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Prestige
Concrete, Inc.- In 1992, Jerry Green founded Prestige Concrete, Inc. after working for a similar company for several years. "With the downturn in the economy in the early 90's, things started to change at the company and I became dissatisfied with what was happening there, which allowed me to strike out on my own," said Green. In recent years, the acceptance of decorative concrete has grown and there is a large demand for this product. The members of the team at Prestige have begun to perform much more interior work such as, floors, walls, and countertops. With the growth of the industry also comes the growth of the competition. "In the beginning, there were not too many companies that knew what to do in the decorative concrete area," said Green. Today, Prestige is capable of taking on the larger jobs, including hotels such as the Hyatt in downtown San Diego, and other large-scale decorative flatwork projects. They have been involved in almost every major Downtown San Diego Project and currently, they are in San Diego's Mission Valley area working on a multi-million dollar project at the Promenade. Prestige Concrete utilizes a Bobcat Skid Steer, model 783. Being a primarily decorative concrete company they also use an assortment of concrete stamping and imprinting tools, such as Proline concrete tools, which is their primary source of equipment. They also use Brickform-Rafco tools, which is also a large manufacturer of dust on color hardener products and chemical concrete stains.
The management team consists of several talented individuals including Richard O'Leary who serves as the Vice President of Operations, James O'Keefe, the company's Chief Financial Officer, Andrew Weber, the Senior Project Manager, Oscar Betancourt, the General Superintendent and Jerry Green, Founder and President. The management team as well as the overall company is very active in their industry associations including the AGC, BIA, ACI, ASLA, AIA and ASID. Green serves on the local AGC Specialty Contractors Committee and the AGC Caltrans Liaison Board. They also received an award from the San Diego International Chapter of the American Concrete Institute for The Concrete Flatwork Project of The Year involving The Church of Saint Gregory The Great Parish Facility. Prestige Concrete's main offices and yard are located in Old Poway, among a mixture of commercial buildings. With an average of 70 total employees, ranging in responsibilities from estimators and superintendents to laborers, their support staff must have higher numbers of individuals to coordinate all of the facets of the projects. "We are very dependent upon our skilled labor because what we do is more of an art form rather than a commodity," said Green. "There is a larger selection of other skilled construction and specialty jobs in the marketplaces than our particular industry."
The greatest strengths enjoyed at Prestige Concrete are the people who work there. "I feel that we have the finest craftsmen in the industry. They surpass the expectations of the clients and they are highly sought after, stated Green. The level of service offered to clients is of the highest importance to Green and the company brass. They don't look at customers as potential additions to their client list, but instead seek to build lasting relationships with customers. "We are into keeping customers through the quality work we provide," said Green, "but everything is a challenge." According to Green, quality control is always a challenge, especially with a substance such as concrete, which in his opinion, is imperfect to begin with and where the goal is to make it look beautiful. "It is still challenging. There is nothing easy about the decorative concrete business. Everyday is a new challenge," he said. Concrete is one of the few construction products where the end product is actually manufactured right on the job site.
"Unlike a tile guy who has his tiles made elsewhere and can control the product at the factory and the site, we are subjected to a lot of factors that we cannot necessarily control, such as weather, job site conditions that constantly change, accessibility, other trades, suppliers and the reliability of deliveries, not to mention a limited time to work the concrete with only one chance to get it right." If it is wrong, it becomes a costly mistake to reverse. In the future, the company is looking to start providing the Terrazzo process in decorative concrete work. The process is somewhat like an exposed aggregate, except that the surface is grinded away and polished smooth. Terrazzo was popular in the 50's and 60's and included epoxies, concrete, and rustic finishes. As for the interior work and applications, Green is confident that the demand for them will continue to grow. "We try to be very innovative with our ideas and create new finishes as well as other methods of concrete decoration." The company has another new product called ÒTuff TurfÓ. This product is comprised of concrete cells that are poured monolithically and then filled-in with soil to allow grass to be planted. It is also approved by the fire department for emergency vehicle easements.
In addition to the many services Prestige offers, the company also has a decorative masonry division. "We believe that we can provide our clients with just about any decorative surface they need for their projects," said Green. Equipment wise, the storm water pollution issues in the southland have allowed them to develop equipment to collect, filter and recycle the water on a site, decreasing contamination and increasing effectiveness of the drainage systems. Green feels very strongly that the quality of work raises Prestige Concrete, Inc. above other companies in the industry. "There are other companies that turn out the same quality as we do, but they are rarely consistent in doing so. We have been very consistent." It is apparent that they have provided quality service during the last ten years as evidenced by their volume of repeat customers with nearly non-existent calls of complaint. "That says a lot right there," said Green. From their strong work ethic and consistent turnout of superior product, Prestige Concrete, Inc. seems to be the contractor of choice in decorative concrete in Southern California
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