Paving the way: Jack Todd retires, transfers paving company to employee

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For 33 years, Jack and Tracy Todd have been providing paving services to Brown County and communities beyond. This year, they begin the journey of retirement, passing the business to a couple they’ve known for years: Jason and Jaclyn Hardin.

Jack has been in the paving business since he was 15, starting with the Fleetwood Brothers, then working for Contractors United. In 1987, the Todds decided to go out on their own.

When Dorris and Dale Fleetwood owned the excavating company, Jack helped his father, Otis, who also worked for them. When he could drive, he worked summers, too.

“I did that and went to college for a couple years, but came back to paving every time,” Jack said.

The young couple needed a loan to get started. After two banks had turned them down, the third time was the charm.

That same year, Jack broke his neck in an equipment accident.

“He was up at Methodist in neurocritical care,” Tracy said. Jack’s neurosurgeons told them the vertebrae he broke in his neck were dubbed the “widowmaker.”

Jack told Tracy that he didn’t want to leave their daughter, so he pushed through. He wore a halo neck brace for 18 weeks — and still paved that whole first year of business.

The neurosurgeon had said nothing about not working. “He just told me not to lift anything,” Jack said.

Their banker later told the Todds that he always admired that Jack went to work with the halo brace on. “He said he knew he wouldn’t have to worry about this loan,” Jack said.

The couple made $12,000 their first year, which, at the time, they thought was pretty good. A lot of their business expanded to Bloomington, which Jack said was “busting at the seams” with new construction.

“We got in at a good time,” he said. “It’s hard work and nobody wants to do it.”

Jack Todd Paving focused on small residential projects like driveways, subdivision roads and commercial parking lots for churches, apartment complexes and more.

As the business grew, their work radius extended a hundred miles outside Brown County. The Todds got to know their clients, many of whom became regulars.

The partnership of Jack and Tracy extended beyond marriage into their business as well. Jack worked on the paving projects and Tracy focused on office work, accounting and paperwork.

“We had a good setup,” Jack said. “We couldn’t do it without the other — I couldn’t have done it without her and she couldn’t do it without me.”

Tracy said the nicest thing about having a home office is that she was able to raise their daughters and later help with her granddaughter. “And I’m always available for Facetime calls with my grandchildren in Massachusetts, since I work my own hours,” she said.

About the decision to retire, “it’s very hard and very hot (work),” Tracy said. “Jack has said it’s a younger man’s work.”

On Jan. 27, they officially turned over the business to Jason and Jaclyn Hardin, a family with whom they’ve had ties for decades.

Jason, grandson of Dorris Fleetwood, worked for Jack after graduating high school on the condition that he went to college. He took classes for a year, but was drawn to the paving industry.

Two years after starting to work for Jack, he went the union route with Jack’s cousin, Rex, working on interstates and other large INDOT projects for 15 years.

Jason went back to Jack Todd Paving in the fall of 2020 with the intent to eventually buy it.

“I’ve been teasing Jack for a few years now, telling him I wanted to become him,” Jason said. “If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be in this industry. This has always been my dream.”

In his 20s, Jason knew that he would own his own business someday and even had a boss tell him that he didn’t want to work for anyone but himself.

“He was right,” Jason said.

Working on highways and interstates, Jason would travel two hours a day each way in his commute. “I was leaving the house at 3:30 or 4 in the morning and not getting home until 10 or 11 at night,” he said.

“I wasn’t able to be the husband and father I wanted to be.”

“The timing of Jack (retiring) and knowing him — everything lined up perfectly,” Jason said. “It was really, really a blessing.”

Jack said that if Jason and Jaclyn hadn’t purchased the business, he would probably continue, but he’s glad it’s being taken over.

“I’m 66, so I think it’s time,” he said.

“Jason and Jaclyn are really smart and energetic, and very determined to make this business work,” Tracy said. “They’ll take this business farther than we ever did.”

Jaclyn will also oversee the business side of things, just as Tracy did. She’s a counselor at Jackson Creek Middle School in Bloomington, so her summers off will be spent working with customers at J.L. Hardin Paving.

“I’ll probably be the voice you hear when you call,” she said. “But counseling services are extra.”

“Even with my background and skills, and knowledge of what I’m doing,” Jason said, “there’s absolutely no way that this happens without her.”

The phone number and Gnaw Bone location will stay the same, but the name will change to J.L. Hardin Paving.

Jack has been helping Jason in the transition process, especially with the customers. “Being a staple in this community the last 30 years, he’s got a lot of connections and plans to help with that,” Jason said.

“They’ve done so much. You can’t drive through Nashville without seeing something that he’s paved.”

Jack and Jason both agreed that one of the rewarding parts of this industry is being able to see what you’ve accomplished. “At the end of the day, you can see what you did,” Jack said. “I’ve enjoyed it.”

Jason’s grandfather, Dorris, would take him out to get ice cream and drive him around to see the lakes and roads he’d built in the county. “He took me places in his Buick that I wouldn’t take my four-wheel drive truck now,” he said.

Jason said his entrepreneurial spirit runs deep, having learned from his family, Jack and Rex Todd. His own 10-year-old son, Waylon, is excited for his family’s new adventure.

“I asked if he wanted to work for the company or run it when he was older,” Jaclyn said.

But Waylon said he wants to work to get money for college someday. His dream is to play basketball and become an author.

“I told him just because this is my dream, it doesn’t have to be his,” Jason said.

J.L. Hardin Paving will specialize in parking lots, driveways, seal coating, grating, hauling and repairs. The company already has half the summer booked with clients.

Jason said he looks forward to working with more individuals, even if it’s commercial contractors. They will work in surrounding counties and travel to places like Terre Haute and Greenwood, but being able to be local and see his own work is exciting, he said.

“Doing interstates and working with INDOT, it was rewarding, but there’s a disconnect,” he said. “I’m looking forward to paving a guy’s driveway, him walking out to get his newspaper everyday, actually appreciating what we do.”

None of this would be possible without the mentorship of Jack Todd, Jason said. “Him and his cousin Rex, they taught me everything hands-on in this industry,” he said.

“To not be family and to trust us to take his name and use it how we see fit — it means a lot.”

The Todds look forward to the rest and travels that await them in retirement.

Tracy said she always complained about being too busy, but she will miss it. “I did enjoy it,” she said. Once COVID restrictions ease, they look forward to traveling to Massachusetts to visit family they haven’t seen in a year.

“I’ve always enjoyed writing and photography,” she said. “I’ll do more of that now.”

Jack thinks he will finally be able to enjoy being on his golf trip.

“I was always worried about the business while I was gone,” he said. “But now, I’ll be able to enjoy it.”

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