Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/85671
contractor of the year finalist | by Marcia Gruver Doyle Michael Bray Construction Year started: 1991 Number of employees: 12 Annual volume: $3 million Markets served: Site development, comercial paving, utility installation Michael Bray Paso Robles, California Bray's fi rm has done a number of jobs at the The Paso Robles Inn, including the inner court landscaping. Another job involved seismically retrofi tting and rebuilding the ballroom, which involved salvaging more than a million bricks. Spearheading a local online plan room, this central coast California contractor keeps current with jobs while logging time on the road. M ichael Bray knew when he got into construction the hours would be long. Growing up on a farm, he was used to long hours. But it was the time spent away from home that pushed him to start his own fi rm, Michael Bray Construction, in 1991. "My kids were growing up and I wasn't around," he says. "I was tired of being three counties away at quitting time on a Friday night." Bray had worked for a local road building contractor for 11 years. "Alex Madonna was a mentor," Bray says of his former employer. "He helped make me fearless about tackling some of the jobs we've done." And Madonna signed Bray's contractor's license when the time came, verifying he had the necessary experience. 150-mile radius Now Michael Bray Construction does $3 million in annual revenues doing site work and commercial paving in a 150- mile radius of his home in Paso Robles. Although he has an offi ce at his ranch, Bray spends more time in his truck. "My offi ce is pretty much anyplace I've got my laptop." His wife Sharon does the company payroll. Most of the company's work is low bid, although Bray does have some private clients, including Martin Resorts. "They called me in on a small $15,000 job to remove a swimming pool and fi ll the hole," Bray relates. "By the time the project was done, they had contracted more than a million in work, including parking lots and walkways. I've done al- most $10 million them and we've never signed a contract." EquipmentWorld.com | March 2012 55