JT Crane Service: Taking Business to New Heights

Jeff Thornton, veteran, owner, and operator had 12 years of crane operating experience and another five years of heavy equipment operator experience. However, something Jeff had limited experience with was starting and growing a business.

“The classes and coaches [at the Grand Junction SBDC] have been essential because I have no experience in bookkeeping or web design,” said Jeff.

After learning about the Grand Junction SBDC through the SBA’s website, Jeff made his first coaching appointment in the spring of 2019. Shortly after his initial meeting, he launched his crane business.

JT Crane Service offers crane services to individuals and contractors for new construction projects, repairs, restorations, sign and glass installations, HVAC installs, and hot tub deliveries.

Throughout 2019, Jeff continued meeting with various SBDC business coaches on marketing strategies and bookkeeping enrolling in courses at the Grand Junction SBDC such as Bookkeeping Bootcamp and the intensive, 12-week LEADING EDGE Strategic Business Planning and Management Course.

Even with the uncertainty of 2020, Jeff continued taking his business to new heights. JT Crane Service continued to grow. He recently added his second crane and hired his first employee.

“My business almost tripled from my first year. Covid had little to no effect on my business,” said Jeff.

(970) 216-2544
Jeff Thornton
www.jtcraneservice.com

Western Colorado Specialty Pharmacy

What’s a person to do if premanufactured pharmaceuticals just don’t work for you or your pet? That’s what many people with specific allergies (fillers, dyes, etc), finicky kids/pets, or folks in need of a specific non-traditional dosage of a medication were left to ask until now in Grand Junction, CO. Karen Floyd has been a pharmacist for over 30 years and has seen an increasing need for the services compounding pharmacies provide. In 2006 alone,

Vital Earth Minerals

Long time SBDC client, Jody Ahrens, is no stranger to starting and running a successful small business. Jody was an attendee at the first Leading Edge course offered by the Grand Junction SBDC in 1986. She attributes the success of her first business, Evergreen Productions, to the knowledge she gained in that class. She learned the basics of starting and running a business and the proper way to keep books and do the day to

Edgewater Brewery

For Jim Jeffryes, brewing beer had always been a source of refuge from his stressful job in technology. That is, until 1998 when he decided to jump into brewing beer full time. Although Jim had brewed beer recreationally, he had never done it in the quantities he was going to need to support a brewery, so after purchasing land on 9th & Struthers in Grand Junction, he enrolled in beer school and took Leading Edge