All in the Family

Colorado Specialty Firms Proud of Their Family Roots

By Sara Gerou

Colorado Scaffolding and Equipment Co. Inc.

Colorado Scaffolding has always been focused on family.

"We went completely on faith," said June Ammerman, 63, who founded the company in 1978 with her husband Ron, 66, and daughter, Sherri Hartman. "We weren't trying to prove anything. We were just trying to build a family business."

"We can't say that it's only been two of us," June said. "It's been a three-way business all along."

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Hartman, 44, is now the company president.

Colorado Scaffolding, which has grown in recognition and experience over the years and expanded its scale of projects, specializes in renting and building scaffolding, mainly to support masonry equipment. It also provides bleachers for events such as ski races and parades.

When the Avalanche captured the Stanley Cup and the Broncos won two Super Bowls, Colorado Scaffolding provided camera towers and performance stages for the celebrations. The firm was also part of the team that worked on the new addition to Folsom Field in Boulder.

The Ammermans have given jobs to any family members who wanted them.

"As long as we can work together, the kids will always have a job," Ron said. "As long as Sherri stays with it, we're going to keep it in the family. We have four generations here now. We started it, Sherri has taken it over, her daughter is now in the business and has just given birth to our first great grandson."

Hartman said family members have always been able to rely on each other.
"Sometimes being family gets in the way and you have to remind yourself that you're here to work," she added. "You learn how to strike a balance with them. Overall, everyone tries to do what's fair."

Ron and June are still involved in business decisions but have been retired since 1995. Since then, they have traveled widely, doing missionary work in 23 countries and keeping in touch by e-mail.

Much of their time has been spent in Perth, Australia at Youth With a Mission, where June teaches students how to properly deliver babies to help lower infant mortality rates in countries throughout Africa and Asia.

"We'll be going back to Perth soon to the school where I instruct," June said. "Then we're going to go back to India and possibly China to help deliver babies in the hospitals and preach. Last time we went out for eight months. But we couldn't do it without Sherri."

Hartman said she values not only what she gains from her job, but also what she can do for her employees and customers.

"We've had customers who don't know the first thing about scaffolding and so we get to teach them," she added. "We're here to help. They need us and we need them. We teach our employees to be gracious to the customers.

"Some customers have been with us since we were first here. Although we may not be 100 percent right all the time, we are 100 percent honest."

Threewit-Cooper Cement Co.

Threewit-Cooper Cement Co. is now in its fourth generation of family ownership.
Current treasurer Leo Hayward, 68, splits ownership of the masonry supply company with his two sons, Richard Hayward, 42, the company's president; and Rod Hayward, 40, vice president.

The firm specializes in "anything a bricklayer would use except brick," Leo said. It supplies cinder blocks, masonry materials, colors, chemicals, cleaning solutions, mixers and hand tools but considers its delivery service to be its main specialty.

Benjamin F. Threewit started the family-owned business in 1888. In 1929 Richard and Rod's grandfather, Henry Cooper, bought the business and ran it until 1963, when his son, Richard Cooper, became president.

Leo Hayward bought the company in 1978.

"I got here in 1963, so I've been here for 40 years," he said. "At that time we had three drivers and warehousemen and now we have about 20. In the last 10 years, we've done about 15 years worth of work. It's been that busy."

Both Richard and Rod Hayward grew up with Threewit-Cooper. They started working summers for the business even before high school.

"I've worked here since I was 13 years old," Richard said. "When I graduated from college 20 years ago, this had been the only place I'd ever worked. I knew it from sweeping the warehouse to driving trucks to dealing with customers."

Threewit-Cooper relies primarily on the loyalty of long-time customers, many of whom are second-generation clients.

"They're all like friends," Rod added. "A lot of the customers are my age now and I knew them when they were kids working with their dads."

Richard said the firm has "some of the best customers anybody could ever have. We work hard not to give anyone a reason not to buy here. We've got extremely loyal customers and we are extremely loyal to them. That's what makes it work."

The relationships between family members have been important in running Threewit-Cooper and offer benefits that other businesses don't have.

"It's a lot of fun running a family business," said Leo. "There's risk and responsibility, of course, but it also offers a lot of rewards. We all have a great personal life together. I was glad when Richard and Rod came to work here because they extended the longevity of the company."

Rod said family members count on each other. "If I'm ever gone from the office, I know I don't have to worry because Rich and Dad are here," he added.

Threewit-Cooper has been around for 115 years, surviving many economic downturns and surprises. Although no plans are set in stone for the future, the three owners said they hope the company will continue after their time.

"We just want to keep running things the way it's always been done," said Richard. "We don't have very big expansion plans, but we'll run it for a long time. If we ever have any family that wants to be involved, we'll bring them in, but if not, then we'll turn it over to someone else."

