Tag: marine

Chris Dambach: Marine veteran Builds Multi-Million Dollar Landscape Business

Posted on by Eric Coffie

A former Marine turned CEO of a multi-million dollar landscape business, Chris Dambach shares how he built his company and what he learned during the growth process. 

BACKGROUND

Born and raised in Syracuse, New York, Chris Dambach had an entrepreneurial spirit that he traced way back on his childhood. He even got his real estate licence when he was 18. 

Then, in 2007, he joined the United States Marines Corps and was assigned as an Infantry Scout to the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Marine Corps unit in Mattydale. However, when he suffered numerous injuries while on his deployment in 2009, he had to be out of service. 

While facing recovery, he then bootstrapped a small residential lawn service which now grew into a huge company named Industry Standard USA that provides snow removal, grounds maintenance, facilities maintenance, and general construction. 

Currently, he is also managing his new business venture, Empire Material, wherein he provides construction materials all over New York. 

BUILDING HIS FIRST COMPANY

When Dambach was out of service after his accident in 2009 and he didn’t know what to do, he decided to start a lawn care business which he called Veteran Lawn Care. He then bought used equipment and started mowing 30 residents. 

When the business grew, they provided more services than just lawn care and this is when he decided to change the business name into Industry Standard USA. 

“I don’t want to be boxed in and have a potential contracting officer not pick up the phone to get a price for me because of my name. I don’t want my name to be the reason why I get boxed in.”

Thereafter, Dambach also got interested in the federal marketplace as he considered  the commercial sector a more difficult marketplace. They had their first federal contract after three weeks.  

Then, to get more past performance, he also worked with huge companies like AvKARE, Inc. for their Long Island contract worth of $3.5 million wherein they had to take care of a 350 acre national cemetery for five years.

“One thing I learned in the Marines that I’ve carried into the business is that never give up and mission, accomplishment, attitude. There’s always a way. There’s always a way I’ve learned. And as long as you have determination and grit and that never give up attitude. Not to sound cliche, but it’s so true. You just can’t give up. You’ve got to make it to tomorrow.”

PROBLEMS THAT HE FACED

Over the years, Dambach also faced major problems and one of these is a lawsuit against something that he wasn’t wrong.

In a project where his team needed to pick up equipment, he is supposed to pay the travel time in getting the materials from one VA hospital to the other. However, he didn’t and the Department of Labor caught it. 

The investigation made Dambach so nervous and scared of what will happen to him, his certification, his company but he had to handle it because he knew he was wrong. Although it cost him $50,000, it was a huge education to him. 

“You know, they just want to go ahead and make sure if anything was done improper that it’s corrected. You know? And the biggest advice I can say is be completely open book with the DOL and, you know, give them anything they need, and you know, be helpful in the process because it is an education.”

PRACTICES THAT HELPED HIM 

1. Take time for yourself. 

While managing his company, Dambach makes sure that he has a time to distress every single day. He does deep breathing, cold showers, meditation, listening to ambient music while driving, among others.

“It brings me into a deep thinking state where I can kind of slow everything down around me. I think you’ll agree. When I say this world we live in right now with all the technology, everything is go, go, go, go, go, go. Everybody wants instantaneous information right now. They don’t want to wait.”

2. Balance work and life.

Dambach learned from Larry Broughton’s mastermind program that there’s many facets to your life and you can’t focus on just one to excel at.

For instance, if you only focus on your business, then you are surely missing out to the other facets like your friends, mental and physical health, leisure, travel, and your family. 

So, as a family man, Dambach makes sure that he has time for his children and his wife. Everyday, he ensures that he’s already in their house before five so that they can eat together and bond thereafter. 

“So, I’m just trying to be there for them at the same time, you’re building a company. And it’s just a balancing act and I don’t think anybody’s ever figured it out. So, I think we just have to go out and every day take the temperature, you know, are we filling up each bucket properly? Are we going out and are we filling up each bucket equally?”

3. Sleep and pray on your doubts.  

Dambach knows that he really can’t erase every self-doubt that he has. So, as a way to deal with it, he sleeps and prays on it and he always has an answer the next day. Some answers might not be the right one but he didn’t regret anything that he does and if something goes wrong, he just adjusts the fire. 

“Now if you’re going to be a business owner, you’re going to be the one making all those big decisions. There’s gotta be a small level of self-doubt but don’t let it creep in and cause you to, you know, have no decision because indecision is worse than any decision.”

4. Don’t be afraid to ask.

Making decisions as a business owner is difficult and the best way to deal with it is to learn from other people who already have experience. Join organizations within your industry. Ask questions from others. Don’t let pride stop you in getting answers. 

