Contractor Finds Opportunity with Fiber
The construction industry is going strong with the onset of a booming economy. Buildings and homes are going up at an phenomenal rate in almost every city and small town across the United States, the funds are available for much needed updates to America roadways and technology has led to the demand for a new system to support the information age. It’s a good time to be in construction.
Sioux Falls, South Dakota is feeling this growth as its contractors struggle to keep up with the demand, which has lead to an opportunity for new companies to get their start. Jerry Cozad, owner of Roto Rooter in Sioux Falls saw a demand for subcontractors in the utility installation business. Even though he already had one successful business he decided to look into it. After exploring the opportunities in the utility installation field, he decided it was a chance that he could not pass up. So, he branched out. US West was searching for contractors to do curb-to-house telephone drops and Cozad decided to put in a bid. Since that time, Cozad has seen the rewards of this venture, starting a second business, specializing in residential drops for US West and Dakota Telecommunications Group (DTG).
With almost a year under its belt, C&J Underground, Inc., has expanded to four trenching crews installing copper and coaxial cable in southeastern South Dakota. Expanding communities have led to a lot of C&J Underground’s work, but Cozad is quick to point out that is just part of the installations, “We get about 50 percent of our installation work for new houses. The other 50 percent is replacing existing lines. Along with that, DTG is installing several new lines to existing homes.”
Each of Cozad’s crews will do around eight installations a day depending on the distance between the locations. “We do the installs for many towns in the area, so there can be a lot of travel time in a day,” explains Cozad. “Also, we do a lot of installations in the country. These always take a little more time because there is usually more footage involved.”
As if running two businesses (Roto Rooter and C&J Underground) is not enough, Cozad also owns and maintains 11 apartments and is a professional fire fighter in the Sioux Falls area. This is why time management is the key for Cozad’s success. To stay profitable in this line of business, Cozad plans the installations each day for his four crews. “US West pays us by the drop — not by the foot,” explains Cozad. “The typical job is around 100 feet from house to pedestal. This is why planning ahead of time is so important. Our profit depends on how many jobs we can get done in a day and not necessarily the footage we put in — though the two usually cancel each other out.”
C&J Underground’s crews use two Vermeer LM42 walk-behind plows on most of their projects. “The LM42 unit works great in this line of work,” says Cozad. “We have a unit that has a trencher attachment on it. We use the trencher attachment closer to houses because it allows us to get right up next to the house. The trencher attachment and the LM42 unit’s 45 horsepower engine make it possible to go through alleys and parking lots. In yards, I’ll have my crews plow. Using the vibratory plow attachment is a little faster and requires less clean up.”
On a recent project in the small town of Tea, South Dakota, just south of Sioux Falls, Cozad used one of his LM42 walk-behind plows to do eight installs for DTG in under four hours at a new housing development. “Jobs like this go pretty fast because all the installs are close together,” explains Cozad. “Usually on new housing projects, we are the first utility installed. However, on this job other utilities had already been put in. So, when we got to the job the first thing we had to do was pothole to find out the exact locations of the other lines. We plow jobs like this around 18 inches from the surface, which leaves a small chance of hitting another line. But I make sure we know where everything is to guarantee the job’s success.”
Tea, South Dakota is a high-tech community for DTG, which means that all the installs are made with coaxial cable. From this coaxial cable, homeowners will have access to phone, Internet, and cable television. “Coaxial cable is pretty common now,” says Cozad. “We really haven’t seen fiber optic installation yet, but I know it’s coming. With all the fiber-optic networks being laid from city-to-city, the next step is to deliver it right to the house.”
“I think we got into the business at the right time,” says Cozad. “Looking ahead, I think the future of the market is endless. A lot of the contractors that laid the backbone of these high-speed networks will begin changing gears and soon will venture into the curb-to-house market. I feel like we’ve gotten in on the ground floor, which will allow us to be a part of it.”
C & J Underground has its eye on possibilities that the future holds and is considering the addition of a horizontal directional drill to their fleet. “It’s important to stay ahead of the game,” says Cozad. “This means making wise business decisions. We started off with a couple of used trenchers and when it came time to expand our fleet, it meant shopping around. I went with the Vermeer LM42 walk-behind trencher/plow because they had more horsepower than the competition, plus the support that Vermeer of South Dakota gave me after the sale helped make my decision.”
Before every purchase, Cozad looks to see if it makes sense to the future of the company. “We had a really mild winter this last year, which kept us working all the way through it,” says Cozad. “We rented a compressor and jackhammer from Rental Service Corporation (RSC) a few times to help us bust through the frost. Also, we’ve rented a few larger trenchers for bigger projects. At this point, it just doesn’t make sense to buy this equipment because it will just sit idle most of the time.” It’s business decisions like this that have kept C & J Underground on a steady growth path.
Smart business decisions and a close eye on the future of the utility installation industry has lead to the overnight success C & J Underground. With the growing economy of Sioux Falls and the promise that faster fiber optic connections bring, Cozad has jumped into this new venture at exactly the right time.
