James A. Rogers Excavating and McHenry & Meyer Companies
Chris Meyer, President/CEO
Chris Meyer
What has been your organization’s proudest moment or accomplishment so far?
Since 2016, when I purchased the company from my grandfather, we have expanded across the state of Arkansas with locations now in Little Rock, northwest Arkansas and Hot Springs, which includes a quarry. Our workforce went from 24 employees to over 100 employees. We also offer employee health insurance and a 401(k).
What trends are you watching in your industry right now?
Oil pricing, tariffs, shifting leaders of our country. We hit our knees and pray about this a lot.
What kind of employee culture do you try to cultivate?
One that creates a safe place to communicate. I always have an open-door policy with all of our team. I welcome both personal and work-related issues.
What is something everyone gets wrong about your industry or business?
The cost of doing business. It is very hard to explain why a load of dirt costs so much. A loader or trackhoe costs upwards of $200,000 to $300,000 depending on size. A new dump truck can cost upward of $275,000, so you have to sell a lot of loads to even make payments on these machines.
How is your company or team involved in the community?
This is where JAR is built differently. We are involved in more than 15 nonprofits benefiting a wide range of organizations. We even wrap our dump trucks in the nonprofit organizations that we support so that we can help bring awareness to them.
Tell us a little more about the company.
This is a new adventure for me and my family. We have the family business in James A. Rogers Excavating, but I’ve always wanted a quarry in our back pocket. The opportunity to grow our brand and move into Hot Springs really made sense to us.
What are you most proud of when it comes to the work you do?
Being able to retire my wife. We don’t live in a big fancy house, and that’s OK. We have three very active and involved boys. Knowing that my wife gets to be at every sporting event, volunteer at two schools, pick up the kids from school, etc., is peace of mind that is priceless. The good Lord has blessed us.
How would you describe your leadership style?
This has been a growing pain of mine, but it has also been the most satisfying. Looking back, I attempted to have an autocratic way of leading, which might work in a small business, but I soon realized that a growing business cannot be led like that. I started working on myself and delegated more of the responsibilities to the leadership team. This part of myself and our business plan will always be evolving.
Where do you turn for inspiration or motivation?
I rely on mentors, audio books and leadership training, but the man upstairs is my ultimate inspiration. I want to do as much good for humanity as humanly possible. Of course, family is a huge one. My biggest fault is the fear of failing. I can’t fail, and I won’t fail. I have too many people counting on me and our team — family, employees, contractors we do work for, etc.
James A. Rogers Excavating
16800 W. Baseline Road, Little Rock • 501-455-2439
Facebook: James A. Rogers Excavating
McHenry and Meyer Companies
994 Fox Cutoff, Hot Springs • 501-321-4942
Facebook: McHenry Companies
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