Jack Caywood arrived at his job site to find his trailer and all of his tools were stolen.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A new year is often a time for celebration, but this new year, one contractor in Jacksonville found himself at the center of a crime.
It’s devastating for any small business owner. Imagine everything you need to use for your career is stolen. As the saying goes, ‘a carpenter is only as good as his tools,’ but what if the tools aren’t his?
“It takes about 20 minutes to set up,” said Jack Caywood as he got ready for work, which isn’t bad for somebody working with borrowed equipment.
Caywood stored all of his tools for his contracting job in a trailer, but saw a very unwelcome site when he arrived to his job site on Tuesday.
“The trailer was gone, hard to believe it was real at first,” said Caywood.
At some point over the New Year’s holiday someone stole Caywood’s equipment.
“It was my livelihood and when I saw it, it was crushing, I didn’t know what I was going to do,” said Caywood, “it was basically everything as far as tools that I owned.”
Caywood had insurance on the trailer, but not on his tools, which is now a loss that he values at nearly $20,000. After a couple of days working with police it was time to get back to work… albeit with borrowed tools.
“There’s a bit of a re-learning curve,” said Caywood. “It feels a little different right now.”
Caywood’s parents as well as his friend Austin let him borrow some tools. He also created a GoFundMe, which is helping to offset the cost of buying new tools.
“I can not put into words the way that I feel, the hope that it’s given me,” said Caywood, “as long as you surround yourself with good people, good things will happen for you.”
So back to work he went. Back on the job, picking back up where he left off before his trailer with all of his tools was stolen; continuing to build his business, even with borrowed tools.
Jack Caywood said that he’s grateful to everyone who has donated to his cause and also thankful for the understanding clients who are sticking by him while he’s delayed a couple of projects.
More information about his business JW Contracting and Management can be found by emailing jwcontracting.jax@gmail.com or by visiting his business Facebook page here.
