Aspen Design and Fabrication (ADF) in Denver, Colo., was opened by Dan Dugard and John Ragsdale in 2002, but they experimented with several different business models before the business really took off. In the 1980s and 1990s, Dugard was an employee of Makita Tools, but one day, a customer of his offered to sell him his countertop fabrication business. Although the deal fell through, it ultimately led to meeting Ragsdale at a scaffolding company where they both worked.
A few years after meeting, Dugard and Ragsdale decided to become business partners and opened a fabrication shop specializing in solid surface and laminate. In the beginning, they worked the shop themselves, and their only customers were walk-ins who needed new countertops for their kitchen remodels.
Soon, ADF landed a commercial job that was too big for Dugard and Ragsdale to handle themselves. They quickly scrambled to scale up the business to handle the work, and after hiring new employees, the company continued to grow and expanded into natural stone and quartz.
Aspen Design and Fabrication used the leverage they received from their million-dollar commercial job to jump directly into the wholesale market, and the majority of jobs come from builders and dealers. Today, the business has added glass and concrete to its offerings and is fully automated with laser templating, a CNC waterjet and CNC edgers.
Read more of this Fabricator Profile here: Tour of Aspen Design and Fabrication
