In 1946, a backhoe and a dump truck were all that Bob Geddis's father needed when he and his brother started Geddis Brothers Paving in Toledo, Ohio. By 1985, the company had grown to nearly $2 million in sales when Bob Geddis stepped into his father's shoes full-time, leaving behind a four-year career as an elementary school teacher.

When he took the company reins, Geddis was no stranger to the backhoe. "I've worked for the company ever since I could drive," he points out, "and you can bet that I hauled stone and worked with the seal crew along with everyone else."

Today Geddis Paving & Excavating, Inc., now schedules $5 million in contracts annually and supports a peak staff of 21 employees. The company provides complete site development for major businesses as well as road work for cities and villages, with customers ranging from National Amusement to Daimler-Chrysler.

Before purchasing BID2WIN, Geddis had been working with a spreadsheet and a word processing program to generate bids. He began his search for available cost estimating software on the Internet, and even spent an entire evening participating in an online group presentation of Hard Dollar.

A quick demonstration of BID2WIN showed Geddis what he was looking for. "I could see that everything I needed was all there and that it would be easy to use BID2WIN," he says. "For example I can see my entire bid right on the screen, wherever I am in the bid, and that's important to me. Once I've constructed the bid, my proposal is ready; it's just a matter of adding terms and conditions."

Two key features that Geddis says are critical to his estimating process are Task Templates and Custom Reports. "I have a lot of the Task Templates tied into my items and it's nice to be able to bring my items right into the bid," he says. "Plus, if I'm on the phone with a customer and they ask, 'What is it going to cost me per square yard for this item?' I can tell them exactly what that number will be while I'm still on the phone with them. I don't have to hang up, go figure the change, and call them back that afternoon. I feel more confident doing business this way."

Secondly, BID2WIN's Detailed Costing Report "is worth its weight in gold," he says. "You can see who's on the crews, check tonnage, look at 'per square yards' and percentages - anything you want. When I get a job, I print out the report and bring it home so I can look at the bid away from the computer, on a single sheet. It gives me a good snapshot of what to expect for each job."

There are days, Geddis remarks, that he sounds "like a broken record" when he talks about his satisfaction with the software. "BID2WIN was really easy to get into," he explains. "Within just a couple of weeks I was using all of the features of the software for all of my bids." Geddis Paving & Excavating is located in Toledo, Ohio. Bob Geddis can be reached at (419) 536-8501.

To learn more about Geddis Paving, visit www.geddispaving.com.

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