To kick off 2022, we decided to kick back with an issue devoted to leisure featuring Del Webb giving Joltin Joe DiMaggio some batting...

Tom Pickrell You see it coming while driving along I-17 in Phoenix near the Dunlap Avenue exit. A bright green and white superstructure...

What's crazier: using atomic bombs to mine copper, a ginormous salt mine under a city, extracting iron from a giant *sandbox* or...

By Douglas Towne Great hotel nicknames are usually the result of innovative marketing campaigns or are obvious, such as San Diego's Hotel...

By Douglas Towne Downtown Phoenix was the city’s commercial district until the 1960s, and one unique store stood out. The business, which...

Jeff Kronenfeld Paul Brock was one of the biggest names in underground contracting in the Valley during the 1960s and 1970s. His company,...

James Logan Abell, FAIA Jumping on rail cars to travel from Los Angeles to New Orleans in search of work, this man was no ordinary 1930’s...

Doug Sydnor, FAIA Growing up in Phoenix, I noticed some innovative architecture created by an unknown individual. Many years later, I...

Tom Pickrell Marion John Evertsen was a prominent masonry contractor in Phoenix for more than 30 years, starting in the 1950s. Largely...

Luke M. Snell, P.E. An inspector recently contacted me regarding some concrete loads that exceeded air-content specifications. The...

Carly Hanson Husband and wife Bob and Peggy Piske started a power-generation company in 1990. Thirty-one years later, it’s an industry...

Aircraft Plating Co. was flying high in 1969. The firm, founded in 1963 at 1313 South 26th Street, was having a new 20,000 square-foot...

Buddy Escapule In 2017, I took my father and sons to Casa Grande to examine a 1971 Caterpillar J621 paddle wheel scraper for sale. The...

Sean Clements With convenient access to the border, Arizona has a high rate of construction equipment theft. And with the state’s...

William Horner According to Vance Grubb III, nothing tops a great job in construction except going into business for yourself. A...

William Horner Philip Chesley has encountered some unforgettable people while working in the paving field, including a man wearing gold...

Drew Simmons The construction industry has always been a competitive landscape for small and large contractors alike. Now, with the...

Is the just-released 80-page Sep/Oct issue of Arizona Contractor & Community Magazine a history publication masquerading as a...

Michelle Dodds Concrete denotes something solid, with great strength, and permanence. Perhaps that’s why there was such a clamor way-back...

After two years in the concrete industry, Ed Wagner of Portland, Oregon, realized the need for a more efficient way to handle the heavy...

“Do it big, do it right, and do it with style,” said actor Fred Astaire. Apparently, famed Valley developer John F. Long was listening....

Jennifer M. Levstik Even the most innocuous objects have stories to tell. Tucson’s El Presidio Fountain is one of them. Constructed at...

Luke M. Snell, P.E. When I was a young engineer, one of my first jobs was to provide quality control for a lightweight concrete project....

Doug Sydnor, FAIA Concrete is not only a long-lasting material; humans have also used it for a long time. Its origins are a concrete-like...

Heather M. David I am a blockhead. A mid-century modern (MCM) blockhead. I have been one for as long as I can remember. I started...

Luke M. Snell, P.E. The Boulder Canyon Project, now called the Hoover Dam, was awarded to The Six Companies in the spring of 1931. For...

Douglas Towne “I loved spending time with my dad hunting, camping, or any other activity,” Phil Chesley says about his father, Elmo...

William Horner I recently connected with a family with an impressive legacy of truck driving in the Valley. This linkage occurred when I...

In this 96-page “cementitious” July/Aug issue of Arizona Contractor & Community Magazine, we’ve focused on a building material that is...

Q&A with Brent Meyers, Vice President of Sales for Comdata What are the key shifts commercial construction companies have made in the way...

There’s nothing as appetizing as nostalgia, at least where Helsing's Coffee Shops are concerned. The four Phoenix-based restaurants were...

By Douglas Towne Some Valley residents probably know Bentson Contracting Co. only from its sidewalk stamps around the city. That’s a...

By Jason Krankota Construction has been one of the slowest industries to adopt technology. That’s partly cultural: folks in the industry...

By Ross Kimbarovsky Construction is a popular industry, but it has a high failure rate as more than 60 percent of businesses close within...

By Luke M. Snell, P.E. A concrete precaster recently contacted me with problems from bubbles forming during casting and white streaking...

By Michael Bernstein This is the story of an Environmental Health & Safety manager who was so preoccupied with current operations at his...

By William Horner One of the largest midcentury construction rock and sand providers was started by a businessman who knew more about...

Arizona Contractor & Community Magazine kicks off the summer by doing what many of us did with our families after the school year ended:...

By Douglas Towne There was a running joke between my wife and me before Arizona Contractor & Community debuted in Spring 2012. “I’m going...

By Douglas Sydnor Becoming a licensed architect is a challenging path requiring a minimum of eight years, including a professional...

By Alison Bailin Located in Tucson's El Presidio Park adjacent to the Historic Pima County Courthouse, the January 8th Memorial honors...

By Douglas Towne #CudiaCity #DouglasTowne To read the rest of this article, you are invited to purchase the digital issue here. This...

By Douglas Towne After World War II, a Phoenix contractor became renowned for his talent moving materials and building highways across...

By Benjamin Johnston, Chief Operating Officer of Kapitus PPP PPP provides a great opportunity for small businesses that saw a reduction...

By Luke Sheppard This recent book provides entrepreneurs and managers with nineteen practical and proven tools to build, launch, and...

Arizona Contractor & Community magazine celebrates its 10th anniversary with a little help from the ASU cheerleading squad. In this...

By Jeff Kronenfeld Cliff Wixson is a throwback to America’s burly industrial past, much like the big machines his company keeps alive....

By Josh Cyphers 2020 was such an unexpected year. Even if you saw the pandemic coming, I doubt anyone would have guessed in March that...

By Luke M. Snell, P.E. The discovery of gold and silver in the West attracted countless people hoping to get rich. Boomtowns sprang up...