A mid-life career change proved to be a path to success for JD Anderson. Read more about how he changed jobs and started his own construction company.
BIG CHANGE, BIG PAYOFF
It took a little time and some prodding for JD Anderson to strike out on his own after a career in mining engineering.
“I just wanted a little more. At that time, I was about 40 years old, and my wife, Katherine, prompted me a lot to go out on my own,” Anderson recalls.
He remembers the day he started his new business quite clearly—and it’s not hard to see why, as it was Sept. 11, 2001. But the dark events of that day drew no parallel to his business, which has since flourished.
Based in La Follette, Tennessee, JD Anderson Contracting Co. obtained its first jobs doing landfill work. Just recently, that has come full circle since Anderson is now working on the construction of a new leachate evaporation facility in Scott County. But in between, he’s done all sorts of site preparation work, including work for the Claiborne County airport expansion and the City of Harrogate’s new sports complex. He also used his knowledge of mining to win jobs doing deep mine face-ups and creating roads for mining companies. He’s been able to win some government contracts and jobs throughout southeastern Kentucky, southwest Virginia and East Tennessee.
GUIDED BY TECHNOLOGY
Providing consistent work and maintaining relationships with repeat customers helped Anderson weather the recession—but he said the biggest boost he had was making smart business choices such as keeping debt to a minimum and paying off all his equipment.
Over the years, he’s worked with Stowers Machinery to help maintain his equipment fleet, which is comprised entirely of Cat machines.
“It’s the only thing I’ve ever been around. I like the company, and I like the product and parts availability at Stowers,” Anderson said. “And Stowers has always done my major service.
We’ve got a history together.”
While Anderson believes in maintaining his fleet so that he can extend the life of his equipment, he’s also embraced the technology that has e
“We know where we are, and we save a lot of money on survey costs. We’re too lazy to have guys out there dragging measuring tapes. If we didn’t have GPS, we’d have to quit,” Anderson said jokingly.
Another tool that has increased productivity is a quick coupler on his excavator, which allows him to easily change out the bucket to another attachment. When he’s not on a jobsite, Anderson can be found with his family and in his community. His wife manages the office for the business, handling the financials, and together they have two sons, Jon and Austin. His sons want to be a doctor and a lawyer, respectively, and Anderson couldn’t be more proud.
“That’s the only reason I work, to put those kids through college,” he said with a grin.
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
This story first appeared in the Spring 2015 issue of Infrastructure magazine, a national magazine for those who own or rent building construction products and large earthmoving equipment. Download the story as it appeared in the magazine.
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