MARIN CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION, INC.

Kobelco Mini Excavators, New Holland Skid Steer and Track Loaders Keep Marin Concrete Construction, Inc. Going Strong in Southern California

By Brian Hoover, Senior Editor

There are many brands of machinery available to every contractor for a seemingly unending list of job applications. For most, the dealer or distributor that sells and services these machines is every bit as important as the piece of equipment itself. Marin Concrete Construction, Inc. has relied on Scott Equipment since its inception in 2006 for both equipment purchases and rentals.

Ivan Marin (Marin) got his start in the construction business when he was just a kid, working parttime with his father as a concrete carpenter through high school and college. Marin graduated from University of California Riverside (UCR) in 2004 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He clearly remembers being approached by one of his professors in the parking lot directly after his UCR graduation ceremony. This professor that I had much respect for offered me some advice the day I graduated from UCR, and his simple words helped to solidify my career path decision,” says

Marin. “He said, ‘I think you would do well if you stick with construction.’ It was a short conversation, but also very important to me when I think back on the early years of my career.”

Ivan Marin, President / CEO, Marin Concrete Construction, Inc.

While still contemplating his career path, Marin took a job as an engineer in the aerospace industry. During this 3 ½ year period, Marin was also doing concrete sitework on the side. “My father saw that I was starting to take on more and more work, and he advised me to go ahead and get my contractor’s license to avoid costly penalties or even losing jobs,” says Marin. “So, I got my license as a specialty concrete contractor in 2006, but I still felt like I had to learn more to be the best I could be out on my own. I went to work for a few other concrete companies in 2007 as a drawing and quantitative takeoff estimator. By 2010, I felt like I was ready to go full-time into my own business,and along with my wife Laura Marin’s support things just grew from that point forward.”

Marin initially started working for small, private developers and eventually won bids on larger business park projects. “Our crews go in and remove the old and deteriorated asphalt and concrete before grading and installing new pavement and concrete sitework,” continues Marin. “We do most of our work in Southern California from Fresno to San Diego. We stay busy building concrete foundations and doing all types of exterior concrete sitework.” Marin Concrete Construction is currently performing concrete work at the Kaiser Infrastructure Upgrade project in Riverside and recently wrapped up their work at Marin’s alma mater, UCR.

Office Staff L to R: Joshimar “Yoshi” Aparicio (Project Engineer), Jared Jenkins (Intern), Andrew Carrillo (Senior Project Estimator & Manager), Gina Martinez (Office Manager & Accounting), Ivan Marin (President / CEO), Laura Marin (Officer / Human Resources), Robert Maulucci (Senior Project Estimator & Manager) Jennifer Shirlock (Certified Payroll & Accounting), Manuel Marin (Project Engineering Intern), Efren Huerta (Senior Project Estimator & Manager). Not Pictured: Nathan Downey (Project Engineering Intern), Aaron Mendez (General Superintendent), Alfredo Rios (General Superintendent).

The Kaiser Permanente Riverside job is part of a massive infrastructure master plan to replace the entire electrical and mechanical systems with new equipment. The multi-year program is expected to last until 2024, and Marin Concrete Construction is installing concrete pads for the new air handler units located in the 5th level penthouse mechanical rooms. “We are utilizing some of the largest concrete booms in the industry to pour numerous 20-foot by 40-foot pads,” says Marin. “This is not a job with large quantities of concrete, but it is a very challenging project due to many factors. First, there is the fact that we are working every day in and around an active hospital campus. This is complicated further by the circumstance that we are pumping concrete up five stories in tight and hard-to-reach areas.” According to Marin, his company has completed Phase 1 for the Medical Office Building (MOB) side and has now moved its operations to the actual hospital wing.

Marin Concrete crew knock Murrieta Senior Living project out of the park with three concrete pours +/- 18,000 SF pours for a total 54,000 of SOG placement.

UCR-Parking Garage 1 & Lot #13 Expansion. Marin Concrete crew using New Holland L228 skid steer to keep sidewalk pours moving.

Marin Concrete Construction recently completed their contract at UCR for Parking Structure 1 (PS1), a new 4-level, 1,079 space parking facility. The project also included a new outside parking area that increased the total space availability to 1,287. “We are just wrapping this job up with a few change orders,” says Marin. “We performed the demolition of the existing parking lot. We also did all the grading before pouring around 500-yards of concrete for the parking lot expansion,” says Marin.

