Covering the Industry’s News
Texas Style
PRSRT. STD. U.S. POSTAGE PAID DALLAS, TX PERMIT #1451
P.O. Box 791290 San Antonio, Texas 78279-1290 Change Service Requested
San Antonio H Austin
San Antonio
CONSTRUCTION NEWS The Industry’s Newspaper
ImagesFromTexas.com
www.constructionnews.net H (210) 308-5800 H Volume 23 H Number 7 H JULY 2020
A family legacy of giving
The beauty shines through
Ag Mechanics Show, San Antonio. Photo by LeaAnn Gardner
The Cavallini family L-R: Adrian, Debbie, Joseph and Adrian Vincent Cavallini.
T
he determination to succeed has always been strong for Ronnie Urbanczyk. From his childhood on the south side of San Antonio to leading Urban Concrete to be one of the largest concrete contractors in the city, he has measured success by his impact in the community. “I’ve worked nearly four decades to build successful organizations,” Urbanczyk said, “and the driving force has always been the ability to give back to the people and communities we’re a part of.” The concrete business is where Urbanczyk has spent most of his life. He learned the trade early in his career. After the acquisition of a competitive concrete company, Urban Concrete emerged and grew to be one of the largest concrete contractors in San Antonio.
L
ike most young folks, Carl Smith worked while going to school. He worked in a grocery store and then later for the railroad. After a few years of working for the railroad, Smith found himself working in a millwork shop and found his calling. After working for several other companies, Smith decided to take the trade he began to love and start a business of his own. In 1992, Carl and Sandy Smith became the proud owners of Circle C Millwork Inc. out of the garage of their house. “I started out doing a lot of installs. Building is what I wanted to do, but installs made the money,” recalls Carl. The company moved into a small shop off Southcross after a couple of years and had acquired two full-time employees that are still with the company today. Not long after, Sandy came on board as the company’s comptroller work-
“We’ve certainly seen our share of changes in the industry,” Urbanczyk commented. “Like every industry, the concrete business has had improvements in technology and equipment over the years. These enhancements made us a stronger company as we embraced them and became an even better concrete contractor.” The opportunity to have a positive impact in the community has grown as the company has become more successful. While the generosity of the Urbanczyks extends to many causes, their passion for agriculture has led them to make a huge difference in the lives of young people. Their name can be seen on many Top Buyer lists for Jr. Livestock Auctions in San Antonio and surrounding counties. continued on Page 18
I
t all began after two brothers, Manlio and Publio Cavallini, immigrated to the United States from Italy. In 1953, they began commissioning mosaic murals and mosaic tiles. Over time, the company evolved into doing stained glass and not only new work, but also restoration type work. Today, Cavallini Co. Inc. stands to be one of the oldest family-owned and operated stained glass studios in the southwest. “They were doing commissions all over Texas. From there we went into stain glass, probably in the late ‘50s to early ‘60s, and were doing both stain glass and mosaics. Around the the early ‘90s, we started doing supplies,” says Adrian Cavallini, president and second-generation owner/operator of Cavallini Co. Inc. “When the company started, it was mostly my uncle. He had a lot of skill in
the trade, just in mosaics and tile type work. My grandfather was more of the businessman. They kind of had this natural connection. My Uncle Publio ended up moving to California and did his own thing on that side of the US and my grandfather stayed here and continued Cavallini Co. Inc. Eventually, another company started doing mosaics and their main bread and butter was stain glass. So my grandfather said, ‘if they are going to do mosaics, I can do stain glass‘ and that’s how we evolved more into the stain glass. “My dad has two sisters and one brother. They all took a minor interest in the business but over time left and went on to become teachers and my uncle became a pilot. My dad was the only one who fully invested himself into the business, continued on Page 18
Keeping it real
L-R: Carl, Sandy, Cory, granddaughter Carson, and Jenny Smith.
ing from home. “I do all the financing for the business. Our daughter-in-law, Jenny, does the payroll and payables,” says Sandy. By 1999, Circle C had moved into their current location on Hwy. 87 East, complete with office space and a large mill shop. With room for office personnel, Sandy became a daily facet of the Circle C team. When asked how the company has evolved over the years Carl says, “It’s a lot like advertising because word of mouth is the best form of advertising. It’s your reputation. That’s everything in this business. I’m sure it’s that way for every trade. Just by reputation we got a little bigger each and every year. My righthand man, Roy Wright, has been with me almost since day one. He was probably one of the first employees to come and work for me back in the early ‘90s and he has been with me ever since. We have lots of people here that have been with us for continued on Page 18