Andy Levesque began working for a residential developer in 2001 with the idea that he would learn the business and eventually purchase the developer’s equipment. To Andy, it was like having an excavation apprenticeship, however, when the year was up and he completed the purchase of the equipment and business, he was on his own.
With a wealth of hard work and integrity, Andy built his own business, A.J. Levesque Excavation, located in Turner, Maine. He began with a 1998 John Deere 160LC but soon began purchasing new Deere equipment and focusing on keeping his equipment maintained and up-to-date. He purchased his first new piece of equipment, a John Deere120, from Nortrax and now has a fleet of John Deere 180GLC,160GLC, 333E, 624K, 450J, and 35D. “I like the hydraulic performance and production of John Deere equipment,” said Andy. “Because my business is small, I need maximum production all the time to be the most profitable.”
Andy went on to say that he values the prompt service from his John Deere dealer. “They treat me like a big customer,” he explained. “They treat me like a VIP.”
With his new equipment and the newly-paid-off equipment from the developer, A.J. Levesque Excavation’s business began thriving. While business was tough during the 2008recession, Andy kept to the same routine of hard work and integrity while searching for new clientele and business opportunities to stay busy and profitable. Today he is bigger and busier than he ever thought he would be but has kept his mindset and attitude the same: hard work and integrity. “I think that over the years I have become a much savvier businessman in learning the value of the dollar—spending it where it brings return, and being frugal when it doesn’t,” Andy said.
Running his own business has brought more than profit to Andy; it brought him a family as well. Andy met his wife and vice president, Tara, when he hired her as a dump truck driver. Now they are married and have two children, Aniston and Luke, who will no doubt follow their lead in the family business.