AGC OF CALIFORNIA PRESIDENT MIKE BLACH


One of Blach Construction’s Folia projects is the Educational Options Campus for Fremont Unified High School District.


explained the situation and gave them two options. Tey said either we can wrap up this business or keep going. And if you want to keep going, and you’re willing to work with our son, he’s willing to work hard and make a go of it,” Blach recalled. Teir response: a resounding and


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he added. “We are in a great position now to really focus on taking care of our members and helping them be more successful.”


Path into Construction Industry


Mike Blach’s own path into a highly


successful career in the construction industry began when he was just 13 and got his first job working at the family-owned construction company his dad had founded in Santa Clara in 1970. He started out as an apprentice carpenter, job clerk and expediter working summers during high school and continued as a junior estimator and project manager part-time during college. Perhaps surprisingly, Blach


didn’t choose to pursue a degree in construction management or civil engineering. Long fascinated by history and politics and encouraged by his dad to focus on what interested him, “not just what comes easy,” Blach obtained his bachelor’s degree in political science and international relations with a minor in French from Santa Clara University. A semester-long internship at the


Department of Justice’s Environmental Land and Natural Resources Division in Washington, D.C. during his senior year “cured” him of a passing interest in going on to study law, Blach said. “Tere were literally thousands of lawyers in this one building,” he said. “Tey might work on one large case for half of their lives. It was really inter-


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esting to see, but I knew I would go crazy doing that kind of work.” Te fast-paced, dynamic world


of the construction industry seemed that much more appealing after the stint in Washington, D.C., Blach said. Looking to gain outside experience before joining the family business, he accepted a job with Bank of America in San Luis Obispo, where his soon-to-be wife, Margie, was finishing school at Cal Poly-SLO. During that time, he decided to pursue his MBA, attending classes while also working full time.


Company at a Crossroads In June 1988, Blach received his


MBA from Cal Poly-SLO; he and Margie welcomed their first child; and they moved back to Santa Clara, where he rejoined Blach Construction as an estimator and project manager after a three-year hiatus. He continued to learn on the job under the close tutelage of his dad. Just a few months later, however,


things took a sharp detour when his father was diagnosed with advanced stage lung cancer. Still a small, closely-held family


business with about 30 highly loyal employees, Blach Construction was at a crossroads. Te company would lose its rainmaker and founder much too early; Michael S. Blach was in the prime of his career when he lost his battle with cancer in May of 1989. “After they learned about my


dad’s condition, my parents called all the employees into the office. Tey


unanimous YES. “Because they all loved my dad and


were so loyal, they were willing to take a flier on this kid who had grown up in the business,” he said. “Tey felt like I would work hard.” And that’s exactly what he did.


Mike Blach’s energy and unique vision reflected the entrepreneurial spirit of someone who had grown up as a child of Silicon Valley. Over the next 30 years, he helped shape Blach Construction into one of the Bay Area’s most respected, successful and progressive construction companies, known for its strong safety record, its innovation and its early embrace of technology, green building and design- build delivery, among other things.


Focus on Service, Innovation Te company focused on elevating


its level of professionalism and customer service, hoping to serve as a model for others. “I really felt like we needed to


change the image of the industry,” Blach said. “For me the way to do that was to start with my own company. I wanted to create a professional services firm that happens to do construction. We worked hard at professionalizing our customers’ experience.” Taking a page from the tech


companies right next door, Blach Construction also fully embraced technology and innovation as tools to differentiate itself from other contractors. “We saw an opportunity in our marketplace for a firm to set itself


California Constructor


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