The future of utility construction does not lie in the ditches of America’s highways. That chapter has been written. The next big step in the information age is bringing high-speed connections to the houses of cities and towns throughout the US.
Sioux Falls, South Dakota is feeling this growth as its contractors struggle to keep up with the demand, which has lead to an opportunity for new companies to get their start. Jerry Cozad, owner of Roto Rooter in Sioux Falls saw a demand for subcontractors in the utility installation business. Even though he already had one successful business he decided to look into it. After exploring the opportunities in the utility installation field, he decided it was a chance that he could not pass up. So, he branched out. US West was searching for contractors to do curb-to-house telephone drops and Cozad decided to put in a bid. Since that time, Cozad has seen the rewards of this venture, starting a second business, specializing in residential drops for US West and Dakota Telecommunications Group (DTG).
With almost a year under its belt, C&J Underground, Inc., has expanded to four trenching crews installing copper and coaxial cable in southeastern South Dakota. Expanding communities have led to a lot of C&J Underground’s work, but Cozad is quick to point out that is just part of the installations, “We get about 50 percent of our installation work for new houses. The other 50 percent is replacing existing lines. Along with that, DTG is installing several new lines to existing homes.”
Each of Cozad’s crews will do around eight installations a day depending on the distance between the locations. “We do the installs for many towns in the area, so there can be a lot of travel time in a day,” explains Cozad. “Also, we do a lot of installations in the country. These always take a little more time because there is usually more footage involved.”
As if running two businesses (Roto Rooter and C&J Underground) is not enough, Cozad also owns and maintains 11 apartments and is a professional fire fighter in the Sioux Falls area. This is why time management is the key for Cozad’s success. To stay profitable in this line of business, Cozad plans the installations each day for his four crews. “US West pays us by the drop — not by the foot,” explains Cozad. “The typical job is around 100 feet from house to pedestal. This is why planning ahead of time is so important. Our profit depends on how many jobs we can get done in a day and not necessarily the footage we put in — though the two usually cancel each other out.”
C&J Underground’s crews use two Vermeer LM42 walk-behind plows on most of their projects. “The LM42 unit works great in this line of work,” says Cozad. “We have a unit that has a trencher attachment on it. We use the trencher attachment closer to houses because it allows us to get right up next to the house. The trencher attachment and the LM42 unit’s 45 horsepower engine make it possible to go through alleys and parking lots. In yards, I’ll have my crews plow. Using the vibratory plow attachment is a little faster and requires less clean up.”
On a recent project in the small town of Tea, South Dakota, just south of Sioux Falls, Cozad used one of his LM42 walk-behind plows to do eight installs for DTG in under four hours at a new housing development. “Jobs like this go pretty fast because all the installs are close together,” explains Cozad. “Usually on new housing projects, we are the first utility installed. However, on this job other utilities had already been put in. So, when we got to the job the first thing we had to do was pothole to find out the exact locations of the other lines. We plow jobs like this around 18 inches from the surface, which leaves a small chance of hitting another line. But I make sure we know where everything is to guarantee the job’s success.”
Tea, South Dakota is a high-tech community for DTG, which means that all the installs are made with coaxial cable. From this coaxial cable, homeowners will have access to phone, Internet, and cable television. “Coaxial cable is pretty common now,” says Cozad. “We really haven’t seen fiber optic installation yet, but I know it’s coming. With all the fiber-optic networks being laid from city-to-city, the next step is to deliver it right to the house.”
“I think we got into the business at the right time,” says Cozad. “Looking ahead, I think the future of the market is endless. A lot of the contractors that laid the backbone of these high-speed networks will begin changing gears and soon will venture into the curb-to-house market. I feel like we’ve gotten in on the ground floor, which will allow us to be a part of it.”
C & J Underground has its eye on possibilities that the future holds and is considering the addition of a horizontal directional drill to their fleet. “It’s important to stay ahead of the game,” says Cozad. “This means making wise business decisions. We started off with a couple of used trenchers and when it came time to expand our fleet, it meant shopping around. I went with the Vermeer LM42 walk-behind trencher/plow because they had more horsepower than the competition, plus the support that Vermeer of South Dakota gave me after the sale helped make my decision.”
Before every purchase, Cozad looks to see if it makes sense to the future of the company. “We had a really mild winter this last year, which kept us working all the way through it,” says Cozad. “We rented a compressor and jackhammer from Rental Service Corporation (RSC) a few times to help us bust through the frost. Also, we’ve rented a few larger trenchers for bigger projects. At this point, it just doesn’t make sense to buy this equipment because it will just sit idle most of the time.” It’s business decisions like this that have kept C & J Underground on a steady growth path.
Smart business decisions and a close eye on the future of the utility installation industry has lead to the overnight success C & J Underground. With the growing economy of Sioux Falls and the promise that faster fiber optic connections bring, Cozad has jumped into this new venture at exactly the right time.
The future of utility construction does not lie in the ditches of America’s highways. That chapter has been written. The next big step in the information age is bringing high-speed connections to the houses of cities and towns throughout the US.
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