RockBlog
Failure not an option for this paving Rock Star
Posted by Shanna McCord Crigger on Wed, August 2nd, 2017, 5:01 pm
SAN JOSE – By all accounts, it’s a miracle JP Paving celebrated its 20th anniversary this year.In 2006, when the San Francisco Bay Area construction market was booming, Pedro Perez and his sister Estela Taylor sat in their accountant’s office and listened as he told them point blank to shut down.The small family-owned paving company had been swimming in a sea of debt, limping from job to job and on the verge of bankruptcy.In addition to ... Read More
Monterey Peninsula mason with reputation etched in quality
Posted by Shanna McCord Crigger on Fri, June 9th, 2017, 4:36 pm
MONTEREY – Scattered throughout the Monterey Peninsula is the Old World-inspired handiwork of stonemason Mike Mahoney, a good-natured guy who carries a number of titles – husband, father, grandfather, adventurer, musician, fisherman, surfer, cowboy and coach.While he is all of those things, at heart, Mike is an artist who loves natural stone and working with his hands.His dedication to the craft is evident in the elaborate fireplaces, chimneys, fountains, arched entryways, patios and walls Mike has ... Read More
Underground foreman builds next generation of construction leaders
Posted by Shanna McCord Crigger on Thu, May 25th, 2017, 12:19 pm
SAN FRANCISCO– One of the most important things a foreman can do is take young guys under his wingand put them on a path to success.No Graniterock foreman has worked harder on this front thanDarien Shirk.Darien himself is an old-school, savvy underground foreman known tofigureout solutions forthe most difficult jobs.What makes him a true leader is Darien’s ability to see the potential in a guy just starting out and help that guy make the most of ... Read More
Estimator John Torres leads Graniterock in private construction market
Posted by Shanna McCord Crigger on Wed, May 10th, 2017, 1:04 pm
SAN JOSE – John Torres was home for spring break during freshman year of college in 1999 when he bumped into his elementary school basketball coach Rick Morales.The twostruck up a conversation that would jump-start John'scareer.When he told the coach he was studying construction management at Chico State, Rick, who worked as Graniterock’s chief estimator at the time, encouraged John to look into the company’s summer internship program because good interns are known to land full-time ... Read More
Aggregate quality trumps price on Calaveras Dam
Posted by Shanna McCord Crigger on Wed, April 26th, 2017, 3:00 pm
CALAVERAS DAM – Sometimes you can still win big even when you’re not the lowest bidder.Graniterock’s Aggregate Division secured one of the company’s largest projects ever in terms of volume for reasons that had nothing to do with price.At original bid time for the $800 million Calaveras Dam Replacement Project five years ago, Graniterock wasn’t awarded any of the various aggregates quoted.However, when other suppliers couldn’t meet the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s tight specs and ... Read More
Two-sport professional athlete turns to construction
Posted by Shanna McCord Crigger on Mon, April 10th, 2017, 2:08 pm
PEBBLE BEACH – You’re not likely to find a single general contractor who can say they’re in the same league as Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders and Tim Tebow.High-end Monterey Peninsula home builder Jim Laughton can.Jim is among a very small pool of people worldwide with the skill and determination to play two sports at the professional level.While his focus these days is custom home construction and remodeling, a few decades back he had his eye on ... Read More
Asphalt quality guaranteed with this team
Posted by Shanna McCord Crigger on Wed, March 22nd, 2017, 12:45 pm
REDWOOD CITY – Telling a customer we’re going to make a specific asphalt mix isn’t good enough.We have to prove it every day with rigorous testing and data.Paving a road with material out of spec could result in huge financial repercussions for Graniterock.Some might say the quality of Graniterock’s materials is critical issue No. 1 to the Company’s success.Our reputation depends on it.Overseeing the quality of the hot mix asphalt produced at the busy Northern Road ... Read More
Dispatchers manage mixer trucks like dominoes
Posted by Shanna McCord Crigger on Fri, March 10th, 2017, 6:22 pm
REDWOOD CITY – Graniterock’s concrete dispatchers rarely meet their customers in person.Yet, through relationships developed over the telephone, they know important details about customers’ lives, how the kids are doing and where the next vacation is planned.The team of four – Don Birt, Jennie Stewart, Katie Handmaker and Nick Martin – operate by a simple but powerful business rule in managing concrete orders around the San Francisco Bay Area: always give people more than what they ... Read More
Trusted pump operator listens closely
Posted by Shanna McCord Crigger on Mon, March 6th, 2017, 2:01 pm
REDWOOD CITY – Martin Hernandez fixates on his teammate 100 feet away, the one holding the end of a hose gushing wet concrete inside a giant hole slated to become an underground parking garage in downtown Redwood City.Martin cradles a remote control in both hands to steer the 175-foot (58 meter) robotic arm connected to a hose that discharges concrete from a 500-horsepower machine behind him.His eyes never leave the teammate.As one of Conco Pumping’s top ... Read More
Katha Redmon chose concrete over medicine and never looked back
Posted by Shanna McCord Crigger on Wed, January 11th, 2017, 12:08 pm
WATSONVILLE – Throughout college at UC Irvine, Katha Redmon planned on attending medical school and becoming a physician.However, a part-time job in a concrete laboratory testing new admixtures would alter Katha’s medical school plans and send her down a completely different career path that eventually led from Lehigh and Cal Portland in Southern California to Graniterock in Watsonville.“While performing my regular admixture testing one day, the company engineer poked his head into the lab and asked ... Read More
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