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Al Atwood |
One of the other benefits of these regular
meetings—there have been over 300 of them in the last 30 years—has been the
sense of fellowship between people who during the day would battle each other
for a bid but shared a common sense of the business they loved—a bond not found
without this social interaction.
“They really cared about each other,” Atwood
said. “I had started meeting with these men when I was with the Contractors
State License Board and saw the social side of the business was very important
to them.”
This contact led Atwood to accept an offer from
the Los Angeles chapter of the Engineering and Grading Contractors Association
(EGCA) to become their manager. Years passed and the EGCA evolved into a
state-wide organization, headquartered in Sacramento. Turf wars began to erupt
from different corners of the state, leading to frustration in the Los Angeles
chapter—the largest group within the organization. |
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The Southern California Contractors Association
is celebrating its 30th year of service to the construction industry,
this month marking the anniversary of its first membership meeting, held January
30, 1974 with 59 members and guests present.
“The
monthly membership meetings have always been a key to our success,” said Al
Atwood, the first manager of SCCA, in recalling the event. “These gatherings
made us something different from the other groups at that time. They gave our
members an opportunity to work together on industry problems right from the
start.” |
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Ed Kalish |
Local needs
The idea of a new association was born out of a
need to deal with local issues at the local level,
according to Ed Kalish, one of the founding members.
“The main purpose was to create a members
association one that was driven by the issues that actually affected the
contractor,” said Kalish.
The founders of SCCA were frustrated by the
politics of dealing with various chapters of EGCA, pushing and pulling for
control of the state organization. The idea of a new association became a
reality during a discussion of these issues at a November, 20 1973 meeting of
the EGCA board of directors. |
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Len Brutocao
Motions in action
Len
Brutocao made a motion to create a new group to deal with the issues. He was
seconded by Charlie Poss and the motion carried. A second motion to formally set
up a new corporation was made by Gene Nicks and seconded by Francis Goplen. It
carried as well. In addition to the movers, attending that night were Nils
Oberg, Ruben Aman, Dennis Newman, Frank Erwood, Arnie Nelson, Tom Malloy, Homer
Mann, Gene Nicks, Mike Peak., Jay Pilon, Roy Silver, Don Thompson and Al Atwood.
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Things moved quickly after that—the first
installation of officers dinner/dance was held January 12, 1974, with 280
contractors, affiliates and their guests in attendance, celebrating the election
of the new leaders. Jay Pilon served as master of ceremonies and installing
officer. Ruben Aman was president, Ed Kalish, vice-president, Dennis Newman,
secretary and Charlie Poss, treasurer. Nils Oberg held the position of past
president, a carry-over from the EGCA. Other directors included Pat Ault, Irv
Hill, Jack Oechsel, Jim Finster, Frank Witherspoon, Lee Volmer, Jack Saiz and
Keith Webb.
Atwood had been busy as well, getting the
incorporation papers in order, arranging for the office, collecting dues,
working on increasing membership, developing the name of the group, meeting with
labor officials and setting up the committee system.
By March of 1974, Ed Kalish had been elevated to
the presidency following the resignation of Aman for business reasons. Brutocao
was elected vice president.
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