I began my professional career without the knowledge, skills and experience I would need to solve every problem on my own.  This meant that I needed to learn the social skill of ALWAYS asking for help. I had to change the way I looked at problem situations from the way I was raised to a new understanding: "ASKING FOR HELP IS A SIGN OF STRENGTH."
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When Albert Cavazos started up TARC Construction, his goal was to have a family business to share with his young sons. Ten years later, Albert and his wife Tamara have met that goal and then some.  They are rightfully proud of a thriving business that now employs thirty people, including a growing segment of their family. “Sons Francisco and Dante work in the sales division, my brother- in-law is fleet manager and keeps our equipment running and my daughter-in- law is starting work Monday,” says Albert, who loves the fun of finding high energy people, bringing them into the business and training them to do things the right way – the TARC way.
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Construction projects are required to follow procedures to protect the environment. The Clean Water Act also mandates States and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to be jointly responsible for identifying and regulating both point and nonpoint sources of pollution. For those projects not in compliance, fines of as much as $32,500 per day, per violation, can be enforced.
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Mary Machado spends every day at work visiting with longtime friends, but it’s all a part of her job on the Building Materials Team at Graniterock’s Watsonville Branch. “We all know each other - I grew up here and know a lot of contractors”, explains Mary. “The kids I went to school with are in business now and I know them all. When they come in, it’s ‘Hi Mary, how’s the family’ – and that’s why I like it here so much.” Mary loves knowing her customers on a first name basis and says when a new customer shows up at the Branch, it’s often because a friend told them, “Go on over and just ask for Mary”.
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Graniterock CFO Steve Snodgrass contributes another  article excerpted from the 1956 Engineering News-Record which shows how “the more things change the more they remain the same.” 
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Having just celebrated fifteen years with Graniterock, fourteen in my prior role as Vice President and General Counsel and the past year in my new role as CEO, I started thinking about my first day of work with the Company.  I arrived very early that day and found Bruce Woolpert already busy at his desk (I would eventually learn that trying to arrive earlier or leave later than Bruce was an exercise in futility).  
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Eric Raff and Dave Beck founded XL Construction twenty-one years ago as a technical building firm focused on Silicon Valley.  They had “cut their teeth” on the technical side of Silicon Valley while working for a contractor who handled jobs for companies like Lockheed Martin, Intel and Applied Materials.  XL Construction took off from there and is now known as the Northern California contractor to call when the highest quality technical construction is required.
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Santa Cruz County Historical Railroad Society Celebrates Twenty Years at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds
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By James W. Schmitt, Principal and President of Schmitt Technical Services: http://schmitttechnicalservices.com
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Now, as in the mid 1950’s, the United States is emerging from a difficult economy. Graniterock CFO Steve Snodgrass contributes the following article excerpted from the 1956 Engineering News-Record which shows how “the more things change the more they remain the same.”  As the recession wanes and business activity increases, the author warns of more contractor financial failures and explains that the end of a recession can prompt increased competition and risky decision-making by unwary contractors. Bankruptcies often rise at the beginning of a building boom. The cautionary message remains as true today as it was then, and reaffirms the old saw that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
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