Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/85689
contractor of the year finalist | by Lauren Heartsill Dowdle Moving outside of his comfort zone helped Steve Beam bridge the gap in his business. Steve Beam Fort Smith, Arkansas P Steve Beam Construction Year started: 1990 Number of employees: 27 Annual volume: $3.8 million Markets served: Concrete, roadwork, bridges and street scraping atiently waiting for his target has landed Steve Beam big bucks with both of his passions: hunting and construction. An avid sportsman, Beam, 51, loves spending time outdoors – mak- ing construction an ideal profession. But when the recession hit and jeop- ardized the future of his company, he aimed for survival and crossed over into new markets. Road to success Beam got his fi rst taste of the con- struction industry at age 12 working summers with his father's asphalt company. He later joined Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), which allowed him to work with his dad part time during the school day. After high school, Beam attended college for a year but "felt like I needed to be working." So at 19, he got married and started working full time for his father. After gaining more experience, he got equipment from his father, a $1,000 loan from his uncle and launched Steve Beam Construction in 1990. Beam continued to follow in his fa- ther's footsteps with asphalt work for a few more years before venturing into concrete projects, such as road- work and street scraping, in the mid 1990s. "The asphalt projects were working me to death, so I got out of the market altogether," Beam says. "Doing that allowed the business to grow a little, and it was easier to fi nd workers for concrete jobs." Most of Beam's projects were with- in a 50-mile radius of his offi ce, but if he saw a slow period coming, he would look for work further away. Out of the box Like most in the construction industry, Beam's business was not immune to the recession. "Con- struction can be a feast or famine sometimes," he says. In 2008, Steve Beam Construction experienced its fi rst year in the red, losing $130,000 and going from 40 to 30 employees. "After losing the money, I realized we couldn't bid EquipmentWorld.com | September 2012 53