City Service Paving

Jon Beach made 1975 a big year by moving swiftly from obtaining a bachelor’s degree in biology from California State University Fullerton to establishing City Service Paving (City Service). Beach attests that at the time biology graduates had comparatively limited professional prospects outside of academia, as biotech hadn’t quite exploded yet.

Beach took the plunge and established his asphalt paving company with the help of a friend and business partner. Though Beach’s business partner eventually moved on to pursue a different opportunity, City Service soon welcomed George Puente, Keith Cunningham, Michael Garvin, Tim Heise and Darrell Brown, among other partners, to nurture and expand the business. Almost 30 years later, the team at City Service remains one of California’s most active concrete and asphalt paving authorities with a portfolio spanning over 25,000 successfully completed projects.

“We’re a profit-sharing company and we believe strongly in creating the kind of working environment that allows our employees to succeed on a professional and personal level,” asserts Beach, CFO of City Service. In doing so, the company enables City Service’s team of salesmen to work independently and pursue the best opportunities presented at any given time in relation to the company’s extensive network of resources. City Service maintains headquarters in Placentia, Calif., as well as branch offices in Laguna Hills and Carlsbad, Calif., giving the company the geographic reach to serve clients across the state.

City Service works with residential, industrial and commercial clients of any size, as the team believes that no job is ever too large or too small. Notable clients from City Service’s portfolio include Denny’s, Costco, Walgreen’s, the Irvine Company, Disney Studios and Jack-in-the-Box restaurants, for which City Service has maintained parking lots, repaired cracked pavement and installed new pavement.

Flexible, Agile, Competitive

The company aims to employ professionals with a deeply engrained sense of integrity, creating a team of motivated and highly skilled staff members who take pride in delivering a job well done. City Service averaged approximately 60 employees in 2012, though the company’s longevity and reputation for delivering quality work allows the team to reach out to a larger network of concrete and asphalt paving professionals in times of need. City Service employs a number of staff members boasting 25 or more years in the industry, and quite a few who have spent 10, 15 or 20 years with City Service. The company has welcomed many sons and daughters of older employees into the workforce as well, helping to pass on the commitment to service to the next generation.

“We pride ourselves on being a really steady and stable company,” adds Beach. As the team continued to accumulate professionals to focus in on industrial and commercial concrete applications, City Service always maintained a firm position when it came to working with subcontractors. The team is sure to take on as much of the work as possible, using only in-house resources and labor. However, when a specialized subcontractor needs to be brought in or a job calls for extra muscle, City Service insists on using only the best and treating these contacts with the same fairness and transparency expected from its own. Payments arrive on time and as promised as City Service provides subcontractors and clients with ample documentation of all services performed.

Behind the scenes, City Service invested internally to attract highly skilled professionals to flesh out both concrete and asphalt paving services. The company also offers sealing and striping services to extend the life of asphalt paving and renew older, worn or cracked asphalt parking lots. City Service’s experienced professionals also consult with clients to determine the specific needs of a paving project. The company works exclusively with time-tested and proven sealing products from Guardtop Materials that help ensure pavement stands up to the elements safely and cost-effectively. In fact, City Service bills itself as the largest applicator of Guardtop seal products on the West Coast.

Built to Last

Between new paving projects, City Service employees work with clients to maintain a safe and functional pavement. The company will offer advice and guidance in developing a plan to prevent structural damage to the sub-grade or pavement layers and create the most cost-effective long-term maintenance program. The team at City Service also specializes in petromat installations, which breathe new life into old pavement by installing a sheet of Amoco brand fabric atop the old pavement to prevent cracking and then resurfacing this with a new layer of asphalt pavement. If grinding and overlay or a complete removal and replacement is the best option, then City Service can offer the appropriate option.

City Service also works with clients to provide total traffic flow management and marking services. The company can install bollards, speed bumps, parking signage, as well as concrete and rubber wheel stops. Clients can also look to City Service to provide all of the related products and marking services to ensure a parking lot remains compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

City Service ultimately amassed a comprehensive fleet of vehicles and equipment over the years as the company expanded into new specialties. In turn, City Service also makes its equipment available for outside contacts to rent as needed, which provides an added revenue stream and offers an extra degree of flexibility for outside clients that may not be in a position to shoulder the cost of owning and maintaining a piece of equipment.

Beach hopes to keep City Services on a similarly stable growth trend in the years to come. “We’re always trying to grow the business, but sometimes it’s just not going to happen,” expands Beach. “We are starting to see activity pick up in our area a bit now, so we’re just going to focus on working more efficiently and keeping our customers happy.”

In doing so, City Service Paving continues a three-decade history of delivering rewarding employment opportunities and a reliable source of comprehensive asphalt and concrete paving services.