R&A, named after Waitrovich and his wife Randi, has been officially in business for 10 years but its roots go back further than that.

Waitrovich got his start in excavating working for Bacco Construction of Iron Mountain, which he did for several years. But when they started a family, he grew reluctant to continue all the travel required and started thinking of doing his own thing.

Waitrovich got started snowplowing and doing lawn care 15 years ago, then purchased some earth-moving equipment to do landscaping as a side business while still working a full-time job. He kept adding equipment and eventually got busy enough to make it his full-time business.

R&A now can provide lawn care, septic system installation, road building, demolition, rock and retaining walls, patios, concrete, fence installation and mulch sales and installation, along with the original snowplowing work.

THE EXTERIOR OF the R&A shop in Aurora, Wis., that owner Andy Waitrovich recently acquired so he can house most of his equipment under one roof. (Jim Paul/Daily News photo)

His services are not unique — plenty of other companies in the area offer the same — but the way he delivers them is what sets him apart, Waitrovich said.

“When people call me for an estimate, I show up and give them one,” Waitrovich said. “A happy customer means everything to me. We make sure everything is done right and we don’t leave the job until the customer is satisfied.”

R&A takes jobs across the Upper Peninsula and Wisconsin, even Minnesota. Even for snowplowing, R&A has contracts as far away as Houghton.

One job Waitrovich is especially proud to be working on is the landscaping around the new cancer center under construction at Marshfield Medical Center-Dickinson.

To keep all the lawn care jobs going, Waitrovich employs as many as 12 people in the summer, some long-time staff and others fresh out of high school. In fact, one of the biggest challenges to his business is finding enough people to work for him, he said.

“Our goal is to keep growing, keep being able to employ people. That is pretty rewarding,” Waitrovich said. “The more employees you have, you are growing a family. That is what you always want.”

Headquartered in Iron Mountain, Waitrovich recently moved his shop to a much larger facility in Aurora, Wis., allowing him to keep most of his equipment under one roof as opposed to multiple locations in Iron Mountain.

R&A ever-growing list of equipment includes six excavators, skid steers, dump trucks, plow trucks and lawn care equipment.

During the slower winter months, Waitrovich kept some employees busy getting the new building in shape, including bright new sheet metal siding throughout the interior.

While the unusually warm and dry winter hurt the snowplowing end of the business, Waitrovich said he did not lay off any of his year-round employees. In addition to the usual off-season equipment maintenance, R&A was able to get out and do some road building projects and even spread topsoil in February, which was unprecedented, he said.

It illustrates the ups and downs Waitrovich faces in his business.

“When the economy is good, it is good. When it is not, we are not a necessity,” Waitrovich said. “People just want landscaping, they do not have to have landscaping.”

In the rare moments Waitrovich is not busy with the business, he enjoys attending the sporting and band events of his children Rhylin, Roland, Regan and Rosalee, often getting to them straight from work driving a dump truck.

Waitrovich said he believes in giving back, so donates money for youth sports such as wrestling and baseball.

While the upcoming season is already shaping up to be a busy one for R&A, Waitrovich said he still is ready to come provide an estimate. He can be contacted by calling 906-221-6859.