The paving industry is male-dominated, so being woman-owned absolutely stands out. I’ve been in the business since 1992, so I know the industry well, and I’m also well known.

I received a Lillie Knox award, and with the funding I purchased a digital grade control system for our asphalt lay down machine. This controls the thickness of asphalt installed so the finished road has a smooth finish without bumps and dips.  Many road paving projects have very stringent smoothness requirements and without this system, we could not bid on these projects. With this new grade control system, I am able to bid on projects for North Texas Cities and Counties, and even state projects for TxDOT. These groups represent a vast number of projects that range from $100,000 to several millions. I am happy to report that we landed several contracts as a result of this additional service that we now can offer. The jobs are paving for local cities, and the projects are from 200,000 to  three-quarters of a million dollars.

Recently, we learned that the single woman-owned paving company working with TxDOT was closing her doors. That opened the door for my firm to step in. We pivoted the business to apply for TxDOT work. Fortunately, our DBE certifications gave us the opportunity. We knew it could be a risk to take on this work – clearly, the other woman-owned business had to close her doors, which made me wonder if the risk was too great. But I decided the risk would be worth the reward and the opportunity came along just when we needed more revenue. I’m happy to use my certifications to take on work with the State. Municipalities accept WBE, WSOB, and DBE certification, but the state (TX DOT) requires DBE, and my firm is now the only woman-owned business in that position in our area with the expertise to take on this scope of work – at least for now.