Paving
SECTION
Pages 33-51
For more information on paving, compaction and milling equipment, as well as comparison charts, visit CEG's Web site at www.constructionequipmentguide.com.
Greenbauer Asphalt Owner Finds Work, Leisure Balance
(L-R): Tony Wight, LeeBoy territory manager, stopped in on the job site to check in with Chase, Aaron and Don Greenbauer, along with Travis Colwell, Alta Equipment Company road products manager of Michigan.
The Greenbauer Asphalt Inc. crew is ready to put the LeeBoy 8616D asphalt paver to work.
For business owners, maintaining the proper balance of work and leisure can be a challenge. This is especially true if the company’s services are in high demand and the owner takes an active hands-on approach toward all aspects of the business operations. For Don Greenbauer, owner of Caledonia, Mich.-based Greenbauer Asphalt Inc., it’s a challenge he takes seriously, for himself as well as his employees. Greenbauer became involved in the asphalt business in 1983 when he went to work for a local paving company.
While there, Greenbauer learned the business from the ground up, starting out as a truck driver and moving up to equipment operator on pavers and rollers. After eight years with the company, he took a job at another asphalt paving and maintenance company as general manager. After three years, Greenbauer decided to branch out with his own business and started Greenbauer Asphalt. He began operations in 1994 with two employees and a Puckett Brothers paver. “My wife, Bridget, personally financed the Bobcat while
Aaron Greenbauer follows the paver with an Ingersoll Rand DD24 vibratory smooth drum roller.
Working both as crew foreman and paver operator, Chase Greenbauer makes some adjustments while paving with the LeeBoy 8616D paver.
(L-R): Aaron and Chase, along with Bridget and Don Greenbauer, were all involved with the research and decision-making process in purchasing the company’s new LeeBoy 8616D asphalt paver.
we put everything we owned on the line to finance the rest of the equipment," explained Greenbauer. “It was risky. I didn't take a paycheck for the first year so we could keep our two employees paid. Thank goodness my wife had a good job.” Greenbauer put in the long hours necessary and to maintain the work/leisure balance he valued. He remembers the kids tagging along at night when he was bidding so he could spend some time with them. He also recalls his wife driving to weekend getaways so he could catch up on estimates and phone calls in the car. Rather than dedicate his efforts toward building his business with a growing number of employees, Greenbauer focused his attention on the quality of the work they performed. For Greenbauer, that still means being on hand for every project. “If the company takes on too much business, we’d be spread too thin,” he said. During regular business hours, Greenbauer can be found working on the job site, often driving a truck or overseeing the paving operations. The administrative side of running the business is now addressed by his wife or after hours during the week when it requires his involvement. With few exceptions, weekends are reserved for family and personal pursuits. Family Business The operation is a true family business. When sons Aaron and Chase were in high school, they worked for the company during the summers and, like their father, learned the business from the ground up. see GREENBAUER page 36
