Fixing a hole in the ground


Finalist
Emerging

Think you have a hard time seeing the results of all your hard work? Next time you want to complain, just think about Chad W. Dudeck and his employees at Geo-Logical Inc. They repair sinkholes on properties across Florida. All of their hard work is buried quite literally beneath the surface of the earth.

Not that Dudeck, the president and CEO of the company, and his employees will ever complain about that. They pride themselves on a job well done — on a job most folks might not even notice after they get in their truck and drive away. If you see any trace of them after they leave — from a trampled flowerbed in the garden to a crushed sprinkler head in the backyard to, yes, a sinkhole that somehow returns — then Dudeck and his employees have failed.

Six years ago, Dudeck worked for a pier systems manufacturer in Kansas City. He traveled across the nation and trained personnel on the functions and uses of the products churned out by his company. He was good at his job. He had a stable future for his wife and children. And then, as is so often the case in business, he received an opportunity too good to refuse and uprooted everything to Florida. Granted, that first foray into sinkhole repair and management ultimately failed after about a year. But the second effort, Geo-Logical, turned out to be pretty darn good.

The key for Dudeck and his company? Two millimeters. That represents the margin of victory in an average 100-meter dash, but it also represents the little things. The company can do a good job with the technical aspects of the job but botch the little things — like trampling that flowerbed — and the customer will remember only the negative. So Geo-Logical treads lightly, then leaves without a trace.

How to reach: Geo-Logical Inc., (727) 232-8000 or www.geo-logical.com