General Manager and CEO Dave Reeder took ownership of Colt Concrete & Asphalt in 2020 after working alongside his father in all aspects of company operations.

Crews worked day and night to renovate an asphalt parking lot and remodel ADA parking at a Chase bank in Duncanville, TX. Colt Concrete & Asphalt works during the day, night or weekend to meet customers’ schedule requirements and keep them operational.

General Manager and CEO Dave Reeder says he was led to Colt Concrete & Asphalt (Colt) in 2011 by divine intervention. Formerly on the fast track up the software industry ladder, he was ambitious and success-driven, leading to devastating impacts on his personal life. Reeling from a divorce, he landed at Colt, owned at that time by his father, David Reeder Sr., and Founder Michael Heathington.

It was a path that his faith led him down, to the place he calls home today. He says, “Colt was a place where I could come and work without the corporate pressures. Over time, my priorities changed, and Colt came to be home.”

Reeder spent four years working in all areas of the company’s operations, applying his business knowledge to the strong foundation his father built. He became General Manager and bought Heathington’s interest in 2015, then worked alongside his father before becoming sole owner in 2020. Although his father is now retired, he is still involved with the company in an advisory role. Reeder says, “It’s not easy being co-owners, but we were good partners.”

Today, Reeder oversees Colt’s staff of 28 employees in the provision of concrete paving services to commercial, retail and industrial clients in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The company specializes in repair and maintenance of existing properties, including parking lots, handicap ramps, curb ramps, steps, driveways, sidewalks, approaches, piers, grade beams, utility pads, docks and enclosures.

Paved for Good

With more than 6,000 jobs under its belt, Colt has the experience to tackle jobs of all sizes. Reeder says, “When you use Colt you don’t have to worry about it. It’ll get done and get done right.”

Colt’s approach to business can be summed up in the three words the company uses as its slogan: paved for good. Reeder says that “Paved for Good” means two things: quality of work and for the good of people. “You can go to market on price, quality or schedule, but not all three. Colt is about quality and schedule,” he says.

The second, equally important, meaning of “Paved for Good” refers to Colt’s intent to make people’s lives better. For its customers, that means taking all the worry out of concrete and asphalt repair.

Reeder says, “Our customers often own or manage multiple commercial properties where they have multiple tenants. They have a demanding and difficult job. We do everything we can to make the work we’re doing something that they don’t have to worry about.”

Reeder points to his company’s role in the nearly $3 million remodel of AutoZone’s distribution center in Terrell, Texas, in 2018 as an example. Colt was tasked with the removal of 14 inches of soil, replacement of subgrade and 10 inches of concrete, and installation of drainage pipes under the truck lot. Reeder says, “This job was challenging because they had to keep the distribution center running. We developed a sophisticated phasing plan with the customer to minimize impact to operations.”

Colt also provides concrete and asphalt services for local causes. Last year, amid declining revenue and profit as a result of COVID-19, Colt donated materials and expertise to an Eagle Scout who was building a pavilion for a church. Reeder says, “I believe God blesses us in part so that we may be a blessing to others. With everything God has done for me and Colt, I feel a duty to pay it forward.”

The company “paves for good” through what it calls the Colt Commitment, an eight-point promise developed by Reeder to provide the highest level of quality and service to customers.

The Colt Commitment

Under the Colt Commitment, customers are promised prompt, detailed and accurate proposals; a work schedule within four days of contract signing; communication before, during and after each project; proper barricading and protection of the job site; professional behavior of the crew; a clean and tidy job site; removal of barricades within five days of job completion; and delivery of completed job site photos the same day the barricades are removed.

Reeder explains his staff stays on top of project management through process automation software, a tool that his father brought on board to ensure the company keeps its promises with regard to quality and schedule. With Reeder’s background and experience in cloud-based solutions, he implemented additional software for the company’s scheduling and communications systems. With 400 to 500 jobs annually and 30 to 50 active projects at any given time, automation software is essential to staying on schedule.

At the end of each job, Colt completes all punch-list items, removes barricades and sends final pictures to customers in five days when the concrete is cured and ready for traffic.

Reeder says, “Customers don’t even have to go inspect the work. And when mistakes happen, which they do sometimes, we fix them no matter the cost. We’re not just doing a job; we’re making customers’ lives better. The job will go smoothly, and it’s one less thing for them to worry about.”

For the Good of People

While “Paved for Good” refers to the good of customers, the same philosophy extends to Colt’s staff.

Reeder says, “The employees are the reason I do this. Owning a business involves so much risk, but helping people is the reward. I want to make a difference in employees’ lives, and what the company gains financially is how we do that.”

The company strives to pay employees well, offer great benefits and provide a great place to work and grow both personally and professionally. Colt also has a profit-sharing program, a benefit Reeder’s father started. The company also tries to lend a hand when its employees are in need. But Reeder says he has an even bigger vision, which includes one day establishing a college fund for the children of employees. He says, “I can’t wait until we have a concrete finisher that gets to send his child to college.”

As a result of its commitment to people, Colt has attracted and retained a very talented staff that has given the company its reputation for high quality and service.

Reeder says, “You can have the best tools and processes in the world, but if you don’t have great people, you won’t have great output. People are the driver, and happy people do phenomenal jobs. And those are the kind of people that work for Colt.”

The Vehicle for Good

Before his career at Colt, Reeder was a “Gold Star” at Microsoft, a recognition for employees identified as high potential. He was a self-proclaimed avid student of business, with a large ego and an identity derived from his career. When his personal life came into crisis, his dad took him into the company and gave him a job.

Reeder says, “I literally started by working on a crew for a month. During this time is when I found my faith and my appreciation for the hard workers making a living on an hourly wage. Then I started the process of rebuilding myself.”

Reeder says that when he began his management role at Colt, his priorities were forever changed. “My core purpose became about people,” he says. “Don’t get me wrong. We are still performance-driven and the company has to be successful in order to provide the jobs and the benefits. But life is so much more than our jobs or income or success. Life is about people.”

Today, as evidenced through the “Paved for Good” philosophy, his life has been repurposed to serve people by taking the worry off of customers through quality work and using the Colt profits to improve the lives of his employees.

He says, “I used to only care about financial success. I was focused on myself. Finding God turned my life upside down and made me see things so differently. Truly all that matters is what you do for other people, and Colt is the vehicle for doing that.”