October 2000 | Sharon M. Nery

WAREHAM — "We just found a niche where a service was needed," is the way Carrie Collins, president of DRAGIN Drilling recently described the four-year-old full service company that provides environmental, geotechnical, construction, landfill and water supply drilling services.

That sense of underplay was evident throughout a conversation with the 31-year-old civil engineer, whose reputation for excellence has earned the company she co-owns with David Quagliaroli a full roster of state, municipal, commercial and residential projects.

A graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Collins began her civil engineering career at Camp Dresser & McKee, where she concentrated on remedial cleanups for federal programs. While at the Boston-based environmental engineering firm, she was the site engineer at the Massachusetts Military Reservation project. It was there that she met Quagliaroli - her future business partner.

"We both worked at the base for several years," said Collins. "David has a great knack for creativity and design and we recognized our ability to work well together."

From CDM, Collins went to work for Stone & Webster, another Boston engineering firm. Working from the
geotechnical division, she continued at the military base, putting her remedial expertise to good use at
several of its contaminated sites.

"I was the drilling expert in my division at Stone & Webster," said Collins. "At some point in time, my interests
just broadened and since David had so many creative equipment ideas, we decided to go forward."

In September of 1996, Collins and Quagliaroli established DRAGIN drilling, an acronym to describe the
company's scope of service - Deep Remedial and Groundwater Investigation Needs.

"Looking back, we were very confident because we had so much support," said Collins, noting that
DRAGIN Drilling is a SOMWBA-Certified, Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE) and Disadvantage
Business Enterprise (DBE) company.

"The first year we got our feet wet," she said. "We had three super jobs that year; the Massachusetts Military Reservation Superfund Project on Cape Cod, the Boston Central Artery Project and the Metrowest Tunnel Project."

Over the last few years, the company established a 13-member staff, one that includes several
members of Collins' family.

"My brother Todd is a driller, my dad Doug runs the shop and my mom Diane runs the office," said
Collins, whose company has provided services for the Niagara Falls Chemical Remediation Project, the
Bourne Landfill Project, the South Weymouth Naval Air Station and the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

A custom-designed fleet of vehicles - several of which are one-of-a-kind - accommodate virtually
every drilling need. Moreover, the Wareham-based firm employs unique capabilities, including auger
drilling to depths of up to 350 feet.

The proof of the young company's success is in its bottom line. DRAGIN
Drilling ended its recent fiscal year with overall sales of $2 million, up
from $1.5 million for the previous fiscal year.

"We probably should have been more nervous than we were when we started out," said Collins. "But,
from the beginning we have always strived to provide the best quality - we're not the cheapest, but we
maintain quality and integrity without leaving anyone high and dry."

"We take a lot of risk with what we do because the toys we play with are not cheap," she said. "But
our business philosophy is to provide the best quality in the shortest amount of time."

Asked if she would have changed anything along her career route, or if she and her staff had
experienced any major surprises, Collins responded with a firm "no" to the first query and "we didn't
know we'd be growing so quickly" to the second. "We're now at the size we want to be at and at a point
where we can diversify a little," she said. "The last year has been an exciting one for us, and we look
forward to continued expansion over the coming year, as we continue to increase the scope and
nature of the services we provide; we are very pleased at both the innovations that our design and
research/development people have come up with, and the clients we have been able to assist - we've enjoyed every moment."