Since 2003, Mike Lanning has grown Desert Services from a water truck business to a full-service job site support company.

Jim Morrison, Vice President of Field Operations, works the side hose on a lot wash, one of the many services performed by Desert Services.

After more than a decade in the corporate world, Mike Lanning had had enough and started looking for a new career in something outside the profit-focused norm of big business. Little did he know that dust control trucks, street sweepers and even portable toilets would become an integral part of his journey.

Now owner and President of Tempe-based Desert Services, a construction site services company, Lanning explains, “I had just left my job running telemarketing centers for a large telecommunications company. While looking for a change, I saw a small ‘business for sale’ sign—namely a water truck company specializing in dust control.”

Thus began the story of one man’s life-changing journey to build a service-based business that provides a vehicle for continuous growth and offers employees a springboard for new opportunities and success with good pay, steady work and an appreciative, compassionate leadership.

The Early Years…and Fears

Lanning’s story begins in the late 1980s, when he moved to Arizona while working for the aforementioned telecommunications company. It was a good move in terms of challenging work and educational opportunities. Believing in the long-term value of higher education, Lanning enrolled in the business school at the University of Phoenix while maintaining a full-time career.

In late 2002, faced with a possible company move out of state and dissatisfied with the corporate environment, he sought to apply his business degree and life lessons in more entrepreneurial ways. At around the same time, the owners of Desert Spray, a local water truck company that served the dust control needs of construction companies throughout the greater Phoenix area, had put their business up for sale. By January 2003, Lanning was the owner of this water truck company, which he renamed Desert Services to better reflect his vision to expand its lines of services to the construction industry.

It started out slow with only two drivers, four trucks and a handful of jobs on the books. “It was an interesting start to a new career,” Lanning recalls. “I had a new business in a market segment where I had little experience, and to top it off, my wife had just been laid off from her corporate job as well. While that sounds bad, in hindsight, it was the best thing that ever happened to us.”

Lanning freely states that the first year of operation was a challenge. The company’s gross income was around $245,000, and while revenue was low, Lanning was building connections with superintendents at job sites all over the Phoenix metro area while his wife helped manage the day-to-day operations.

“I had two big fears in those days,” Lanning confesses. “First, that I’d get a phone call that one of our water trucks had been in an accident. The second is that we wouldn’t be able to get water to support our business because the Southwest was in a severe drought.”

Those fears prompted Lanning to aggressively branch out beyond dust control.

Beyond the Dust

Lanning started talking to construction superintendents about how his company could help in terms of other services.

He says, “I found that too often, it’s the seemingly little things that customers have some of the biggest problems with, which gets in the way of completing projects. My goal was to provide all of those mixed and varied site services—ranging from dust control to fencing, to street sweeping, to portable toilets—but do it better than the others. Essentially, I wanted to be a one-stop site 
services provider.”

The diversity of those services, Lanning believed, would provide peace of mind in times of economic slowdowns and provide his growing employee base with stability and job security—things lacking in his former corporate environment.

In 2004, Lanning’s longtime friend from childhood, Jayson Roti, moved to Arizona and went to work for Desert Services as Vice President of Operations, enabling Lanning to dedicate more time to new service opportunities. Not long after, Desert Services offered roll-off container services and, soon after, fencing and portable toilets.

By 2006 or 2007, the company owned 16 water trucks (and rented another 16), four roll-off container trucks with roll-off containers of varying sizes, and three portable toilet trucks with 300 standard and handicap toilets.

A year later, Lanning saw the need for quality Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPPs). He teamed with SWPPP Solutions, a local company, to offer stormwater services to clients. In 2008, he purchased SWPPP Solutions and brought it under the Desert Services umbrella. It is now one of the company’s largest divisions. Along with best management practice (BMP) installs, Desert Services also prepares SWPPP plans for construction projects and performs the required inspections needed for state and federal compliance—demonstrating its capability as a complete SWPPP end-to-end service provider.

By 2008, just four years after Lanning bought the company, Desert Services was grossing $7.7 million annually and employed around 70 office staff, designers, estimators, field managers, drivers and inspectors, which included Roti, as well as Jim Morrison, Vice President, Kelley Kline, director of sweeping operations, Jeff Gardner, chief estimator and Kendra Ash, controller. He’s particularly proud of his team’s focus on creating opportunities for professional growth.

Herve Gruner and Jeff Pilkington are both examples of such. Both started as laborers with the company. Gruner is currently the director of field services and Pilkington is the assistant field manager. “They’re terrific managers of people in the field,” Lanning says. “All they needed was an opportunity to expand their skills and be given a chance at leadership. We’ve worked hard to build a management team that creates opportunity for all of our employees, whether that’s more hours or a chance to grow professionally.”

His business ideals would be put to the test in 2008 when the recession took its toll on the Phoenix area and Desert Services.

Silver Linings

Thinking back to the recessionary times, Lanning says, “It seemed to come out of nowhere.”

By the end of 2008, Desert Services had dropped from 70 to around 15 employees, but still had some project backlog to keep moving through 2009. By 2010, the company was just struggling through like so many others.

Lanning says, “I had never been in a position like this, responsible for not just my family, but also my employees’ livelihoods. As a business owner, I feel it’s my primary job to take care of my people, to keep them employed and paid, even in bad times. I want us all to make a good living, so it’s my job to position the company for success—no matter the economic conditions.”

His response to dire conditions in 2010 was to “Put our head down and get to work. I knew we could take advantage of the company’s diversified services and survive to the other side.”

Lanning believes the silver lining of those difficult times is the core team that emerged. “We’re stronger for having survived,” he adds. “And our drive is to keep as many of our people employed, engaged and challenged as possible with room to grow professionally.”

Desert Services did more than just survive those difficult times.

“We’ve worked hard to build a management team that creates opportunity for all of our employees, whether that’s more hours or a chance to grow professionally.” Mike Lanning, 
President and Owner,
Desert Services

The Problem Solvers

Today, Desert Services employs about 65 people and generates about $7 million in gross revenue annually—and it’s still growing.

Lanning says, “We attribute much of our success to our employees, and moreover our customers whom we depend on each day. All of us at Desert Services strive to go beyond what is necessary to complete a job. I believe that’s what keeps customers loyal in the ever-growing and competitive marketplace.”

One way they maintain a competitive edge is growth. Beyond providing familiar job site services, such as fencing or dust control, Lanning and his team are building a reputation as problem solvers.

Lanning says, “We want to be a one-stop shop for the job site—whether that’s for materials, services or even job site challenges. We can figure it out where others can’t! That has a lot to do with our smarts and know-how—and that starts with a foundation of a strong team.”

While construction job site services continues to be the company’s primary business, Lanning had the opportunity to meet Shawn Hennessy and Mike Gilmore, two construction guys who were performing a small remodel on his personal residence. Lanning, Hennessy and Gilmore made an immediate connection. Before long, Hennessy and Gilmore had joined the Desert Services family, forming the new General Contracting Division that takes on residential remodels and new home additions in the Phoenix area. It’s small but rewarding.

The new division is another step in his company’s journey that began 16 years ago. Lanning, who is as excited today about his business as he was in those early days, concludes, “Who knew that I’d find so much satisfaction in running a business that began with a for sale sign on a water truck. It’s been an extraordinary adventure thanks largely to hard work, great customers and a terrific team.”