For Mitch Willie, 2020 was a go-big-or-go-home year — as in big investments in big machines that position his Canadian company, Axis Vac & HDD, to do bigger projects and grow, well, bigger than ever.
The highest-profile purchase out of the millions of dollars the company invested in equipment during 2020 was a D40x55DR S3 Navigator horizontal directional-drilling machine made by Vermeer Corp. The purchase was significant for two reasons. The first was the cost — $600,000, but closer to $1 million when all ancillary equipment is included. Second, it positioned the company, based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to enter a new
