SCCA Installs New Officers, Board Members

The Southern California Contractors Association installed officers, members of the board of directors and three top contributors to the construction industry at its 31st annual President's Celebration Dinner Dance on Nov. 13 at the Hyatt Regency Resort in Huntington Beach.

Dorna Seanez

Dorna Seanez, president of Irwindale-based of Western Paving, was sworn in as the association's 32nd president and is the first woman to hold the position. Joining her as officers for 2004-05 are Doyle Powell of D. W. Powell Inc., vice president; David Elsberry of LT Engineering Inc., secretary; and Seth Hammond of Specialty Crane & Rigging, treasurer.

Newly elected board members include Mike Barth of Jezowski & Markel Contractors Inc.; John Blakely of Kring & Chung;, Les Farrow of Excavating & Grading; Stanley Howard of Howard Contracting; Don Johnson of Mitsubishi Cement Corp.; Rick Kalish of C. W. Poss Inc.; Ed Lyon of RMA Group; Dan Pilon of Coastline Equipment; Pete Rasic of W. A. Rasic Construction Co. Inc.; Mike Tudor of M. R. Tudor Cos.; Dan Ugalde of Ugalde Trucking Co. Inc. and Greg Vena of Quinn Shepherd Machinery.

Also honored during the evening were the Contractor of the Year, Les Farrow; the VIP winner, Bob Pieplow, chief of the construction division of Caltrans; and named for the first time ever as Affiliate of the Year, attorney Thomas Kovacich of Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud and Romo of Cerritos.

Farrow, a highly decorated Vietnam veteran, began his construction career with Maness Industries in Signal Hill. He started his own firm six years ago. He has served the association as president (in 1993), as a long-time member of the board of directors and as a key member on six SCCA committees. Farrow also is a management trustee on seven union trust funds for the Operating Engineers and the Teamsters and a SCCA trustee for the Fund for Construction Industry Advancement.

Pieplow's many contributions to the transportation construction industry include his work with Caltrans, helping the agency to increase its usage of partnering, SCCA established the VIP award in 1985 to recognize the contributions of public official or other persons of merit who made outstanding contributions to the community and the construction industry.

Kovacich is a senior partner at one of the construction industry's leading law firms. His contributions to SCCA were recognized as the inaugural winner of the Affiliate of the Year award, established to honor the non-contractor members of the 30-year-old association. He was saluted as "an invaluable resource to his clients, SCCA and the Southern California construction industry."