Hill has great admiration for boxing legend Muhammad Ali and is proud to be involved with the sport.

Advanced Traffic crews set up two-way traffic along a major thoroughfare in Boulder, Colo.

Duran Charles Hill Jr. has an exceptional skill to puzzle out complex problems. In his youth, that talent helped him find ways to defeat opponents in a boxing ring and win collegiate-level chess and Scrabble championships.

As an adult, he’s put his problem-solving aptitude to work, establishing one of Colorado’s fastest-growing traffic management small businesses.

Founded in 2012, Advanced Traffic Services provides traffic control, flagging, road closure, traffic plans and potholing services to utilities, transportation companies, contractors and municipalities in Colorado and beyond.

Just as important, at least to Hill, is the platform that the company provides for him to feed his passion for the sport of boxing.

Fine-Tuning a Skillset

In 2004, Hill worked on highway projects for Jalisco International, Inc., a heavy/highway and bridge construction company. Hill says, “I applied to work as a member of the field crews. But, that changed when they looked at my resume more closely and saw that I had worked as a safety officer for my dad, who owned a construction company. With predominantly Spanish-speaking field crews, they needed a traffic control guy who could speak fluent English. I took the test and became a traffic control supervisor.”

He worked for Jalisco for nine years. In 2008, he applied for and took a job with NBC, a subsidiary of NPL, a company that provides traffic control services for construction sites, public utility projects and special events.

“I liked that NBC did more than heavy/highway,” explains Hill. “Traffic control in an urban area is far more complicated than a routine highway lane closure. An urban traffic control plan must account for pedestrians, bicyclists, open businesses, multidirectional vehicular traffic, schools, mass transit and first responders. It’s very challenging to find the best solution that maintains the community’s ongoing activities while ensuring the safe completion of a utility or construction task.”

Turns out, Duran had a knack for complex traffic control planning. On any given day, he could develop six or seven setups all over the Denver metro for companies such as Xcel Energy, Denver Water, and a number of municipalities.

A few years later, one of his regular clients suggested that he think about starting his own company to take better advantage of his unique skill set.

Hill recalls, “My client knew about a Denver Water traffic control contract that was coming up. I thought it was a great idea that also fed into my independent spirit.”

The Safety Specialist

In 2012, Hill formed Advanced Traffic Services as an SBE/DBE company that specializes in road closures, detours and other related services for highway and street projects. He got a loan from the Colorado Enterprise Fund to purchase the vehicle, barricades, cones, signage and equipment and applied for the Denver Water contract—which he did not get.

Hill says, “Fortunately, there were many other contracts up for bid at the same time, and I won a couple of those.”

One of his first jobs was a $76,000 traffic control contract for Denver’s Regional Transit District (RTD) light rail construction project. The project required Hill and his team to detour vehicle and pedestrian traffic around lane closures at six different light rail crossings, 24 hours a day in three-day shifts. That project led to many more. His team has since provided safe work environments for construction crews and the public for a range of other state, local and municipal transportation and utility projects.

In the first full year of operation, Duran’s company made $124,000 in revenue, jumped to $540,000 in 2014, $760,000 in 2015 and $1.2 million in 2016. He went from six employees in 2013 to 21 employees today. The company has expanded its services to California, Georgia, Florida, Michigan and Texas, with plans to open offices in Arizona and Missouri this year.

In the last year, Hill hired a superintendent to manage equipment and setups in the field and ensure the appropriate safety measures are enforced by his crews. While Hill continues to grow his business and sign payroll for Advanced Traffic Services, he now has more time to pursue his true passion: boxing.

Beyond the Barricade

Named after the legendary professional boxer Roberto Durán, Hill has been boxing since he was a young man, learning from his father and uncle, who were both professional boxers. By the age of 21, Hill had won the Colorado Golden Gloves and Silver Gloves boxing championships three times.

Unfortunately, his dreams of professional boxing came to a sudden end when he was hit by an RTD bus while training for a Junior Olympic fight.

Hill says, “I healed nicely from that accident—but was no longer able to pursue my goals to be a professional boxer.”

Undeterred, Hill moved to boxing promotion and management and founded Sting Like a Bee Entertainment Inc. in August 1997.

“Boxing is so much more than a sport,” adds Hill. “It teaches discipline, develops character and builds physical confidence. I’m a 45-yr-old African American man who has never smoked cigarettes, drunk alcohol or taken drugs—how many people can say that? I attribute my lack of vices to my emphasis on physical health and the discipline I gained from boxing.”

He believes today’s younger generations could greatly benefit from the sport, which is why he is part of two of Colorado’s major boxing organizations.

He has been a member of USA Boxing since he was a young man and continues to train with and support the organization through volunteer activities. He’s also a member of the Board of Directors of the Colorado Golden Gloves Charities, an organization that provides the travel, equipment, lodging and other expenses needed for athletes to compete.

Hill concludes, “I’ve gained so much from boxing. The sport teaches self-reliance. It gave me the confidence to start my own company. I believe everyone who has even the smallest interest in entrepreneurship should try self-employment. Start your own business. Our community would be so much better with more small business owners.”