Bobby Farmer is a third-generation Texas foundation driller who’s been associated with the business for virtually his entire life. Growing up, his grandfather, father and uncle owned one foundation drilling business — Farmer Foundation Drilling — and another uncle owned a different one — WW Foundation Drilling. After 10 years with Farmer, his grandfather passed away and the majority of the business was sold to WW, which he’s been with now for seven years. The Houston-based company serves as a subcontractor specializing in civil and commercial projects predominantly in the state of Texas. Common jobs include bridges, roads, high rises and other buildings. Farmer started out working in the field as a laborer and welder, and then moved up to an operator. Now, after nearly 20 years of foundations drilling experience, he works as operations manager for the company. “I think advice for someone is, start at the bottom and work your way up because then you know what everybody is actually dealing with,” Farmer says.
A. I do a little bit of everything. Mainly, I handle the day-to-day operations. We have a really good team of people that handles operations. I schedule crews, make sure that they have the right equipment for the job. I schedule the production with the contractor and make sure all their needs are being met. I also schedule the materials — the concrete and rebar — with the suppliers, and lots of problem solving. The challenges of the business make me enjoy going to work every day. At the end of the day, you’ve dealt with different problems and always new problems coming up. So, at the end of each day, you feel successful.