Equipment World : January 2010
Contractor of the Year Finalist
Walter Svoboda Jackson, Minnesota F or forty years, Walter Svoboda has been Jackson, Min-nesota's Dirt Doctor, practicing his precision excavat-ing skills installing fi eld tiles in the spring and fall, and operating his underground utility and site prep business year `round. In the small town of Jackson, Minnesota, farming is the area's economic foundation and modest traditional values are held close. There, in a 100-year old house you'll fi nd the of-fi ces of Svoboda's Excavating, owned by Walter and his wife Debbie and run with the help of vice president Paul Fishel and Walter's son John. In 1968, 22-year old Walter bought a new Ford backhoe and advertised that his services were available to dig water lines, basements, culverts, etc. For $12 dollars a day they'd get me and the backhoe, laughs Walter. Having learned surveying from his grandfather, Walter also The Dirt Doctor Svoboda's Excavating Year started: 1968 Annual volume after fi rst year: $20,000 Annual volume today: $3.7 million (2008) Markets served: Farm drainage, underground utility, site prep CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST by Georgia Krause EquipmentWorld.com  January 2010 39 The Svoboda's Excavating 37-unit fl eet includes a 140G Cat motor grader. ew0110_COY.indd 39 12/21/09 3:56 PM