FX Concrete by North American Constructors Journal

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FX Concrete:

Pouring It On

FX Concrete of Fort Worth, TX has grown into a well-regarded provider of concrete services across multiple sectors in less than a decade. Written by Kevin Doyle Produced by Stephen Marino

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t’s not often a company hits the ground running as efficiently and effectively as FX Concrete of Fort Worth, TX has. Established on March 5, 2010, FX Concrete has grown into a distinguished purveyor of turnkey pour and finish concrete services across multiple sectors in less than a decade. The father and son team of President Frank De La Rosa and Vice President Xavier De La Rosa founded the company, bringing a wealth of combined experience to the operation. The company knocked it out of the park with their first endeavor, a $1.2 million project, and hasn’t looked back. “We’ve been pretty much focusing on our employees, focusing on our work and making sure everything we do is quality. Developing relationships with general contractors and keeping those relationships open is very important,” says Xavier. Today the company maintains work mainly in the Dallas/Fort Worth, San Antonio, Austin and Houston areas, and has worked in multiple cities throughout Texas. It has traveled to North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tallahassee Florida, Oklahoma, and Tucson, AZ and will be starting a job in Sacramento, CA the second quarter of 2020. FX Concrete has generated an average of $50 million in sales revenue and employs between 70 and 180 depending on the

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FX Concrete | 4 type and number of projects under way. “We have quite a few projects going on right now, about 20-30 total with fifteen in Dallas/Fort Worth,” Xavier says. The company has set itself apart from its competition in myriad ways, De La Rosa explains. “It is diversity, our culture, our quality of work and how we treat the client. For example, our warranty period might be up and we will get a call three years later from a client and we will go back and help them out. We want them to be happy. We specify that these fixes may cost up to $10,000 and we will take care of it, at no cost,” he says. The company belongs to the American Concrete Institute (ACI), the American Subcontractors Association (ASA), TEXO, HUB and MBE. “For us, the ASA is the big one and the TEXO is the heavy subcontractor presence in Texas. The networking events help you meet a large group of fresh subs and suppliers, people you’ve never met but who you have heard of,” De La Rosa points out.

Some Key Projects Craig Ranch V: The project is in its fifth phase and FX Concrete is grateful to Amicus Construction/Columbus

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Reality Partners for “putting their trust in me and my dad and giving us the opportunity to prove what FX Concrete can do and accomplish. They gave us our start and as of today we have completed 25 projects and we have three more that are currently in the progress. The projects have included structural concrete, slab on grade, paving, flatwork, and retaining

walls,” De La Rosa says. “We have established a great working relationship with Amicus Construction/ Columbus Reality Partners and we’ve poured a lot of concrete for them, over 2 million square feet of work,” he notes. Grapevine Bluffs Apartments: This was FX’s biggest project with JLB

“It is diversity, our culture, our quality of work and how we treat the client. For example, our warranty period might be up and we will get a call three years later from a client and we will go back and help them out. We want them to be happy.” - Xavier De La Rosa, Vice President www.fxconcrete.com

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Partners. “Our superintendent’s work ethics, ability to coordinate the manpower where needed made this project a breeze for everyone involved. Not that we didn’t have any hiccups along the way, this project ramped up right in the middle of the Texas summer heat which made it challenging for everyone, but our employees, exceeded our expectations, resulting in the project being completed on schedule,” De La Rosa says.

required a lot of special attention with some of the best concrete finishes. We had to import special material from California just to get the type of finish Jerry required. It is a special sparkle grain finish that is placed on the concrete with an acid wash finish that once all is done the finished product looks like you are walking on ‘STARS’ when the light or sun hits the walkways. Nothing but the best for Jerry Jones and his Dallas Cowboys!” De La Rosa emphasizes.

