Exploring EnErgy nEws, March 2016, Page 2

the state which is not good so we feel like it will slow down eventu-ally, too.”

Hutton knows that if the oil market stays low for very long, the con-tract work of construct-ing highways, bridges and other improvements will also get tighter with competition.

“Well, I think your infra-structure work will stay for a while, but it’s like every-thing else. The prices will be minimal. It’ll be bidding like everything else. Other people will fall into it and it’ll be a tough go for a while.”

At that point Hutton may look for the next opportunity in order to stay financially sound.

Bradford agrees. He’ll do whatever it takes.

“I came from a back-ground of you did what you had to do to survive. That’s basically the mindset that we had to go back to – kind of go back to what you know. That’s where we are today on this is having to go back to whatever it takes to survive. I’ve not only got my family to worry about, but I’ve got eight other families that are depending on my decisions in what we do so therefore we’re trying to make the right ones,” Bradford said.

He’s happy to fill the tree service niche because there’s a solid market.

“There is! We don’t have a whole lot of competi-tion. I’m sure we will, but right now we don’t. On the demolition side of things, the closest competition that we have is in Oklahoma City and you know, we’ve lived

here for four years now and we call this home. We don’t believe in gouging and ev-erything and we try to make an honest living at the end of the day and be of service to all of the local folks,” said Bradford.

Galmor knows he’ll go back to service work in the oil field when it comes back. He’s not gone too far, anyway.

“I still have the Bottom-hole Pump Shop,” he said. “Harbison-Fischer is my rep for those and I’ve got a shop in Enid and this one here. We’re not as big as we would like to be, but, you know, we’re in the black. We’ve been lucky enough that we’re getting quite a bit of that type of work.”

Galmor sees eye to eye with Bradford and Hutton on business survival. He’s doing whatever it takes to successfully get by. And, not only that, he knows there are benefits to scaling back and doing a lot of the hands-on service work.

“In this market that we’re in right now, I’m doing the selling and I’m doing the work. Actually, when some-one calls me or calls Eric Copeland or Bill Maxey, the guys that work for me, we literally pick our pumps up our self and we repair them our self.

“We’ve streamlined our self pretty small. But, we’re

getting more one-on-one with our customers this way. I’m getting tons of calls on Saturdays and Sundays which I thought had kind of gone away, but when the customer calls, we’ve gotta go,” Galmor said.

All three men are op-timistic and believe that hard work and the constant pursuit of doing what-ever it takes will carry them through until the oil market turns the corner.

“I think it’ll come back. Everybody (needs to) keep the faith. You know it’s there and we’ll just see what happens. You just got to make it through it.”

Hutton’s not sure what’s next after working with government contracts, but he knows there’s something out there.

“Well, that’s a good ques-tion. You know, life is like everything else. Things usu-ally fall into place. You find something. You’ve got to look and just see what’s out there. I don’t think there’s any answers. Maybe a good political change (is what we need).”

And, though tree limb

service is a long way from the oil field, Bradford is glad he kept his old trucks and equipment during the time when his company was involved in oil field work because he’s using them now.

“Oh, yeah! And we almost sold them a couple years back because I thought there

was no need to have all this extra equipment sitting around. Actually, my dad, of all people, was the one that said, ‘Son, you better hang on to them. That oil field might fall apart one of these days and you might need something to fall back on.’ He’s pretty wise. I’m glad I listened to him.”

Optimism: Men believe hard work will carry them through(continued from page

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COURTESY PHOTOGalmor’s/G & G Steam Service of Shamrock has diversified their work load,

branching into rock quarries and strip mining operations.

“‘I came from a background of you did what you had to do to survive.”

TIM BRADFORDChrist Centered Carriers

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COURTESY PHOTOTim Bradford, left and Skyler Stephens, right, of Christ

Centered Carriers, use Knuckle Boom machines to perform demolition and clean up of a house in Cordell, Oklahoma.