A History of Quality

• Chancellor Page

In the early 1930s, a sculptor named Bruno Mariani immigrated to the United States from Italy. An accomplished model maker and craftsman, he found work at Cecil B. DeMille Studio, creating masks and plaster castings for films that shaped the Hollywood landscape. Drawn to the epic sensibility, large-scale production and collaborative spirit of Tinseltown, Bruno brought old-world techniques and a refined aesthetic to a studio devoted to filmmaking legend and academy award-winning director DeMille. Those years were formative and foundational for the young immigrant, who was able to sharpen his skills while advancing complex projects with a lot of moving parts.   read more...

For the Love of the Build

• Vicki Speed

From a young age, Mark De Mattei loved working with his hands. As a teenager, he had the good fortune to live next door to a contractor with considerable carpentry experience and a willingness to teach—and from that relationship a career was born.   read more...

Good Truck. Great Team. All Heart.

• Vicki Speed

Founded in 1993, Brannon Corporation is a family-owned and operated demolition and excavation business based in San Jose, Calif., that owes much of its start to a man and a gift to his grandson—a used Peterbilt truck.   read more...

All Charged Up and Lighting the Way!

• Tonie Auer

Since it was founded in 2010, Marin County-based Evolvelectric, Inc. has become one of the Bay Area’s leading LED lighting and electric vehicle infrastructure design-build firms. The company has installed more than 800 electric vehicle charging stations and transformed hundreds of businesses’ energy-intensive lighting systems to energy-efficient LED solutions.   read more...

Made in the Shade

• Wendell Barnhouse

A well-known paint company’s motto is “Cover the earth.”   read more...

Clients, Community and Colleagues

• Vicki Speed

Founded in a time when a handshake and a promise were enough to construct a multimillion-dollar project, W.E. Lyons Construction Co. holds fast to its founder’s principles even as it excels in today’s more complex building environment.   read more...

Opening Doors of Opportunity

• Vicki Speed

For Greg and Elaine Higgins, their construction company, G.A. Higgins, Inc., is more than a quality service provider for commercial and residential customers; it’s a platform to create opportunities for themselves and those who work 
with them.   read more...

Investing in a World of Hope

• Liz Moucka

Generous people are probably the happiest people. Their joy resounds in their voices. This is most definitely the case for Bennett White, Owner of 
Integrity Construction Maintenance, Inc., whose insights are infused with open cheerfulness when he speaks about the business he’s spent the last 
36 years building.   read more...

O’Keeffe’s
 SAFTI FIRST

• Vicki Speed

Bill O’Keeffe, President and CEO of O’Keeffe’s/SAFTI FIRST, a leading U.S. manufacturer of advanced fire-rated glass and framing systems, might not be a household name—but his influence is likely embedded in numerous glass and framing installations in commercial buildings across the country, and even outside the U.S.   read more...