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Coan
Construction Company, Inc.- In 1974 Tom Coan started a small concrete construction company in the hopes of providing for his family's needs in the future. He wanted a place for his two sons to grow up and belong when they were old enough to work and most of all he wanted to provide exceptional quality of workmanship to the Southern California construction community. Coan Construction was incorporated in 1977 after the company's operations had been well underway for three years. Tom Coan worked for a major general contractor for many years and went as far as he could with the company he had ties to. His son Jeff had started a construction equipment rental company, while his younger son, Perry finished up high school. Tom Coan had succeeded in venturing out on his own and created a thriving endeavor to hand over to his sons. When he started the company, both Jeff and Perry contributed to the well being of the operations.
Jeff started renting equipment to the fledgling concrete construction firm before the two companies were eventually folded together in the late 70's. Perry worked on the grounds and projects as a laborer and graduated in '81, while his older brother was operating much of the equipment for the major projects. Soon thereafter, Perry became a laborer for 4 years and stepped into the shoes of an operating engineer at about the same time Jeff found a permanent place in the office. Today, both Perry and Jeff can be found in the main offices estimating and managing various ongoing projects. In those maneuvers, Coan Construction, Inc. uses a number of makes and models of equipment to complete their daily tasks. One of the more unique aspects of the company is that they are one of the few concrete contracting companies to own all of their concrete machinery as opposed to renting. Currently, the operating engineers lend their expertise to either a John Deere 310 or 410 backhoe, a 210 skip with a laser guided attachment, a Case 1845 Skid Steer, an FMC 18-ton crane, Broderson 5-ton cranes, or a collection of Schwing concrete pumps including their latest 28 meter boom pump.
Coan Construction, Inc. averages around 100 employees, who include carpenters, laborers, and masons, operating engineers, administrative staff and so on. Founder, Tom Coan, fully retired about three years ago, leaving Jeff, Perry, two other estimators, and a total of four administrative staffers downstairs. Jeff Coan serves as the President of the company while Perry functions as the Vice President. Perry's wife, Sharon, works as the Controller, while Gene Gottowski lends his talents as the Field Supervisor. Vince LaSala, the Concrete Superintendent was the company's second hire and has been there longer than anyone in the field. According to Perry the employees who have been with them for as long, or longer than himself, make up the strength of the company. Without that strength, the company would not have made it through many of the challenging years.
Those challenges have reared their heads in many ways according to Perry. In his experience, the industry as a whole has created a greater need for project management and administration. "There is more of an air of professionalism on the business end. There are no more deals made with a handshake," he said. Most recently, Coan Construction's daily operations were disrupted in good and bad ways. Over the course of a year, the main yard and offices in Pomona were a flurry of constructing activity. The end result yielded a new 5,000 sq. ft. office facility as well as a 10.000 sq. ft. shop on an acre and a half. They did all of the concrete and framing work themselves, including a 14 x 5-foot concrete conference table, a logo inset entry wall and a pre-cast logo inset monument.
Having their central location in the city of Pomona, Coan Construction, Inc. has had a middle jumping off spot to perform much of the services they provide. They work form Palm Springs to Oceanside and the Pacific Ocean and have gone as far north as San Luis Obispo. Perry Coan stated that they do site/architectural concrete work as a service to larger structural jobs, but they do not actively search it out. Much of their contracted work includes structural foundations, elevated decks, slab on grade, cast-in-place walls for hospitals, schools, retail office buildings, parking structures, etc. Parking structures include both cast-in-place and pre-cast buildings. They have provided services for much of the entertainment industry, such as the concrete work at the soon to be completed, Tower of Terror at Disneyland and various parts of Downtown Disney. The footing work ranges from 2x2 continuous footing and 1000 cubic yard matt footings depending on the job.
Apart from the everyday stresses of the concrete contracting and construction industry, many of the members of the staff, including Jeff and Perry like to ride dirt bikes in the Mojave Desert, Death Valley, Big Bear Mountains, Sierra Nevada mountains, etc. According to Perry, they put together "events" for company participation and usually have about 4-5 employees and a number of other friends in the construction industry come to play. "We study maps and plot routes through the desert and use GPS to go anywhere from 100-300 miles a day," said Perry. In the competitive markets of construction bidding and estimating, companies with specializations in concrete such as Coan Construction, Inc. have their work cut out for them in more than one way. Coan Construction Co., Inc. has been able to adapt to the needs of a changing industry, which has allowed them to rise above others in their related field. "These are very difficult jobs to perform," said Perry. "There is a running question with many of the guys that jokingly asks, Ôwhy can't we get a straight-lined box of a building to work on?' We get the crazy plans, but our guys love it and we have never been afraid to try something new or challenging." RETURN ME TO THE CONCRETE CONTRACTORS PROFILE DIRECTORY PAGE |
