Bill Miller, owner of Shipshewana-based Bill’s Long Reach Services, said the lockdowns related to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 prompted more business for him.
“During the pandemic a lot of the factories nearby were shut down for a while, and a lot of people in the area were looking around their properties and seeing a lot of pond and landscaping work that needed to be done,” Miller said. “It worked out for me. I did a lot of work for people at that time, and the business really took off. I started getting more calls from people that needed work done on their ponds. They had pond cleaning work that had been overlooked for a long time.”
Miller eventually was able to garner so much business that he decided to quit his full-time job and go into business for himself. “I worked for the Forest River factory that makes RVs,” he said. “It was a very good place to work. I worked there for 20 years. It’s been nice to be able to just focus on this as my job.”
Miller has been able to establish a business that has been successful through the positive feedback he gets from customers.
“I do pond excavating and I always make sure I do a great job.” he said. “I clean out existing ponds. A lot of ponds have sludge that has built up over the years and I clean them out. I spend a lot of time making sure everything looks good by the time I am done. It’s a great feeling to get positive feedback from a customer that says the pond looks better than it did before I started on it.”
Miller said Bill’s Long Reach Services also does ditch cleaning.
“I also do the landscaping around the ponds,” Miller said. “I make all the areas look good. I do some preparation work before I start a job, to see exactly what needs to be done to clean a pond out and have it looking great. I go around the pond perimeter and look at the high and low areas. I look at the ledges along the pond to see what work needs to be done.”
Miller noted that his quality work lasts for a long time.
“I do work that lasts for 10 to 15 years,” Miller said. “I have been able to get more work from satisfied customers telling their friends about me. I have a few customers that are wildlife preservationists. I work on the ponds and make them nice for all the ducks and geese. I make it a nice island for wildlife. I have received some very positive compliments from customers that were satisfied that I made an area look better, that also appealed to local wildlife.”
Miller said he loves working outdoors and being in nature.
“I love the water and the fish,” Miller said. “I love running the equipment and just being outside. It all goes hand in hand. It’s work I have always enjoyed. My son, Tim, does some general excavating work for me, and he enjoys the work too.”
Miller developed an affinity for the work after watching a friend from Middlebury do similar work when he was younger.
“He was an excavator, and I was able to observe and learn a lot about how to do this type of work,” Miller said. “I took to it and eventually learned how to keep improving. The more time I did the work, the better I developed a keener eye for what needed to be done on each pond.”
Miller said he couldn’t be in a better place to do the work he enjoys.
“I love Shipshewana,” Miller said. “I love being so close to the water, and really enjoy fishing and being on the water.”
