We got tired of holding our subs' hands," he explains. "Around 2002 or 2003, I started buying concrete forms myself, and we started do- ing the hand work. We hired more people that had concrete experi- ence, and we began to self-perform concrete work. Water and sewer we would sub to other people. contractor of the year | continued [ ] A parking lot paving job at a bank in Florence.