Decisive & Determined
Perseverance pays off for leaders of San Jose’s Precision Drilling, Inc.
What do you get when you meld a fierce work ethic with determination and a progressive vision for the future?
The launch of a drilling company capable of tackling jobs of any complexity through the use of cutting-edge technology.
Precision Drilling, Inc., specializing in horizontal directional drilling and based in San Jose, California, was formed in 2004 by Ty Amundson, CEO, and Eric Lamb, CFO. The two met in 2003 while working for the same excavation company, where Amundson served as one of the key leaders while Lamb spent much of his time in the field as an equipment operator.
Their paths crossed nearly every day and they quickly became friends. Bolstered by their shared enthusiasm for the work they performed, they decided to build their own company focused on values of honesty, reliability and high-quality performance.
“Our first job was in the Los Angeles area installing cable TV conduits,” Lamb recalls. “It was a $30,000 contract that took us about four months to complete. Then we bought our first drill—a Ditch Witch JT2720 for $45,000. It was beat up and used, but little by little we fixed it up.”
The first few months of business were rough. While working in LA they used their life savings and then maxed out their credit cards to pay for food as well as motel lodging. The diesel fuel and maintenance required for the drill, which broke down almost weekly, also ate away at their limited funds.
Despite so many obstacles, Amundson and Lamb persevered, and their efforts were rewarded with additional contracts closer to home in the San Jose area. Soon, they developed a reputation of integrity and adeptness at handling any drilling requirements, helping them build their customer base through word-of-mouth referrals.
“Our company’s mission is to ensure customer satisfaction at all times. We strive to maintain each job as simply and straightforward as possible—no matter how complex the work may be,” Lamb says.
15 Years of Specialty Service
Now, 15 years later, Precision Drilling and its staff of about 40 stay busy providing directional boring and trenching services to residential and commercial clients throughout California, particularly in the Bay Area and Northern California. The team’s experience in trenchless installation includes electrical, gas, fiber optics, water and sewer lines, telecommunications and cable. The company also performs rock sawing, vacuum potholing, pipe fusion, construction dewatering, and pavement and concrete restoration.
“We own eight drills, which gives us the flexibility to work multiple job sites at any given time,” Lamb says. “We also have 20 dump trucks, 10 foremen trucks, nine 500-gallon vacuums, three excavators, a roller and a grinder.”
Seven of the drills are Ditch Witch JT3020s, which are larger machines equipped with 24,800 pounds of thrust and 30,000 pounds of pullback force for efficient installation in tough soils. The other drill is smaller, a Ditch Witch JT922, which can more easily fit in tight areas like a person’s backyard, Lamb says.
These days, the specialty contractor’s “bread-and-butter” projects consist of installing fiber optic conduits and sewer lines. In 2016, the team began offering pavement and concrete restoration services to repair clients’ properties after drilling wraps up.
Highly Skilled and Confident
Precision Drilling has partnered together on projects with well-known contractors, such as ARB Underground Group, a business unit of Primoris Services Corporation. One of its longest-standing clients is Williams Plumbing in Danville, California, for which the team has been installing sewer lines for the last decade.
At the time of the interview for this article, the drilling team was wrapping up the installation of 2,200 feet of fiber optic conduits for Verizon beneath a public street in Dublin, California. The job was for Golden State Utility Co., a telecommunications contractor.
“Golden State Utility Co. had originally contracted with another drilling company, but the soil was so rocky and tough to get through that they packed up their bags and left. When Golden State Utility Co. called us to see if we were available to take the job, we jumped right on it,” Lamb says.
When asked why Precision Drilling felt confident about finishing a project abandoned by a competitor, Lamb responds: “Our drilling operators are highly skilled. Ty and I have nearly 40 years of combined drilling experience, and we personally trained all of these guys.” He adds, “As an owner-operator, I have a deep understanding of what it takes to perform complex jobs efficiently and safely. I pass along that knowledge to our staff, which enables them to mitigate tough obstacles.”
A Talented Team
The company’s employees range in age from early 20s to late 40s, with most staff in their late 20s. “Many of our guys have backgrounds as laborers in underground construction, which is different from drilling. We turn many of them into operators. We also have one employee who used to work at a Safeway retail store and had zero construction experience. He’s a really smart guy who’s now one of our foremen,” Lamb says.
He continues, “I know it sounds weird, but we try to avoid hiring people with drilling experience. If they’ve formed bad habits in this field, it’s hard to break them of it.”
But this preference didn’t stop the co-owners from hiring Willie back in 2009, who came directly from another drilling company.
“I wasn’t sure how it was gonna work out. The first day on the job he was operating, he wasn’t very good on the drill, but at that time, we still had the old drill, the JT 2720 model. He was used to the newer drills, which are stronger,” Lamb says. “Also, he didn’t have any experience working with a locator, a person who guides the drilling operator, which is what I was doing at the time. It was extremely frustrating for both of us.”
Perseverance, however, is a quality that Willie shares with his bosses. Today he’s one of the company’s best locators and is running a crew of his own as a foreman. He’s also very capable at handling any machinery challenges that arise, Lamb says, a prime example of the self-sufficient attitude shared among the entire team.
“Then there’s Shawn, who’s been with us since 2015 and has excellent multitasking and leadership qualities,” Lamb adds. “He runs multiple crews and is even better than me as a project manager.”
He also points out Mike as a great asset to the team. “I’ve known him since 1989; we went to school together when we were younger,” Lamb says. Mike joined the company in 2015 and handles much of the pavement and concrete restoration work. “He’s a workhorse and is really good at fixing things because he has previous experience as a mechanic. He knows how to do asphalt. He knows how to do concrete. He knows how to do everything,” Lamb adds.
A Clear Direction for the Future
While high-performing equipment is key to running jobs with efficiency and precision, Lamb says the capabilities and mentalities of his crew members are just as vital.
He adds, “All of our guys have great work ethics and are very self-sufficient, which enables them to adapt to and overcome challenges. Their combined talents and problem-solving skills help us guarantee that every job is done right.”
When looking to the future, the company leaders would eventually like to expand and perform more work in Southern California. Whatever direction it heads in, Lamb says Precision Drilling will always operate with skill, integrity and fortitude.