Paul Salata and Edward Greene Receive ECA DIG Awards

Salata, a former football player at USC, was recognized for 50 years of business success and philanthropy. Greene, who died in 1987, was honored for his entrepreneurship in the concrete ready mix business and lengthy service to civic and religious activities.

Nearly 300 guests recently attended the Engineering Contractors' Association's 17th Annual DIG Awards, celebrating careers of dignity, integrity and generosity in the construction industry.

The ECA DIG Awards Committee, under the direction of Chairman Bob Longway, honored Paul Salata of Paul T. Salata Inc. for his many years of commitment to the association and the industry.

The Posthumous DIG Award went to Ed Greene of Greene's Ready Mixed Concrete Co. in recognition of his involvement in the industry and community.

From left, Gary Futral, executive director of ECA; Lee Baca, Los Angeles County sheriff, Baca's wife, Carol; and Joe Valverde, Valverde Construction, at the recent ECA DIG Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.

Guests attending the gala at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles included Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge, Los Angeles Board of Public Works Commissioner Janis Wood and Board Executive Secretary Jim Gibson.

Proceeds each year from the ECA DIG Awards fund the association's Les Weed Memorial Scholarship. For more than a decade, the ECA Scholarship Committee-inspired by a former ECA president, the late Les Weed-has assisted deserving men and women with their higher educational goals.

Paul T. Salata

Paul Salata, recipient of one of the 2004 DIG Awards, left, accepts honor from Michael Antonovich, Los Angeles County supervisor.

The highly successful businessman began his career in the construction industry as a salesman in the sand and gravel industry in Los Angeles during the mid-1950s. Bright and full of drive, Salata has a strong work ethic instilled in him by his Serbian-born father and second-generation Serbian-American mother. He earned a bachelor's degree in education, with a minor in business, from the University of Southern California.

The second of seven sons, Salata learned early the value of education. A football scholarship brought Salata to USC where he appeared in two Rose Bowls, ran track and played baseball. By his own admission, his most important accomplishment at USC was meeting Beverly Stahl, his future wife and the mother of his two children.

After his graduation in 1949, Salata played professional football and baseball until 1953. His football career included stints with the San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers.

In the 1950s, he took a position with a rock and gravel company. Within a decade, he and his brothers founded their own company, Salata Inc. Following a building boom in Southern California in the late '80s, Salata retired as a successful entrepreneur to pursue investing and philanthropic opportunities. Salata has earned recognition as the American Red Cross Man of the Year and the USC Alumnus of the Year where he founded the USC Football Alumni Club. Salata charms others with colorful conversation and outrageous humor.

Edward P. Greene

Back row, from left: Bill Shubin, president of ECA; Ron Kaelin, past recipient of DIG Award; Alan Ludwig, past recipient of DIG Award; Joe Valverde, past recipient of DIG Award; John Greene. Front row, from left: Bob Longway, committee chairman for DIG Awards; Debbie Greene; and Pat Greene.

Edward P. Greene was born on April 17, 1917, in Chicago, the youngest of four children of Frank and Catherine Greene. He died on March 11, 1987.

Greene attended Quigley High School in the city's downtown and Mundelein College in Illinois. He served as a captain in the U.S. Army Air Corps, where he was a bombardier during World War II.

In 1944, he married Betty O'Connor and they had five children. In 1947, Ed and Betty moved to Redondo Beach and opened a laundromat. In 1952, Greene bought two used mixers and started Greene's Ready Mixed Concrete Co. He devoted the next 32 years of his life to his family, business and community. The business eventually expanded to three batch plants and more than 50 mixers.

Greene served as the president of the Southern California Ready Mixed Concrete Association. He was also involved in local politics and served on the Redondo Beach City Council from 1964 to 1972.

Janice Wood, public works commissioner for the city of Los Angeles, left; Tom LaBonge, Los Angeles city councilman, at the ECA DIG Awards.

He was a life-long member of St. Lawrence Martyr Catholic Church in Redondo Beach and president of the Foundation Board for the Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance. He and Betty were major contributors to Little Company of Mary Hospital, St. Lawrence Martyr Church and numerous local charities.

Ed Greene was a loving husband, a good father and a kind man.

At the ceremony, his family remembered him as a man who often said, "We must keep giving until the giver quits giving to us."

For more information, on the Engineering Contractors' Association, visit www.ecaonline.net.