Contractor of the Year Finalist
January 2010  EquipmentWorld.com 40 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST rented a Cleveland tile machine for several years and was able to lay 500 feet of tile a day  an impressive production for a one-man operation. Eventually he bought a used tile machine for $7,700 and hired on his fi rst employee. They had enough work to pay off the machine in six months. His business grew like a plant , Walter says and in 1978 his company began doing sewer and water work for the town of Jackson. Laying new farm tile and replacing old tile is done in the spring and fall, allowing Walter to tackle larger site prep and municipal projects in the summer and push snow in the winter. In fact, the southwestern Minne-sota area's meteorological demands have helped Svoboda's Excavating grow into multiple market sectors and stay fi nancially sound dur-ing down years. Our diversifi ed equipment fl eet allows us to be fl exible in the scope of services we offer, says Walter. We are not tied to one type of work. If there is a lower volume of work in one sector we are able to switch gears and pick up work in other areas. Svoboda's fl exibility has led the company to include such services as demolition, tree clearing, install-ing fi eld driveways, and construct-ing and maintaining waterways. In the winter, the company removes snow for area manufacturing plants and even digs grave open-ings when the frost is too deep for the local cemeteries' equipment to cut through. In addition, Svo-boda's Excavating has been called on to remove log and ice jams on the Des Moines River, which runs through Jackson. We're on call for our local city utility departments to repair broken water mains, replace valves and ser-vice connections, Walter says. We are willing to do what is needed to satisfy our customers because we want their business. Heck, we even buried a customer's donkey when it passed away. Equipment for success To help him grow his company, Walter brought on Paul Fishel in 2004. Paul had been a general contractor who knew Walter for 15 years before joining Svoboda's Excavating. Paul's expertise is in municipal work and underground infrastructure and helping make the company more profi table. Munici-pal bid work's profi t percentage has dwindled, Paul says, and the only way you can do municipal work is by being effi cient. Walter says he trains his heavy equipment operators, teaching them how to run a shovel fi rst before they are allowed to migrate up to heavier machinery. He runs a non-union shop and is expand-ing his reach to include more state wage jobs. Walter relies on Paul and his other supervisors to set the tone for his employees to make each day's work something to be proud of. Attitude is contagious and it needs to start from someone. If you spread a good attitude it'll follow down through your foreman and through your help, but it needs to start from somebody and if your at-titude about your equipment is that it's your pride and joy, it's going to spread down, Walter says. Because you care about it, your guys are Walter and Debbie Svoboda spend their free time fi shing. Sewer and water projects keep Svoboda Excavating busy during summer months. ew0110_COY.indd 40 12/21/09 5:16 PM