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“Having Paul on our team gave us some clout in the area when we first started,” Pickrel said, adding that Troyer was known as Paver Paul, “so his reputation, combined with our new reputation, has been a great mix in creating trust with our customers.” Troyer still works for Kingsway, but has moved into estimating and sales.

“We invested everything we had into this, but none of us knew how to run a paver,” Pickrel said. They had bought and refurbished an old Leeboy 8500 and some trucks, and Troyer suggested they run some millings in front of the company’s shop to learn the ropes of the machine. “We didn’t even know how to lift the screed. We thought it must lift with a lever, not a screw. That still cracks me up. But sometimes you just have to jump in and figure it out.”

They also had some training from Leeboy, as well as a lot of help from other vendors and equipment suppliers. “Ohio Cat has helped us out tremendously,” Pickrel said. Within a month of starting the company, Kingsway bought a Weiler 385 paver from Ohio Cat. “They came out and trained us how to use it, gave us tips and tricks. And if something’s not quite right and we can’t figure it out, we can call up their paver specialist and he’ll help us out.”

Today, Pickrel marvels at how much they’ve learned, how quickly they’ve learned it, and how much the company has managed to grow in four years. “I remember the first job we ever did took five of us 14 hours to lay 50 tons on a small driveway,” Pickrel said. “Now we can do 800 to 1000 tons a day, two to three driveways a day, no problem. The jobs that felt big a few years ago have become average for us now.”

Now, the company employs 20 people and has seen its tonnage paved double each year, topping 36,000 tons in 2022. “This year, I think we’ll hit 70,000 tons,” Pickrel said.

In the company’s first two years, Pickrel estimates 90% of its projects were residential, but last year commercial increased to around 40% of its work. This year, he expects it to account for 60% of their work. “I think it’s easier to start with residential, while you build up a good reputation,” Pickrel said. “Our reputation for good work is out there now. People know we treat our customers right. But, that takes time to build.”

In the future, Pickrel expects the company’s share of municipal work to increase. For example, in 2023, Kingsway has already bid and won several municipal street projects totalling around 5000 tons. “We feel like it’s the start of something new,” Pickrel said. “It’s exciting to be a part of building better communities.”

In his travels around the world on mission trips, Pickrel has seen firsthand the importance of top-notch infrastructure. “Often the countries that have the best infrastructure are the ones whose people have the best quality of life,” he said. “We’re excited to be a part of building new infrastructure, of building a better community and a better country.”