“What I do is I pick the brain of other CEOs that have been in my position. I don’t ask people that haven’t been in my position, that don’t own companies. I need people that have the ultimate buy-in, that have all that risk on their shoulders, all that liability, their house on the line, their reputation on the line.”

RESOURCES

If you want to watch the full video of the interview with Chris Dambach as he shares how he built his company and what he learned during the growth process, then be sure to click the links below:

046: Marine Veteran Chris Dambach Builds Multi-Million Dollar Landscape Business

https://govcongiants1.wpengine.com/podcast/046-2/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd_439rTma8&list=PL6-jBNNcc98vTBvNhFYfUTeH0k-Vx2VBH&index=63

Boeing is No Boy Scout!

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Let’s practice fiscal responsibility and consider that Boeing, like any other huge corporations, Boeing are no boy scouts!

THE CONTROVERSY BEHIND TRUMP’S TWEET

Donald Trump’s December 2016 tweet saying that, “Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!” became massive controversy.

Donald Trump Tweet

Is he attempting to reel in costs to US taxpayers or just making another outrageous outburst, spewing a narrow opinion on such a complex topic?

I read the twitter replies and watched CNN, MSNBC, and other sources that offer up their take on the matter. It seems that everyone is touting Boeing as the backbone of America, when in fact they are the fox guarding the henhouse.

“Boeing are no boy scouts.”

Having dabbled in the world of federal contracting since 2007, three words come to my mind: fraud, waste, and abuse. These are common languages for anyone working in the federal arena. I would even compare them to the mafia and gang because of the way they tout our government officials and the U.S. system.

Besides, the government’s wasteful spending is not new news. Policies like “use it or lose it” are not effective ways to curtail egregious spending for a country drowning in a mountain of debt.

Just Google the terms ‘use it or lose it government spending,’ and you’ll find no advocates of how these policies benefit U.S. taxpayers or better yet, how this is an efficient responsible manner for handling the largest budget in the world.

Just take a look at the 2015 article and testimony by Jason J. Fichtner before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs wherein he reports how to curb wasteful year-end federal government spending and reforms the “use it or lose it” rules.

Also, consider the report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that in 2014, alone, the government wasted $125 billion, citing duplicate spending as the primary driver.

You see, this stuff is not new and Boeing, the #2 U.S government contractor, with its over 50 DUNS numbers is at the top of the list of benefactors.

“They have been abusing US taxpayers for decades with their ‘too big to fail mentality’ and backbone of America slogan.”

LET’S DIG INTO THEIR HISTORY A LITTLE BIT…

In a lawsuit filed by SpaceX against the US government, the company contends that they only wanted the opportunity to compete for a slice of the government’s $11 billion evolved expendable launch vehicle (EELV) contract award. 

The California-based firm even offers a low cost alternative that could save taxpayers’ billions of dollars. This alternative was the Falcon 9 rocket which Elon Musk claims can fly the same payload into space for 25% of the cost.  

Fact: The SpaceX Falcon 9 engine and the majority of its components are made in the USA, while Boeing Atlas 5 rocket relies on the Russian RD-180 first-stage engine to launch the U.S. national security payloads.

You see, unlike their counterparts at Boeing, SpaceX’ suit was an attempt to level the playing field and eliminate exclusive non-compete sole source contract awards that are “fiscally irresponsible and offensive to American values of fairness and competition.”

However, they were sidestepped by the Washington beltway machine. The sole source contract, aimed to build 27 rockets for U.S. taxpayers, was given to the United Launch Alliance (ULA).

ULA is a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, currently #2 and #1, respectively, of the top 100 government contractors for 2018.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. You don’t have to go that far to find proof of the multi-billion dollar conglomerate abusing U.S. taxpayers. Here are two examples:

  1. Boeing paid $18 million amid overcharging the government for lunch breaks while maintaining Air Force’s C-17 aircraft. Read the article here. 
  2. Boeing and ULA sued the Air Force for $385 million over Delta 4 costs. Read the article here.

LET’S CLARIFY THINGS UP!

To add clarity to the matter, I do support the government spending measures, but I object how it is done.

“It is my belief that we can accomplish more with the money that we spend.”

There is no need to replace supplies and equipment that are in working order and that have not exceeded their useful life, just to satisfy some wacky budget policy.

Besides, better planning must take place and remove the figure heads from Washington that want to keep the establishment in place and not question decisions or practice fiscal responsibility so Boeing are no Boy scouts.

Note: This article was written way back in December 2016, however it wasn’t until now that I had the courage to share it with the world.