New Holland L228 skid steer demoing more than 38,000 square feet of deteriorated asphalt pavement at UCR-Parking Garage 1 & Lot #13 Expansion Project.

Marin Concrete crews finish up the sitework for the UCR- Parking Garage 1& Lot #13 Expansion. project.

Marin explains that his company does a lot of work for a specific list of eight or nine contractors. He says that they are consistently bidding on projects that these companies invite them to be a part of, which keeps them busy. One of these projects would include the work that they completed at Murrieta Senior Living. “We did around 1,300 yards of concrete for the building and another 1,600 yards for the sitework,” says Marin. “Other recent high-profile projects include our work at the VA (Veterans Benefits Administration) in Los Angeles. We worked as the site and structural concrete subcontractor on this project.” Marin explains that they also recently started a job for Ryan Companies in Cypress that requires the use of several of their construction machines. “We are building a new parking lot for Ryan that includes both asphalt pavement and concrete curb and gutter work,” continues Marin. “Some jobs take longer to get paid on than others, and as a professional concrete construction company, we work those delays into the overall business plan. Some firms choose to walk away from or not even bid on some of these projects. We see it as an opportunity to capitalize and expand our customer base. It all works together for the greater good.” Marin also takes on jobs from other prestigious companies, like McCarthy Building Companies. “We picked up a nice job for McCarthy on the JPL campus project near Pasadena. Our crews are performing the sitework for Building 350, which is a new flight electronics integration facility,” says Marin. “We consider ourselves blessed to have been so busy and are enjoying continual growth within our company. We are not forcing anything, just growing exponentially from one job to the next.”

Marin insists that part of his company’s growth and success can be attributed to the excellent vendors they choose to buy equipment and services from. “When the time came to purchase equipment like mini excavators and skid steer loaders, I already knew who I was going to call,” says Marin. “I met Kevin Scott when I was doing a ton of work with developers. We had been working on several projects with Roberts Concrete Cutting, who was performing a lot of the demolition work for us at the time. He was running New Holland machines, and I remember being impressed with their performance. So when the time came to purchase a skid steer loader, I reached out to Scott Equipment. Kevin Scott listened to what we were looking to achieve with our first purchase and never tried to oversell us on anything. It wasn’t long before we were relying on Kevin and Scott Equipment for all of our machinery needs.”

Equal balance at Marin Concrete Construction recently completed terrace seating at Kilroy Professional Office Complex in Long Beach.

Marin Concrete Professional crew uses New Kobelco SK30-SR mini excavator to surgically remove 12,500 SF of interior 8” THK slab on grade at Lowe’s in Temecula.

In 2018, Marin Concrete Construction was in the market for a mini excavator and once again turned to Kevin at Scott Equipment. “Kevin demoed the Kobelco SK 30 mini excavator for us, and we knew that we were on to something. Our new Kobelco is such a great machine,” continues Marin. “We decided to purchase the Kobelco for its outstanding engineering and overall integrity. As a result, we got a great deal on an unbelievable excavator that was just the right size and perfect for what we do every day.”

Marin Concrete crew uses 24” auger to drill for 150 holes for light pole concrete bases with the use of our 2018 New Holland L228 Skid Steer.

Marin Concrete Construction owns two New Holland L228 skid steer loaders and a brand-new 2021 New Holland C345 compact track loader. This is in addition to their 2018 Kobelco SK 30 mini excavator and 1-to-3-ton roller. They also have several trailers and five Ram tool trucks, individually equipped with more than $75,000 in tools to handle the needs of any jobsite situation. “We are purchasing another unit from Scott Equipment that they are putting together for us as we speak. Many are not aware that Scott Equipment custom manufacturers construction trucks to meet a variety of applications. We are now in the process of purchasing a custom concrete form truck from them and are getting an amazing unit at a much lower price,” says Marin. “These guys know what they are doing. Our custom truck order from Scott Equipment is like new and designed to our exact specifications. We couldn’t be happier with this truck and the other purchases we have made with Scott Equipment.” Marin points out that he also rents machines from Scott Equipment’s sister company, Western Rentals. “Kevin is always there for us, and he goes beyond what an average salesperson would do. He shows up regularly with new machines for us to try out and takes care of our rental needs when we don’t have enough iron to go around.” For more information on Marin Concrete Construction, call their Perris headquarters at (951) 830-2569. Cc