AK.

EARTH 8/7/08 10:28 AM Page 52

profile a &k e a rt h m o v e r s

>> matters into its own hands and began

diversifying. First, it entered into under-
ground work, and purchased a concrete A&K helped build Fallon, Nev.-
based Top Gun Raceway in
plant to use for building concrete irriga- 1995, which led the company
tion ditches. Hiatt estimates the compa- to get involved in drag racing.
ny has since built over 50 miles of irriga-
tion ditches in Nevada and California.
Later, the company added subdivision
site work to its repertoire, but although
this opened up new business for A&K, it
also created new challenges. Hiatt says
the company soon became frustrated by
paving subcontractors who held up
schedules and missed deadlines.
Once again, A&K took the issue head-
on and got into the aggregate business
itself to speed things up. Hiatt says the
company began doing its own paving
and crushing gravel itself, giving it more
capabilities than before. Again, howev-
er, this solved one problem while simul-
taneously creating another.
Even though the company was able to
free itself from waiting for paving sub-
contractors, it now found itself in the
same position those subcontractors subdivisions, paving, pump stations, noted a definite shortage of skilled
likely were in themselves – waiting for structural concrete, mining leach pads, labor recently, and Hiatt says the
asphalt. The busy seasons were hard gravel and sand material production. Southwest is no exception.
times to secure asphalt from suppliers, Hiatt says A&K has been able to suc- However, he says A&K is able to offer
Hiatt says, so A&K rolled up its sleeves ceed because of its diversification, employees something more than just a
and took on yet another aspect of the which affects everything from its work job – it offers stability.
business itself. load to its ability to retain employees. He says companies need to offer
Hiatt says the company bought an “You either step into it with both feet more than just a paycheck to convince
asphalt plant in Canada and moved it or you end up not being able to com- skilled workers to stick with them, and
down to Nevada. The end-result was a pete,” Hiatt says of his company’s phi- adds that most employees expect bene-
much smoother process that made it eas- losophy. He goes on to say that cus- fits packages and the promise of consis-
ier for A&K to complete jobs. “We could tomers appreciate the experience and tent work.
control the tempo,” Hiatt says. “We skill A&K brings to each project, even if “In order to guarantee those things,
could order asphalt when we wanted it.” it comes at a slightly higher price. we’ve had to get into diversification,” he
The company continues to expand its “Our biggest selling point on some of says. This makes it possible for A&K to
capabilities, he adds. A&K recently pur- the private work we do [is] we’re not maintain a steady workload even when
chased a new 450-ton-per-hour hot-mix necessarily always the cheapest price, one area of the market is slumping, and
asphalt plant twice the size of its first but one thing we do is we always guaran- it’s this that Hiatt says is a major differ-
one and is working on finalizing a third tee the quality,” he says. entiator when employees choose A&K
plant. These plants are all mobile and He adds that the company is known over a competitor.
are set up in Reno, Carson City and for sticking to its schedules and main- “Anybody can get into the construc-
Fallon, Nev. taining a healthy collection of repeat tion business during good times and
clients. About 70 percent of the compa- make money,” he says. “It’s all a matter
Diversity Drives Success ny’s work is for repeat clients, Hiatt of survivability in the construction
A&K’s current capabilities include exca- says. industry. In our situation, we [can] look
vation, underground utilities, site work, Most of the construction industry has six to 12 months down the road.” >>

52 b&c southwest fall 2008