Dependable, productive and versatile Komatsu equipment

When John Santucci started doing excavation work, he used a pick and shovel. It was the early 1970s, and Santucci was working for his father Angelo’s landscaping business in Newton, Mass.

“I started like many people who own their own excavation business,” recalled Santucci, owner of JGS Enterprises of Medfield, Inc. “My brother and I spent much of our youth, and a good portion of our adult lives, working for our dad. As I got older, I graduated into running machinery. I got a bigger shovel, so to speak.”

That experience helped him decide what direction to take when he and his brother decided to go their separate ways and form their own businesses in 1990. His brother chose to stay with landscaping, while Santucci took on general excavation work.

During the past two decades, Santucci continued to build his company’s list of services, and today offers site work for commercial and residential construction customers, primarily within about a 50-mile radius of Medfield. Services include mass excavation, grading, clearing, utility installation, snow removal and tear downs. JGS Enterprises also offers equipment rental.

“It hasn’t always been easy, but we’ve persevered through some tough times because, as a company, we place our clients first,” stated Santucci, who in the beginning worked in the field 12 hours a day or more while his wife, Mirella, handled bookwork. “Fortunately, my dad instilled in me values of honesty, integrity and the importance of hard work. To me, those values are integral to the success of our company and in all aspects of life.”

East Coast Crushing & Recycling

Those values are among a long list of valuable assets, according to Santucci. “The ability to offer a single service or a package of services that the customer can choose from is essential. We have to be versatile. That’s why we offer as much as we do and work in more than one segment of the market.”

Whether working in residential or commercial markets, Santucci noticed a common element in Massachusetts. “Space is at a premium. One of the biggest challenges we’ve always faced is where to put materials from our digs, especially the rocky soils we encounter in this area. Nobody wants it, and there’s no place to put it.”

Santucci had pondered the problem for several years. About three years ago, while working on a project for longtime customer Ian Macleod, the two started talking about a solution, and eventually teamed up to form East Coast Crushing & Recycling. At its yard in Medfield, East Coast Crushing & Recycling takes in rocky soils, old pavement and cement foundations that have been removed, and crushes them to make new products.

“The more we discussed it, the more sense it made,” noted Macleod. “Instead of that material going to waste in a landfill or some other place, we’re recycling it, turning it into something that can be put right back into the construction process.”

East Coast Crushing & Recycling makes three products: dense-grade stone, three-inch-minus material and six-inch-plus rock. Using a screen, the company separates rocky soils and makes loam. East Coast Crushing & Recycling recycles materials from JGS Enterprises’ projects and accepts materials from other contractors. “As long as it’s clean and free of contaminants we’ll take it,” said Macleod.

Employees part of success story

A good rapport with other contractors is something Santucci has focused on through the years. He sees beyond the competition and takes more of a partnership approach.

“We’ve developed some very good working relationships and friendships with other contractors,” Santucci reported. “I help them out when they need it, and they help me out. We trust each other to stand behind our work. To me, it’s good business.”

Santucci also believes it’s important to have a solid group of employees he can trust. JGS Enterprises and East Coast Crushing & Recycling have dedicated and experienced employees, including Santucci’s sister, Vilma, who does office and bookwork for JGS Enterprises of Medfield.

“I can’t get to every project we have going on, but I never worry about what’s happening on the jobsite,” revealed Santucci. “They can work anywhere, under any conditions, and I know they’ll perform. They have my full confidence, and they deserve a good deal of credit for helping the businesses succeed.”

Partners with C.N. Wood, Komatsu

Santucci credits a quality equipment fleet backed by service from C.N. Wood as another success factor. Santucci is a longtime Komatsu excavator user at JGS Enterprises, and more recently began using a WA380-6 wheel loader in the yard at East Coast Crushing & Recycling.

“I started using a Komatsu PC220LC-6 excavator many years ago, and its dependability and productivity made a good impression,” said Santucci. “Equally impressive is the service we get from C.N. Wood, especially our Sales Representative Bob Rosa and (President) Bob Benard. They’ve always made sure we have the right equipment to fit our needs. We view C.N. Wood as more than our equipment distributor; they’re our friends and business partners.

“From a service standpoint, C.N. Wood has the parts we need, when we need them,” he added. “If we call for help, they’re right there. On the rare occasions we’ve had to call about an issue, the technicians have always been able to quickly diagnose and fix it.”

Rosa and Benard have helped Santucci acquire Komatsu excavators equipped with quick couplers for fast and easy attachment changes. “Because we do many different types of work, I need equipment that offers versatility, and Komatsu has really fit the bill. I run a number of attachments: grapples, hammers, compactors, etc. The Komatsu excavators have excellent hydraulic power to run any of them. That makes us more productive without needing multiple machines to get the job done.”

“We also get versatility from the WA380 because we can use it to charge the crusher and stockpile,” added Macleod. “In the winter, we use it for snow removal. It’s comfortable, easy to operate and fuel-efficient.”

Going the extra mile

Santucci and Macleod are looking for new uses for the WA380-6 as they eye growth for both JGS Enterprises and East Coast Crushing & Recycling.

“The potential for growth is there as the construction industry rebounds, and we’re seeing the first signs of that now,” observed Santucci. “One area that we may be expanding into in the near future is governmental-bid work.”

In the meantime, they’ll continue to concentrate on customer satisfaction in the commercial and residential sectors. The latter helped them gain some notoriety in the past few years as JGS Enterprises was involved in a couple of high-profile projects.

Santucci has worked on the set of “Shutter Island,” where he was called in to enlarge a pool that helped create a water scene in the movie. “The most notable was doing a good deal of work on an “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” project, starting with tearing down the existing home,” recalled Santucci. “We dug the foundation for the house, ran the utilities and put in some fill. I worked along with other excavators, doing site work for the project, and my daughter, Amanda, was hired for the week as a production assistant. It was exhausting, but I believe in helping the community and working toward a good cause. That’s something I strongly value and ingrain in my company.”