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Houston
CONSTRUCTION
™
The Industry’s Newspaper San Jacinto Monument
www.constructionnews.net H (210) 308-5800 H Volume 14 H Number 9 H SEPTEMBER 2017
Concrete continuity
Blasting through the competition
The employees of Holes Inc. consider themselves a family
Adam Hitchcock, general manager for Blast Inc.
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oles Incorporated was founded 45 years ago thanks in no small part to a wife and business partner who really knew how to stretch a budget and save money. Sisters Darlene East and Kellie Vazquez have now taken over day-to-day management and have worked tirelessly to continue to grow the business. East remembers the story of how her and her family ended up in Houston. “My dad was working for a company in California and when I was 18 months old, they decided to risk it all and move to Houston for a better opportunity. My younger sister and I traveled across the country in the back of his company van in a playpen.” “Although my dad was very successful in Houston, at 25 he decided to strike out on his own and start his own business,”
East shares. “My dad was very innovative and hardworking and my mother was a disciplined saver and was able to provide resources from their savings in order to start the business,” she adds. Today, she has been with Holes Inc. for 25 years and holds the position as President of the company. She started out in the office, learning the accounting functions. Then she went to the dispatch office, and from there, she started doing more management. She credits much of her success to taking the time to learn every aspect of operations prior to assuming responsibility for the overall job. Although her company responsibilities keep her busy, she finds time to scrapbook and read. She and her husband of 10 continued on Page 13
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oving from restaurateur to blasting concrete and other surfaces seems like it would be a hard transition. Adam Hitchcock’s father and mother did it seamlessly when they established Blast Inc. His dad got invited to Houston in 1981 to experience the pressure washing industry. Friends took him out and wined and dined him; showed him their nice cars and nice houses, and it “completely blew his mind. He came from humble beginnings, so that was unbelievably attractive,” supposes Hitchcock. At that time, there were very few companies doing this type of work so his father knew he could become very successful and give his family a good life. His father had a pizza and wing res-
taurant in Buffalo, NY and he closed it and went to Houston and started making a name for himself out of his garage. Blast Inc. formed in 1984 after Hitchcock’s dad completed a few years of training and working to gain experience. Hitchcock quite literally grew up in the business (his first time in a lift was at 2 years old) and claimed a stake at an early age. “I put my name on the slab [in the shop] 20 years ago when I was 10 years old. That was my childhood thinking of ‘Put your name on it and it’s yours,’” he laughs. “I didn’t get started in the company the easy way,” he admits. His first job he ever had was breaking concrete when he was 14 years old. That didn’t deter him continued on Page 13
At the top of the list
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fter a 5,400sf property sat in the cold shell stage for over five years, Robert Peska of Slade Shipping decided he wanted to purchase and build out the space. A Pro Top Construction, Inc. out of Conroe was hired to complete the $400,000 build-out, which was achieved in five months. Director of Operations Josh Konicki says “the foundation had settled and warped a bunch of trusses and joists that had to be removed and reset. There was no plumbing, electrical, there was really nothing.” With 25 years of experience in interior rehabs and restoration, this challenge could be overcome easily. A Pro Top came into the project after another company had already begun working, but was unable to finish the space. The space was originally built with the intent of using it for three separate
offices spaces, but Konicki and his team conjoined two of these spaces to create this one large office. His team was able to give the office space a clean and inviting atmosphere with some unique features. The tile used on the floor and stairs is faux wood porcelain and stainless steel appliances can be found in the kitchen area. The most exciting feature is the custom designed wrap around fish tank in the reception area. The tank and the reception desk are finished with reclaimed wood of varying degrees of brown and add texture and contrast with the floors. The floors in the same area are tiles that resemble hardwood with the light and dark tan tones. Even though the reception area is designed with neutral colors, it receives a lot of natural light from the windows. There is a conference room off to the The custom designed fish tank wraps around to offer a full view.
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