Leo added, "As long as we adjust and adapt and take on whatever happens, there will always be a family business."

Gash Electric Co.

Richard E. Gash, 63, president of Gash Electric Co., said he was always determined to go into business for himself.

He started out as an electrical engineer after attending the University of Colorado's engineering school but soon decided to become an electrical contractor.
"You have to be centrally focused on what you want to do," Gash said. "Everything you do, everything you touch is a part of education. If you look at it as work, then it's work, but if you look at it like it's education, then that's what it is. If a person wants to be an electrician, then they should channel their education that way."

Gash Electric was established in 1965 as a residential, industrial and commercial contractor. Over time, it focused more on commercial projects. It also owns a variety of other businesses that perform leasing, environmental, excavation, construction and development work. Collectively, the companies build, occupy and sell office buildings
Gash Electric's projects include electrical work on the Regis University library and a $6 million job for Seagate, a computer hardware company in Longmont. Most recently, Gash has worked on the Denver School of Fine Arts at the Colorado Women's College.

"One of the things my dad taught me when I was growing up was a strong work ethic," Gash said. "You get up and you get the job done. I enjoy working. My son is in the electrical business also. He owns another electrical company. He decided not to walk in my footprints but make his own - much to my chagrin, I kind of miss him a lot."

Richard's son, Robert Gash, 32, began working for the family business when he was 13 and continued working for Gash Electric on and off for about 20 years. Then he broke away from the company and is currently the owner of Modern Electric Co., established in 1989 by Richard's daughter, Valerie Skrine, 36.

Robert Gash said that at times it's difficult working with family. "On the other side of that though," he added, "there were opportunities for training and advancement available that wouldn't have been there had I worked for anyone else."

"Your children leave and they go into their own business and do their own thing, and you know that you did a good job," Gash said. "My daughter was also registered as an apprentice at a very young age. She chose to go on to college and take business financing. Before she started her family, she ran the leasing company that we own."

Gash's daughter Valerie worked for Toyota's leasing department after she graduated from college. She then moved over to Gash's leasing company and is currently working there.

Gash said it's important to establish a good relationship with clients. "The philosophy is that you want to treat people like you want to be treated," he added. "Money was probably a big motivator when I first started out in business, but as you get more and more into it, money becomes secondary. You try to be just as fair as you can with people - the suppliers that you work with and the people around you."

At this point, there are many possibilities for the future of Gash Electric. "I feel that the company will go to someone who is employed by Gash Electric and has a real love for the business," Gash said. "If you're looking for someone to get involved, they have to love it. My feeling is that I didn't build this company by myself. It was all the people that work for me."

King Masonry Inc.

Lyle King, 59, president of King Masonry Inc. in Colorado Springs, has had to deal with plenty of stress since he began his business in 1972, but "the more experience you have, the less stressful it becomes," he said. "It's not an easy business."

King Masonry has grown as a family-owned business specializing in commercial masonry. Its largest projects range from work on a penitentiary to numerous Dillard's department stores throughout Colorado.

The firm has also worked on a restoration project for the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, the historic Will Rogers shrine and Hilton Hotels in Denver and Colorado Springs.

"Years ago, we used to do work in Wyoming, Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado," King said. "In the last 10 years, we've tried to stay around the Colorado Springs area.
Projects were smaller when we were starting out, but it was all commercial work. Over the years, we've done a lot bigger projects. We have anywhere from about 20 to 80 people working for us, depending on the workload."

King's daughter, Kandace King, 34, is also deeply involved in the company. Kandace graduated from the University of Southern Colorado in 1996 with a degree in business.

"It's kind of unusual to have a daughter involved," her father said, "but women are starting to play a major role in construction, so it's working out really well. It's been a positive experience."

Kandace said she started working for her father during the summers when she was in high school. "I did things like picking up blueprints," she added. "Then when I got out of college, I filled in for someone and realized that I liked it. So I went to Rocky Mountain Masonry Institute to learn all about masonry. Since then I have changed from the payroll department over to the estimating part. I plan to advance, doing more estimating. I also want to learn more about the management of the construction business."

King said that his firm looks for specialty projects that other people shy away from because they're too complex or difficult.

"We're in a position where we can handle a project of almost any size," he added.
"We're pretty flexible, but our goal isn't to get the biggest job in the state. We'd like to continue on the way we are."

For additional information on these family-owned businesses, contact:
Gash Electric Co.	303-420-3040
Colorado Scaffolding & Equipment Inc.	303-287-3333
King Masonry Inc.	719-591-0353
Threewit-Cooper Cement Co.	303-296-1666

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