Born in Los Angeles, California. I had a long history a family Plumber/Pipe-fitters in my bloodline so I entered the trade right out of school. I struggled with Dyslexia through my young years, but this taught me early that anything could be overcome with hard work, diligence, tenacity and bit of good old-fashioned luck. When I finally learned to read at age 14, I took-off and digested every type of instructional manual I could get my hands on. Seemed to be interested in every kind of knowledge, even useless knowledge. Still the same way to this day!
I got my fist real job working for a Fischer Construction, a general engineering contractor building schools, naval facilities, air-force bases, running pipelines through the desert, building parks, roads, wastewater treatment plants, water infrastructure, fire sprinklers you name it. It was a great place for a guy like me to learn because we built it all soup-to-nuts. I learned to weld pipe, operate heavy equipment, plumb, build concrete storm-water control structures, you name it, we built it. I was a sponge. Love the trades. I very quickly excelled in the company and innovated new cost saving methods to assemble pipelines. I was noticed and eventually worked my way into a “Pick-Up” crew where we flew into jobs that were falling behind or needed corrections. It was our job to get them back on track. I worked for a few more companies doing similar work but always gravitated towards solving problems and meeting new challenges.
I married Christine in 1995 and eventually got coxed into coming to work for her family’s wholesale fruit tree business, La Verne Nursery Inc. At first, I worked in development of land & facilities. I built 180 acres of growing grounds in Ventura, CA utilizing some of the most advanced irrigation, electrical and greenhouse technologies available. This included a 100% run-off reclamation system, de-silting, Clo2 water treatment plant and 10 acr/ft water reservoir, with 18 miles of water, gas, and utility pipelines. I learned the business from the inside out and eventually ran the company as COO. We experienced and sustained an amazing 20% growth per annum for the entire 10-year span, doubled our employment to just over 100 staff, tripled our distribution fleet to 40 vehicles and expanded our market form So Cal into Nor Cal, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, and Utah. We became the primary wholesale supplier of Fruit trees to Lowes, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Costco, Target and a raft of smaller retailers all at the same time while raising 2 biological children and 2 adopted children!
In 2008 I started Integrity Engineering Contractors Inc., focused on offering innovative solutions in the commercial, industrial, and agricultural water industry. We offered design build services for smaller operations and eventually worked up to small municipal water company’s services and gained National Resource Conservation Services preferred contractor status for heavy equipment work in riverbeds and environmentally sensitive areas.
In 2011 The Lord, who had been a part of my life since I was a young adult, spoke to me and our family. Haiti was struggling to put itself back together after the devastating earthquake and our help was needed. We sold off our home, unnecessary belongings, equipment and moved the family (now)(Richard – 16), (Rebecca – 16), (David – 13) to down to work in a small mission, Three Angels Children’s Relief where my wife and I still volunteer to this day. In 2014 I started Integrity Engineering Contractors LLC with the goal of training Haitian men in the trades, today there are 23 men doing well and able to support their families with dignity and confidence as we continue to resolve technical issues for a small customer base.
I really enjoy spending time preparing my teenagers for adulthood, pretending my wife is my girlfriend and squeezing in a peak at our new grandson Caleb from time to time. I love to Learn, Grow, Develop Meaningful Relationships, and Give back to God whenever I can when an opportunity arises (If not then making one)!
We are excited to partner with the Great TEAM at AVEM water to represent Innovative products and services throughout Haiti, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and the Rest of the World if needed! I would love to help you come up with Innovative cost saving designs and methods of making your company adapt to the ever changing market and map out a plan to thrive in the future!
