Unlocking Potential in the Field: How Brandon and Tara Lead by Example at Black Hydrovac

When Kristy Black founded Black Hydrovac in 2020, she wasn’t chasing the fastest growth curve or the biggest job list. She was building something that would last, a company where people could bring their skills, earn trust, work safe, and have room to grow.

From the beginning, she made a commitment: If you give your craft and commitment to Black Hydrovac, we’ll invest in your success. That promise has shaped not just how crews work in the field, but how they work together as a team.

Two people who live that mission every day are Fleet Manager Brandon Budd and Sales & Marketing Manager Tara Tarte. Their perspectives show how trust, opportunity, and a safety-first mindset can transform a job into a mission.

Fleet operations at Black Hydrovac aren’t run by guesswork or micromanagement. Brandon manages a growing fleet of vacuum excavation trucks, each one a mission-critical tool for protecting underground infrastructure on high-risk job sites.

What he values most isn’t just the equipment, it’s the autonomy.

“We’re able to do our jobs without someone standing over us,” Brandon says. “That trust lets me push myself to be better at different things.”

That kind of trust doesn’t mean a hands-off approach to management. It means Black Hydrovac hires skilled people, gives them the resources they need, and expects them to perform to the highest standard. For Brandon, that includes making sure every truck leaves the yard ready to work: fully maintained, proper stocking, and pre-trip inspections that are non-negotiable.

Safety is the through-line in all of it. “We try to get everyone home the same way they came,” he says.  It’s the most important thing we do everyday.

In the vacuum excavation world, the equipment is powerful, the environments are varied, and the risks are real. That’s why Black Hydrovac invests in safety beyond the industry minimums.

Brandon has worked in other construction trades and noticed the difference immediately. “We do a lot more. The inspections on the equipment and stuff like that, I haven’t seen that level of consistency anywhere else.”

That commitment is backed by structure: weekly toolbox talks, hands-on leadership from dedicated safety staff, and an expectation that every team member owns safety as part of their daily work.

It’s a culture that shows up in the details, like stopping a job if conditions change, or rerouting a hose run to keep walkways clear. It’s also built into how projects are planned from the start, with safety briefings that include both crew and client teams.

In her 13 years in sales, Tara has worked in different industries, but none with the same cohesion she’s found here. “We all wear multiple hats and lean on each other’s expertise,” she says. “It’s not something I’ve experienced anywhere else.”

That collaboration is more than convenience, it’s strategic. With dedicated leaders in safety, operations, and field execution, Black Hydrovac has the right expertise in the right seats. For our clients, that means every project gets a team with the expertise to execute safely and efficiently. Whether it’s hydro excavation in frozen soil, daylighting fiber near a hospital, or remote excavation with 300 feet of hose, our crews are ready. For employees, it means a daily environment where questions are welcomed, training is ongoing, and solutions are built together. Tara calls it “goal-driven, team-friendly, professionally like-minded,” and says the positivity is a breath of fresh air compared to other workplaces.

Both Brandon and Tara point out something that isn’t always obvious to job seekers: size matters. At a large company, a promotion or new role might mean waiting for someone to retire. At a small, growing company like Black Hydrovac, opportunities open up as the business expands.

For Brandon, that’s meant having the space to take on more responsibility as the fleet grows. For Tara, it’s been the chance to step into a leadership role where her voice matters. “I’ve always wanted to have a leadership role, and here I’m part of a team that values my opinions and thought process,” she says.

That kind of upward movement isn’t just about title changes, it’s about skill development. Brandon’s scope of work now includes project logistics and maintenance strategy. Tara has expanded her role into market development and client engagement, using her background in sales to open doors in new sectors while supporting the crews already in the field.

Black Hydrovac isn’t in the business of digging for the sake of digging. Every job has a mission: protect utilities, protect people, and keep projects moving without costly delays. That means the work crews do directly impacts safety, schedule, and cost for every client.

On any given week, the team might be:

• Daylighting critical utility lines before a new road expansion
  
• Potholing for private utility verification in a tight urban footprint
• Hydro excavating a trench through frozen ground to support a mid-winter deadline
• Running long-hose remote excavations inside a building footprint where traditional equipment can’t reach

In each case, the precision and care in execution is what sets Black Hydrovac apart and what gives Brandon, Tara, and the rest of the team pride in their work.

Ask either of them what makes the culture different, and they’ll both mention the same thing: respect.

Brandon puts it simply: “we’re a tight circle. Everybody gets along with everybody. We all come in, get the job done, and go home.”

Tara describes it as a culture that’s both high-performance and supportive. Goals are clear, expectations are high, but there’s also genuine encouragement and recognition along the way. Wins are shared, challenges are faced together, and the positivity feeds into better performance in the field.

Kristy sees that as one of the most important measures of success. “Relationship First isn’t just a value we put on paper,” she says. “It’s how we get the work done.”

In a tough industry, it’s easy to see a job as just a way to pay the bills. Black Hydrovac’s aim is to change that by offering roles that challenge people, respect their input, and give them a clear path to grow.

Brandon and Tara’s experiences prove the model works. They came from different backgrounds, stepped into a demanding, safety-critical environment, and found not just work, but a platform for their careers.

That’s what Kristy envisioned from the start: a company where opportunity meets high standards, and where “Critical Protection for Every Mission” applies as much to the people wearing the logo as to the utilities underground.