SULLIVAN – Jared Boast loves when it snows.In fact, the more snow the better – even when that means he’ll be getting a little less sleep than usual. When the snow hit Sullivan just a few weeks ago, Boast and his crew at Boast Enterprises, which specializes in snow and ice removal, worked nearly 36 hours straight clearing driveways and parking lots. “I’m always happy when it snows – we live for it,” Boast said. “It’s not that we like it, but we’re set up for it. We like to help people and make it safe.”
Helping people clear snow from their driveways and parking lots has long been a hobby of his. It started with a four-wheeler and a snow plow when he was just 15 years old. “I saw people plowing parking lots, and I saw there was a need for somebody to do driveways,” Boast recalled. “My dad would take me around and I would do people’s driveways. It snowed a lot more back then.”Boast bought his first truck snow plow in 1997 after he graduated from high school. He continued clearing snow and ice from people’s driveways every winter, even when he was living in Steele, Mo., near Arkansas. “I lived down there, but came back to do this in the winters,” he said.
Helping people is what kept him coming back. “I like to help people in any way I can,” he said, noting he does that best when he’s plowing snow from driveways and parking lots making it safer for people to get around.
Boast returned to the Sullivan/Bourbon area permanently in 2004. Clearing driveways eventually gave way to removing snow from parking lots of local businesses. Soon, his snow and ice removal business was booming. “The work just kind of came,” he said.
His customers know they can always count of him. “Jared’s done a great job for us,” said Becky Blackwell at ATRO Engineered Systems, Inc., which is located near the city airport. “We’ve been with him about three years. We never have to worry about anything – he’s got everything taken care of before we even call. He goes above and beyond.”
But it doesn’t snow all the time – and some winters bring no snow at all. That’s when Boast decided to add full-service lawn care to his business in the spring of 2005.
Boast started working out of his garage at his Bourbon home and then moved to a small building in town. The expanding business then needed even more space, and that’s when Boast Enterprises moved to its warehouse located at 4293 North Service Road West. “We’ll be in this building two years in April,” he said. “I’ve been plowing snow for 16 years.”
Back when he started clearing snow from driveways, Boast never dreamed the business would become all that it has. He now has four full-time employees plus a full-time office person, four trucks, three backhoes and one ATV. “I never thought it would have grown into this,” he said. “This was just some extra money at first.”
Now, it’s a lot more than that. In addition to commercial and residential snow removal, Boast Enterprises also does ice melt and salt application in the winter. When it’s not snowing, the company is busy with lawn care work, which includes mowing, aeration, sodding, trimming, fertilizing, sprinkler maintenance, spring and fall clean-up, shrub and tree installation, retaining wall installation, outdoor lighting and more. The business also has several types of mulch available for purchase. “We shifted our focus to retail sales when we purchased this building in 2008,” he said. “We sell various mulches and landscaping supplies.”
New in 2010, Boast Enterprises will begin offering a mini-dumpster service for those who might need to get rid of bulky items. “We’ll bring you a small (8x12-ft.) dumpster, you fill it and we’ll haul it to the landfill,” he said.
Boast said the service would be perfect for people who might be cleaning out the garage or attic and have a lot of junk to haul off. “People had been asking for my dump truck, but they didn’t need a full-size dump truck,” he said. “So this will be a good solution.”
Still, snow removal will always be Boast’s favorite part of the business. “I just really enjoy plowing snow,” he said.
Boast Enterprises
Commercial and residential lawn care/
Snow and Ice Management
4293 North Service Road West
(573) 468-4000
Hours:
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday
8 a.m. to 2 p.m. or by appointment Saturdays – April through October only
(Jaime Baranyai can be reached at 860-NEWS or by e-mail at
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