Juan Salinas had work experience but no
high school education. John Salinas
partnered with his father upon completing
high school and did not attend college. By
contrast, John Salinas II earned a graduate
degree in business before purchasing a
majority share of the company and
becoming its president.
“The massive change has come from just
being a contractor, a constructor of sorts, to
more of a contracting company,” he said.
“Your overhead staff began with hiring an
estimator, and then that led into hiring an
accounting staff and that led into hiring
project managers. That’s really where the
big evolution in the industry has come.
“Now it’s more contract law than it is
necessarily how well you can build
something.
“That’s kind of changed our train of
thought and it’s kind of changed what each
person brought to the table. I viewed this as
a large change in the industry, going more
into contracting , making sure our
paperwork is very tight and that we are
complying with all contract language and
that we are able to service clients that are
very, very, very stringent.”
The companymaintains a 12-month rolling
average of 70 employees, which accounts for
the cyclical nature of the work – which can
boost the workforce in excess of 100
employees during busy times in the summer,
and drive it down as low as the 40s when
things are slower fromNovember toMarch.
A main administrative headquarters and a
main operations area are about 10 miles
186 | BusinessWorld |
July-August 2014
