BUSINESS PROFILES

Diggin' Riggin'

30 Main St
Madison, ME 04950
696-0966

MADISON, Maine - Pat Daigle proudly admits he can't remember names. Except the ones he makes up.

Twelve years ago when he started his landscaping and earthwork business he figured the best approach to naming it was to keep it simple.

"I've always referred to my excavation equipment as ‘riggin', so I figured ‘diggin' rhymes with it and fits right in," Daigle says. "I wracked my brain to come up with it, but it's a catchy phrase and people remember it."

Before Diggin Riggin took root, Daigle worked locally as an excavator for about 10 years.

"I stayed working local on purpose," Daigle says. "People got to know me and my name and reputation. The last few years there I kept thinking I would have to come up with my own idea. I finally went out on my own."

In the 12 years since he started Diggin Riggin, Daigle has grown the business tenfold, he says. He has accumulated equipment and real estate and at one time employed a crew of 11.

"Now I have three employees, it keeps the quality manageable," he says. "I found that when I was taking on too much work with more employees, the quality of the work went down."

Starting out wasn't easy. In 1992, the construction and excavation business was in a slump.

"Construction seems to go in cycles of about every 10 years or so," Daigle says. "When we started things were slow, real slow. But I figured things can only get better. I love what I do and I'm good at it. I like stuff that's tough. I like to make something nice out of a mess."

To get Diggin Riggin off the ground, Daigle worked with Perley Beane, director of community and economic development for the Town of Madison.

"He really helped me," Daigle said. "I mean really. He arranged for a $25,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) that got me started to buy a property on Main Street, where my office is. Since then I've bought four commercial properties. Perley helped me get rolling."

Madison is a "great place to be" to do business, Daigle says. "I was welcomed with open arms when I started up. Whatever I needed, they had it to offer."

Even though business is booming, the nature of excavation means when winter comes, work is frozen, literally, for months at a time.

But Daigle has changed his down time to potentially profitable up time. Always the entrepreneur, in April he received a registered trademark that will allow him to market his latest invention: a line of toys, children's books and clothing all based on Diggin Riggin.

"I had the concept way before Bob the Builder came out," Daigle says. "But I was just way too busy. I'm just a kid at heart."

His new undertaking doesn't mean the earthwork part of Diggin Riggin will come to a halt.

"I'll never phase that out," he says. "I love it too much. You couldn't beat it out of me."