History of The Conco Companies

In 1959, Matt Gonsalves starts a concrete contracting business along with his two brothers, Will and Mel, and two high school friends and brothers, Gerald and Ray Santucci. Working out of Will ‘s garage, the company was called Conco Cement.

In the 1970’s, Conco expands into the non-residential market by performing concrete work for tilt-ups, office buildings, hotels and other commercial structures. Leveraging its heavy investment in form work and placement equipment, Conco progresses from performing strictly place and finish of concrete for other contractors to offering turnkey packages to general contractors.

In 1975, Conco enters the concrete pumping business with the purchase of Flo-Crete Concrete Pumping. Conco’s pumping business has grown both organically and through several acquisitions and is now one of the largest concrete pumping and material placement operations on the West Coast.

In 1986, a major organizational change occurs within Conco. Matt Gonsalves sells his majority interest in the company to his son, Steve, making Steve the majority owner of Conco. At the time of the buyout, Steve becomes President and CEO, positions in the company he still retains today.

Later in the 1980’s, Conco enters the rebar fabrication and installation market with the purchase of Alamillo Steel. Rebranded as Conco Reinforcing, the addition of rebar to the portfolio allowed Conco to offer its clients unparalleled integration of two products (concrete and rebar), generating seamless scheduling efficiencies for the general contractor. By taking on both tasks, Conco has been able to offer its customers a comprehensive turnkey solution. Conco has enhanced the rebar business over the years by offering stud rails and post-tensioning cables. In 2009, Conco opened a second fabrication facility in Rochester, WA.

In the 1990’s and 2000’s, Conco successfully grew its geographic footprint. Conco opened an office in the Los Angeles market (Fontana, CA) in 1999. In 1998, a long-standing client requested that Conco perform a job in the Seattle market which led to the opening of our Kent, WA office in 2000. Conco is now firmly established in both markets offering a wide variety of services to our clients.

1999 saw Conco establish its shotcrete business. Primarily used in wall applications, shotcrete provides an alternative to cast-in-place walls that, depending on the application, may be a better solution. Today, the shotcrete business has expanded and is available in all of Conco’s marketing areas.

Conco purchases land in Martinez and builds the Martinez Yard, adding the final piece to the 1-stop shopping for concrete work. Once completed this yard becomes the site of the Conco fleet for pumping, form work, and fleet maintenance. The Martinez Yard has pumps and belts of all sizes and can take on any job regardless of shape, size, or complexity.

During the 2010’s, Conco went vertical in our three major markets (Northern California, Southern California and Seattle). As a result of this work, the skylines in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle are forever changed. In Los Angeles, Conco performed all of the concrete work on the building which is dubbed to be the “tallest building west of the Mississippi” – the Wilshire Grand.

In 2014, Conco broke the Guinness World Record for the continuous pumping and placing of 21,200 cubic yards of concrete for the mat foundation on the Wilshire Grand in only 18 ½ hours.

Conco followed this up in 2015 by pumping, placing and finishing the concrete for what is now the tallest structure in San Francisco – Salesforce Tower. In Seattle, Conco has completed several large buildings over 40 stories including 5th & Columbia, 815 Pine (now known as Premier on Pine), 970 Denny and the Kinects Tower.

In 2017, Conco developed an additional business, its ConFoam™ product. ConFoamTM is a lightweight low-density fill material which is a terrific substitute for traditional backfill materials such as Class II AB and Controlled Density Fill (CDF). Conco has developed one-of-a-kind equipment for the production and delivery of ConFoam™ allowing Conco to offer this product in a cost-competitive manner.

Following the request of another good client, in 2017 Conco was awarded a project in Portland, OR. This project has since led to additional work in that market and the opening of our Portland office in 2018.

2018 saw the passing of our founder, Matt Gonsalves. Although he will always be missed, Matt’s vision for the company is instilled throughout the organization and guides us to continue to provide concrete solutions for our valued customers.

In 2019, Conco celebrated our 60th anniversary while achieving record sales. Conco’s strategic plan focusing on employee development and recruitment has positioned us well for the next decade. Our employees’ dedication and unwavering commitment to improvement bring excitement to our future.

Conco has been awarded several of the projects that will be part of the $8 billion development planned around Levi Stadium. When it is completed the total project will be 240 acres and 9.2 million square feet in size and will include 700 hotel rooms, 1,680 residential units (including 400 serviced apartments and around 170 affordable units), 5.4 million square feet in office development, and 1.0 million square feet for retail and entertainment.