It is always challenging to make a change from the status quo. The consistency of a career where all you have ever known has been one field of work can be comforting, but for many, there comes a time when people are looking to make a change. Richard and Anngela Boutelle’s journey to settling down in the Santa Clarita Valley and opening their own business has been a long path that required a leap of faith as they jumped into the world of entrepreneurship.

Richard, who is originally from upstate New York, got into the space of construction and infrastructure from a young age, totaling 47 years in the tunnel industry. It allowed him to travel the world, including tunnel projects varying from six million to multibillion dollars in countries like Chile, Australia, Canada and all throughout the United States. While in the industry, he served in every position, eventually working his way up to project manager.

While working on a project in Washington, Richard met Anngela. Her family had been in the construction industry for generations. She spent her career working for Boeing, before starting a leather shop with her mother and then getting into the tunnel industry. The couple started dating, later got married, and spent the next 27 years working in and around the tunnel industry. It ran in their blood, with their now 25-year-old son also working in tunnels.

This journey in the tunnel industry led the couple to end up in southern California in June of 2020, where they wanted to finally put down their roots and jump into the world of franchising. After spending time researching and looking into new franchises, they came along EverLine Coatings, a new, but fast-growing brand based in Canada that was introduced into the U.S. in 2022.

“We were just ready to make a switch to something new, and EverLine touched on so many things we already had our hands on in these projects,” said Richard. “We get to take those skills and build a business on our own while having the support of the many successful EverLine franchisees to lean back on, and a corporate structure that supports us as new entrepreneurs.”

EverLine Coatings has grown from a brand that worked on parking lots throughout the Great White North, to North America’s fastest-growing parking lot maintenance and line striping franchise since locations began opening two years ago. The brand specializes in parking lot maintenance, line striping, asphalt services, and interior flooring while growing to a total of 113 franchises, including 89 in the U.S.

The brand made perfect sense given the Boutelles’ previous experience in infrastructure, with both Richard and Anngela being experts at every level of project management and Santa Clarita being the perfect location to start a new franchise. The greater Santa Clarita area is made up of around 100 square miles, with half of it being asphalt, a top service that EverLine works on.

After putting the work into securing the franchise, the SCV location officially opened its doors for services at the beginning of December of 2023 and has quickly taken off. Where some locations have gotten off to a slow start, the Boutelle’s have taken the opportunity to push the envelope with strong proposals for clients, while being a much more reliable solution than normal contractors in the parking lot maintenance and line striping industry.

“We get to be very hands-on in our work, with both of us being in charge of every aspect of our business, from contracts to physically being out on-site of these projects to make sure they are done right,” said Anngela. “Many of the bigger companies don’t want to tackle smaller maintaining jobs, which is one of the niches we’re able to jump onto.”

The Boutelles believe that the perception of parking lot maintenance and overall perception in the area is beginning to shift. Many property managers and business owners are seeing their asphalt deteriorate, and in the greater SCV area, it is even more prevalent due to the amount of land that is made up of parking lots and roadways.

“I think the next step here in the sCV is to look more into proactive and preventative pavement maintenance,” said Richard. “We as a society need to rethink how we look at our parking lots, and how it can be a turn-away for potential consumers. It can and is used as a marketing tool for your business, and being proactive when it comes to repairing it can truly make an impact on a business.”

For more information on Everline Coatings, visit https://everlinecoatings.com/us/.