Senior Estimator Don Sante prudently performs his job with team spirit and gusto; and teaches young athletes that there's more to the game (life) than just winning and losing.
Employee-owned PRS (Pavement Recycling Systems) is the perfect environment for a man like Don Sante. Once he aspired to be a minister at Christ College Irvine (now Concordia College); then the lure of professional baseball grabbed his fancy. Now he combines the two in career and coaching, teaching such valuable lessons to football players as this: "The success of the season is measured by how each young man emerges from his experience with the teamÑand not by the team's wins and losses."

(left) Pavement Recycling Systems performs soil remediation at Anaheim Stadium and (above) cold milling in Los Angeles with their CMiI 800 planer.

PRS was conceived and born in June 1989, through the merger of the cold-milling division of Riverside Construction Company and the VEQ Company. It was sold to Rick Gove, Ray Elders, and the new employees of PRS through an innovative stock purchase agreement called ESOPÑEmployee Stock Ownership Plan. It started with just 15 former employees of Riverside Construction and 10 milling machines. Today, PRS has over 80 employees, (65 being field personnel), and 40 milling machines. The acquisition of J.A. James Construction, Inc, in January of 2000 added depth to the company. Road and asphalt recycling being an often-used and sensible solution in California, PRS offers a full array of services in this area, such as: cold-planing asphalt and concrete surfaces, pulverizing full depth roadway reconstruction, asphalt pavement removal and reconstruction, in-place soil cement & cement-treated base, lime-treated subgrade & dry ups, bentonite treated soil for lake and landfills, trench pulverizing for pipeline construction, skid steer mini planers, bio-remediation of contaminated soils, additive application and mixing for dust control, and micromilling.

(left) PRS perfoms roadway excavation with a CMI 525 planer and (above) works in Buena Park with a Bartmill 150 grinder. PRS also rents planers large and small fully operated and maintained.

It is in this climate of being able to offer the customer the most services available that Don Sante performs his job with personal care. He explains: "The difference between PRS and the competition as I see it, is that we can provide solutions to a variety of asphalt rehabilitation needs. Our competition is often limited in their scope of machinery, whereas we own multiple types of equipment needed to handle the variables that inevitably arise out on the jobsite. We can offer all of these solutions and more with nothing but the best in top quality high performance equipment. We provide the contractor with a complete package. We have three full-time superintendents, who take the time to go over the job with the general contractor and help them find the best solution at the best possible price. This is what sets us apart." And Don also puts a lot of personal attention into the various bids he gives. When several different general contractors are bidding for the same job, Don must sometimes give separate bids, based upon the individual strategies of each contractor. This extra work usually pays off in the long run.
And PRS is in it for the long run. They are the largest operation of its kind in California. From interstate highway work to parking lots and driveways, PRS has the right machine for the job. PRS owns everything from the smallest planer in the world, up to the largestÑfor depths up to 15 inches. The company is licensed in California, Nevada, and Arizona, with offices in Riverside, San Diego, Bakersfield and Montebello. They do small-bid jobs from the Mexican border to Fresno, and larger bid jobs all the way up to Northern California. They will bid any job requiring everything from 18" wide mini-planers, to super-wide 12 _ foot planers for large highway projects. And they deal with everyone from Seven-Eleven parking lots to major contractors like Granite Construction and E. L. Yeager.
Yet being big doesn't mean being impersonal. It is the unique climate of PRS that allows each employee to see how he does matter, and how he impacts the company. Don explains what ESOP means to his co-workers and himself: "Our company has specific goals that we try to meet every year. These goals include everything from cost savings to the overall profitability of the company. If we are profitable and we meet our goals, each employee will have a certain percentage of their wages put into the ESOP program. These monies buy stock in that person's name, which ends up in their retirement fund. All of us have a vested interest in making sure that the value of the stock continues to go up. The only way to do this is to make sure that we take care of the customer and keep them coming back to PRS."

Don and Lisha Sante shown here with thier children: Mitch (15) who currently plays Defensive Tackle on the JV Football Team at Villa Park High School; Mallary (13), who is a Cheerleader in the Orange Junior All American Football League; and Kenny (11) who plays defensive end in the Junior All American Football League.

Don's immediate family includes his wife Lisha, his oldest son, Mitch (15), his daughter, Mallary (14), and his youngest son, Kenny (11). He spends time with each one in their chosen area of activity. For Mallary it is cheerleadingÑher team has won a national title. And he has been an assistant and a coach for his sons' athletic teamsÑmostly footballÑhis passion. He finds these activities immensely rewarding, for not only is he spending time with his children, he is also doing something he loves, and passing on valuable life lessons to everyone else. This includes the estimated 1/4 of the boys who do not have a father figure at home. And that's why the term, "immediate family" was chosen above: for no doubt those 1/4 of boys who are fatherless greatly benefit from the love, care, and guidance generously given by Don and his fellow coaches.
PRS and Don Sante: both definitely role-models to follow in building a better future, and a responsible society.