Ten years in the U.S. Air Force taught Rob Frye several critical elements that go into the successful completion of a mission. For the past six years, he has applied those long-held lessons as vice president of corporate operations at Garrett Excavating, overseeing human resources, safety, information technology and equipment assets for one of the fastest-growing firms in Arkansas.
“The thing I gained from the military that helps me today is discipline,” he said. “They teach you to be disciplined and do what you’re supposed to do. That’s probably No. 1.
“Also, learning to adapt, because things are ever-changing, and being able to deal with that change and getting your people to come along with you is also a key thing that it taught me.”
Since joining the company, Frye has found Garrett Excavating to be a suitable yet challenging proving lab for the value of such traits. The company’s runaway success brought with it its own set of operational challenges with him at the center of the maelstrom.
“It’s been a heck of a journey; it hasn’t been easy. If it was, then everybody would do it,” he said. “When I came on in May of 2020, I think we had, maybe, 65 or 70 employees, and we were concentrated in central Arkansas, Little Rock, Hot Springs, all in that area. Today, we are spread out across the state, with our two main hubs being in northwest and central Arkansas, and we’re at 340 or so employees. Our revenue is four to five times what it was the first year I was here.
“The biggest keys to us growing to the point we are and what will allow us to continue that and be successful, first, are our owners and company leaders. They’ve got a vision of wanting to do things the right way and for the right reasons. It’s easy to rally the troops when everyone can see that our goal is to do more for communities and people and really touch lives. Paychecks are important, of course, because people have bills to pay, but when they see they also have a real effect on communities it makes the work more fulfilling.”
Frye said this desire to improve lives is also directed inward in the ways the company looks out for its people and helps them build rewarding careers.
“Our values and culture are ingrained in our leadership, and we look for ways to continue that growth pattern through those in the midlevel who are ready and waiting for the opportunity,” he said. “As we take the next step as a company, we’ll be able to promote and move people into other positions, people who have our goals and our values and our culture and everything at heart. I think the investment in our people has been the thing that’s allowed us to make it through those tough times of growth and what will lead us through whatever comes next.”
A native of White Hall, Frye worked with some current members of Garrett Excavating leadership as co-workers at a Caterpillar dealership. When the time came for a change, he said it was appealing to step into an environment where he already knew the ethics of senior management matched his own.
“You have to love and care about each other. You have to want to be there,” he said. “You’re got to have the mindset that [employees] are family, and you want to watch them and help them grow to have that sense of success. I don’t feel success with anything as much as I do when I see one of my people get promoted or get an opportunity to do more and to grow. To me, that’s what winning looks like.”
Away from work, Frye is a devoted family man who loves to spend time with his wife, Kristen, and his three children, sons Talan and Ryker and daughter Scarlett.
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