The STARS, Twelve Cowboy Way: The project included paving and architectural decorative concrete for 12 Cowboy Way for Rogers-O’Brien, a very high profile job for Jerry Jones with the Dallas Cowboys. “This job

Safety Protocol

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The company’s full-time Safety Coordinator is up to date on all OSHA certifications and makes certain the right individuals are running the

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company’s job sites. “We make sure we’re following procedures and doing everything we should be doing,” De La Rosa says. “Working in Texas where you are getting triple digit temperatures in the summer, we’re giving the guys Gatorade for the extra electrolytes and as much water as they need. We’re also looking at how we’re scheduling guys – we’re doing pours starting at 2 a.m. and everyone is pretty much done by 1 p.m. It’s not your typical 7 to 5 day.” The company conducts daily safety meetings as well as toolbox talks. Additionally, it incentivizes projects with a goal of having no lost workdays.

“Our safety officer is tied into all of the associations and their safety training. Our EMR is well below 1.0 at 0.74. We self-perform a lot of our work and we want our guys going home the way they showed up. We apply good lessons learned and remind everyone about what they need to do to be safe. I really do believe we are proactive and on top of everything,” De La Rosa stresses.

Day to Day The company specializes in structural concrete, foundations, slab on grade, podiums, retaining walls, footings, piers, paving and flatwork. Xavier De La Rosa handles filing, payroll and

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FX Concrete | 8 taxes at the office, allowing Frank to spend most of his time in the field, which he prefers. “It’s the relationship me and him have – I was running my own jobs at 18 but my dad said go figure that other stuff out. When it came to estimating, I knew what it took to build it, but I didn’t know what a bid was. I pretty much jumped in, two feet without a rope but I was able to learn about it and talk to good people along the way. George Hull was a good mentor and Coy Cleveland has been a big part of me getting my feet inside the door,” Xavier recalls. “We’ve had a lot of good people behind us that helped make us very

successful. They’ve put us in touch with the right people,” he adds. “I love being on the job site. Being on a pour and you’ve got that first truck up, everybody’s excited when you see a plan come together. It’s a gamble but at the same time you have confidence in the people you have in place. It’s pretty exciting.” “Surround yourself with great people and it’s almost impossible to fail. They’re always pushing forward and willing to do new and different things and try different stuff. They are there at 5 or 6 a.m. and are the last ones to leave. If you can find that one guy, you can find a crew of 25-30 for the job site,” says De La Rosa, adding he has had little luck with resumes and prefers to find and secure qualified workers via word of mouth. “We are family owned 100 percent. The culture here is hugs and kisses and we sell that – you don’t see that very much with other companies,” De La Rosa says. “We have a transparent bonus structure. Another thing is how fast you move up in the company. We don’t make you work 12 years before you run your own job. If you are a great team player, work hard and willing to learn the trade you move up – we like to lean towards the individual’s capacity of drive and knowledge.” The company strives to work only with top-shelf subcontractors. “When we are building a building, we

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need the best subs. We prequalify our subs and we go out of our way to try and meet the people so that we understand who the players are,” De La Rosa notes. “The company needs to be good all the way around, from the administration, to work experience, to cash flow and the ability to work at a very high level in the field. We hire based on the size of the project and the sub’s experience.”

Forward Thinking As it closes its first decade of operation, it is easy to understand how and why FX Concrete has enjoyed such massive success. The company laid out a road map to success and has not deviated from it. “This is a diverse company and it is really fun being able to do all kinds of

“We self-perform a lot of our work and we want our guys going home the way they showed up. We apply good lessons learned and remind everyone about what they need to do to be safe. I really do believe we are proactive.” - Xavier De La Rosa, Vice President www.fxconcrete.com

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www.fxconcrete.com

FX Concrete | 11 work. To keep coming back is easy because it is always changing and growing – in the next 25 years I hope to be in on billion dollar projects,” De La Rosa states. A word of advice to those considering construction as a career? “You have to work hard to earn whatever you get. If you work hard you will be recognized. Have confidence, work hard and listen more than you speak so you know where everyone is coming from. When you listen well you develop friendships. Never burn a bridge – it is always ok to agree to disagree. These things are the foundation; everything else is learned,” De La Rosa concludes.