Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/873881
W hen Carl Jones got out of the U.S. Marine Corps in 1998, his direction was clear: he wanted to run equipment. It didn't matter that all he had to start with was an old backhoe. He knew how to keep it running, and before long, he added a dozer and a dump truck to his yard. "The more I did, the more I got," is how Carl explains it. His company, Carl R. Jones Ex- cavating & Hauling (CRJ), began by constructing ponds, roads and installing septic tanks – basically "whatever I could pick up," he now says. "I did it by myself, then hired a guy to help me…and then I woke up one morning, and I had a bunch of people working for me." CRJ does a mix of governmental and private work. And from the start, Carl's wife, Jonnie, has headed the office. As Jonnie puts it: "He knows everything on the outside, and I know everything on the inside." Those inside duties include mar- keting, advancing and maintaining the company's Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business designation (more on that later) and overseeing the company's safety program. But Jonnie would maintain that her most important duty is being mom to their son, Robert, 18, a freshman at Mineral Area College, who eventually plans to get a civil engineering degree. Both Carl and Jonnie have high hopes that Robert will want to eventually take CRJ's reins, but emphasize that if that happens, it has to be Robert's choice. EquipmentWorld.com | September 2017 53 contractor of the year | by Marcia Gruver Doyle | MGruver@randallreilly.com Carl Jones, Carl Jones Excavating and Hauling City, State: Fredericktown, Missouri Year Started: 2000 Number of employees: 22 Annual revenue: $5 million to $7 million Markets served: Excavation, hauling, demolition and remediation Maintaining a family feel while continuing to grow