This month’s issue of Cleaner includes our annual Buyer’s Guide. Like the menu at a high-end restaurant, it features some of the very finest selections available.

The equipment featured in our Buyer’s Guide is the best this industry has to offer, and it can give you the ability to tackle jobs you’ve always had to pass off to other contractors. It contains every tool you need to build a successful business, but unlike other magazines covering this industry, Cleaner is about more than tools and equipment. We tell the stories of people who have grown up in this industry, learned from their mistakes, grown from their successes and built businesses that sustain their families and serve their customers’ needs. Within these stories we explain how the subjects attained their success, along with the tools that have helped them along the way. Because a tool by itself can do nothing, but a good contractor with the knowledge and know-how to solve problems can take these tools, those featured here in our Buyer’s Guide, and do amazing things with them.

The stories in this month’s issue are a testament to that. The Kandey Company in West Seneca, N.Y., is a great example of forward thinking combined with a willingness to invest in new equipment for the betterment of the business. The company owns $10 million worth of equipment, and they use every tool to help secure work across a variety of niche markets. They don’t buy combo-units and hope to put them to work; they identify business opportunities and invest in the necessary equipment to take advantage of those opportunities.

Avery Zahn, owner of Infra-Track in Worthing, S.D., is a problem solver for his clients. When there is an emergency or a problem they can’t solve themselves, they always call Avery. He’s demonstrated his ability to solve problems, get the job done right, and parlay that into additional business. Still, he’s not doing that with his head and hands alone; he needs the right tools for the task at hand. For his business, that includes hydroexcavators — which filled a service void in the local marketplace — quality camera equipment and the right nozzles for some unusual agricultural and industrial jobs.

This month’s Tough Job is another good example of how ingenuity, coupled with the right equipment, can go a long way toward your success. Replacing a lateral isn’t typically all that challenging, but replacing a 130-foot lateral line with multiple tie-ins and a 90-degree bend running beneath a shopping center – and with limited access – ups the ante. The answer, after careful calculations to properly plot the course and grade, was a RODDIE UB-40 tunneling machine. This machine allowed the contractor to complete the job without tearing up concrete floors, disrupting businesses or affecting customer access.

So, when you’re paging through the Buyer’s Guide, don’t just focus on your immediate needs, think about the future of your business and how you might be able to take advantage of the next big opportunity.

Enjoy this month’s issue.