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Buffalo Contractor Sold on Cat
• JK Wilson, Inc. & Wil-Call Services •

From left, operator, Joel Ayala; Mustang Branch Manger, Phil Tinker; company principal, Johnny Wilson and Mustang sales rep, Jason Watson.

Johnny Wilson got started in the construction business at the ripe old age of 14, doing land development for local real estate agents. After high school, he put himself through Texas A & M’s Agricultural Economics program doing the same kind of work, graduating in 1988. Johnny runs two separate businesses out of his headquarters in Buffalo. TX:

• JK Wilson, Inc. is a general contracting firm working a variety of dirt work projects primarily between Buffalo and Bryan. The second company is
• Wil-Call Services, which provides site prep, access roads and other services in support of natural gas drilling and production operations in Freestone and Leon and surrounding counties. Each company has approximately 25 employees.

JK Wilson has a multi-year contract from the Texas Municipal Power Agency to continue reclamation work at an abandoned 6000-acre lignite mine near the Gibbons Creek Power Plant outside of Carlos, TX. Most of their work here has to do with erosion control - insuring that materials carried by water flowing through the mine area are in compliance with Government standards. In addition, JK Wilson is responsible for road maintenance and revegetation. Other recent jobs in the Bryan area include recreation and athletic field projects for Texas A&M University and several area school districts. The company also served as general contractor for the newly constructed city park in Buffalo.

Since the price of oil began climbing Wil Call Services has been extremely busy supporting the current boom in drilling and production activity of gas wells around and north of Buffalo.

Downtime was not an option
Johnny Wilson admits the first machine he bought was not a Caterpillar, but is quick to point out he didn’t make that mistake again. His first Cat purchase was a new D4H. "I had a contract that lasted one year," he remembers, "and I needed a dozer that I could depend on working everyday. Down time was not an option." Both companies are now 100% Cat, with the exception of a couple of large ag tractors used to pull Reynolds scrapers in reclamation work. Johnny’s combined 18-machine Cat fleet includes several track-type tractors (ranging from a D3C to three D6Rs), hydraulic excavators (225B, 320B & 325C), 613 elevating scrapers, 12G and 140H motorgraders and 416 and 420D backhoe loaders.

What convinced him to go with Cat? Johnny will tell you Caterpillar equipment is a good value, especially when it comes to resale. But the main selling point for him all along has been parts and service support. "I’ve seen what the competition does, and nobody comes close to Cat," he says. "I can order nearly any part I need and be assured of having it the next morning." Wilson picks up most of his parts on a daily run to the Bryan store, but can also use Mustang’s Buffalo parts drop when he needs it. He uses Mustang’s online parts ordering system, the PartStore 2.0, where exploded schematics of various components and other graphics are available to guarantee identifying the correct part.

Rental options equal added value
Because of the variety of projects they take on, Wilson’s companies rent a good bit of equipment from the Bryan Cat Rental Store. "I’d prefer to rent the right piece of equipment to do a job, rather than make do with a machine I already own," says Johnny. "I think my customers deserve the job done right and as quickly as possible." Wilson has high praise for his Cat Rental Store rep, Betty Wallace, for being able to get him anything he needs: "I’m quite sure if I needed a tugboat, Betty would find one for me."

Betty Wallace says Johnny Wilson’s success story is pretty amazing: "His customers and contacts look at him as being one of the most positive and energetic people in the contracting world today."

The most pressing challenge Wilson sees for contractors is getting bonded and insured. "With my customers,’ he says, "being bonded is often a requirement for getting a job. That requires having a significant cash reserve on hand, and is the reason I’m often inclined to rent equipment, so that all my cash isn’t tied up in machines."

The people make the difference
Another challenge, according to Wilson, is finding and keeping good operators: "Treating my people well is important to me. If your people are happy, it shows up in jobs done right and low turnover."

Jason Watson, Wilson’s Mustang equipment rep (and a fellow alumnus of TAMU’s ag school), stresses that his Buffalo customer believes in taking good care of his people and his equipment. When Johnny was giving us a tour of the Gibbons Creek Mine job site, we came upon one of the ag tractors pulling two loaded pull-scrapers mired up to the tops of the tires in soft fill. After conferring with his people, he jumped into a nearby Cat D6R and pulled the three pieces back onto stable ground. The mutual respect and camaraderie between boss and employees was obvious. "We work hard out here," says Johnny Wilson, "but we also try to have fun.

Johnny sums it up: "I feel like I’ve got the best people and the best equipment in the industry. If I’m successful, that’s why."

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