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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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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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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By Michael Alter
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“My dad was a flatwork crew superintendent for a local concrete construction company, and when I graduated from San Diego State I went to work for him. I played football in college and was not much of a student,” said Dan. “After less than a year, I knew I wanted to do a better job than the company I was with, so I started my own business.” It was 1978, and Dan started out doing any little job he could find. Soon his dad joined him and became his full time mentor. “He tutored me and was my best friend,” said Dan, fondly remembering his father, who passed away at age 94. “I was a ‘get it perfect’ guy and I wanted to do well. I learned everything from others, taking the best ideas from people I worked with to put into my bag of tricks.” In 1999, Rick Harder and Terry Gallagher joined Dan as full partners to form Solid Concrete Service, Inc. “I trust them both like brothers,” said Dan, who credits Rick and Terry for “the capability to pull off a structure like this. We each bring a different type of expertise to the partnership.”  
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Graniterock People have supported Pajaro Valley Shelter Services (PVSS) in many ways since its formation. Over the past twenty years, Graniterock People have volunteered their time and treasure as fundraisers and Board Members to aid the effort. So when Andrew O’Such, Account Manager for Enterprise Fleet Management, approached the Company a few months ago in search of a charitable organization for an Enterprise Holdings Foundation grant it was natural to think of PVSS. Pajaro Valley Shelter Services helps women, children, and families end the causes and cycles of homelessness - one family at a time.  Andrew O’Such of Enterprise Fleet Management delivers a donation check for Pajaro Valley Shelter Services to Ken Schipper and Rose Ann Woolpert of Graniterock
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