My favorite day this summer was tailgating with my little bro this summer at a Kenny Chesney concert. This just happens to be relevant today because I have been out since early this morning sanding the freezing rain, which has immediately made me miss the summer weather. It was a hot day, we took the truck down and I must have drank atleast 1000 beers. I can't wait to do it again, especially because the weather is now terrible.

Free Range Beef

I am really excited about a new business that my brother and myself are embarking on. We are going to be raising free range beef cows for the slaughter, and then sell the beef retail on our farm. The market is currently strong, and it is still continuing to grow. I currently have 17 and the breeds range from pure bread black angus, herford, and simmental. These are premium breeds and have been raised on our farm since birth to ensure quality beef.

Greeley Farms Landscaping, LLC

I have owned a large landscape construction company for 4 years now. I started small, and have siezed every opportunity that I have had, to grow the business. We are currently working on a 6 figure construction project that has taken up most of our time in the past two months. I have found that there is more money to be made, moving from small job to small job, than it is to be working on one big project. The only way that I can keep myself inspired, is by looking at the initial design and making the customers dream landscape come true. The inground pool is installed as is the 2000 sqaure foot patio, and 2300 face feet of stone walls. The picture which was once a picture, is now my creation. The creation is now my motivation for another design, another project, which will result in another unique creation. Without motivation, my creations would cease to exist...

What I want to be when I grow up...

I remember as a young child mimicking my dad in just about everything. I grew up on a farm, and needless to say as a farmers son, we didn't have much money. We couldn't afford daycare, so as far back as I remember, I worked with my dad on the farm. I learned to drive a tractor and trucks long before the legal age, and I loved every minute of it. As I worked with my father and my grandfather, they taught me the value of working with my hands and taking pride in any work that I did, whether it was tilling a field, or doing well in school. I am now a man and do work with my hands everyday just as my father did and his father before him. I guess you could say when I grow up, I want to in many ways resemble my most significant romodel, my dad.

Bear Market (24 x 11 / oil on panel)

The old man confidently looks the bear in the eyes. Observers of the town see the man to be in serious danger, they shout at him, "get out while you still can!" The man moves closer, making himself even more vulnerable to the bear than seconds before. "Is the man ignorant, what is he trying to prove" the observers asks one another with great curiosity.
Time passes, observers sensitivity to the situation fades. However the man remains, wrestling the bear to the ground with great ambition, as if he were confident enough to think he w0uld be victorious over this magnificent animal. No one understands, however he still invests all his time and all his energy into wrestling this bear, risking it all when he could have just walked away at any time without a scratch.
The man reaches a point of no return, knowing his fate will be a valuable victory or the end of everything he has ever worked for. He trades blows with the bear, trying to make each trade count.
The bear turns around, and everything returns back to the way it was before the bear had ever stepped foot into the town. The man comes out with only a few scratches, and he is now the wealthiest man in the world.

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Inflation beating on Construction

Inflation has directly affected my business through rising fuel costs. I own a small construction company and diesel fuel prices have gone through the roof. The Energy Information Administration statistics show a 68% increase in on-road diesel from June of 2007. An interesting article titled, “Demand Crowns Diesel, Not Gasoline, Cost King” was published by Engineering News-Record shows the concern of local contractors who are fighting to stay in business with rising cost in energy.
I find myself in the same unfortunate position as these contractors. Prices continue to rise and bids continue to remain constant, and we know there needs to be a solution, but when it comes to alternative energies, we are out of our element all together. I would be more than happy to support an alternative source, however as someone with a background in construction, I could only support, not lead.
On top of fueling all of the machinery with diesel, there is a massive increase coming from the machinery manufacturers as well. The Southeast Farm Press published an article entitles, “Deere tractors feature fuel efficiency”, which was about John Deere’s effort to make more fuel efficient machinery. I believe that this is a step in the right direction however through their research and development and increased manufacturing costs, the machinery costs to the machinery operations/purchasers increases as well.
Overall the construction companies seem to be taking a beating from all ends of the spectrum. Something needs to be done, and unfortunately we are going to have to step out into the unknown and seek alternative sources of energy.
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