With over three quarters of a century of experience among the three top persons of American Wrecking, Inc., they know exactly what to do, and what to avoid, as they ply their trade of demolition work, sporting admiral safety and cost-efficiency rates as well.

(Right) Jerry Galaviz, Bob Hall, and Founder, Pepe Galaviz - Partners in American Wrecking. (Above) American Wrecking demo's old Lockheed Aerospace Plant in Burbank, California.

This story starts quite plainly enough, as most success stories do, with the originator, Pepe Galaviz, working for a small demolition company in Los Angeles, before moving on to the bigger, and more famous Cleveland Wrecking Company. Cleveland is probably the largest demolition contractor in Southern California. Pepe was a union operator and ran a loader for Cleveland in the Ô70s. The urge to strike out on oneÕs own is common in successful people; and it was no different for Pepe. Soon he bought a loader of his own, formed a small company called Pepe Galaviz Loader Service, but continued working for Cleveland on an hourly operated-and-maintained basis. In 1980 he bought a semi truck, and his brother, Jerry, drove it for him.

Things really got moving in an independent direction when in 1982 Pepe bought a small demolition company of his own. At the time of purchase, it was a small, one-man company, for which Pepe had done occasional work. Pepe and his brother, Jerry, continued on with their work, but now other family members joined the team. Today, five brothers, 9 direct family members, many cousins and relatives work for American Wrecking. Truly a family affair.

But business really didnÕt start jumping until Bob Hall jumped aboard. Pepe and BobÕs relationship goes way back; back when they both worked for Cleveland. When Pepe was operating his loader, Bob was managing operations for Cleveland. For years, Pepe was tugging at the rope, urging Bob to join the team. But Bob didnÕt feel the time was right until 1994. Business increased so much after Bob Hall came aboard, that they might as well change their calendar to read, BB, and ABÑstanding for, Before Bob, and After Bob, of course. For instance, before 1992, revenues were under $1 million; today, they are in excess of $12 million, and growing. Yet it is truly the team effort, and the inter-relationships of trust and expertise that makes it work so well.

Pepe Galaviz is the President of the company; and Bob and brother Jerry are the Vice Presidents. Pepe and Jerry supervise and run the jobs; with Pepe remaining at one of the big jobs, while Jerry divides his time among the other smaller jobs. Bob takes care of the engineering and estimating, interfacing with the four full-time estimators. Thusly is the division of tasks among the capable trio.

	1997, American Wrecking taking on the unique task of scrapping the Morris Dam Torpedo Test Facility for the U.S. Navy.

When someone says, "boy, you really demolished that job!" most people would find cause for insult. But not American Wrecking. They have taken demolition to a fine art. They will demolish anything from a block wall in a personÕs backyard, to the grandeur of a high-rise hotel. They are adept at using explosives to gracefully fell the bigger beasts; so that the demolition is accomplished in a controlled and orderly fashion. No unauthorized and unscheduled destruction is allowedÑno no! Some examples of past jobs are the CalFed Building in Anaheim; the El Cortez Hotel in San Diego; the Hotel Californian in downtown Los Angeles; Morris Dam Navy Test Facility. They have worked from San Francisco to San Diego. They are a non-union contractor with over 100 full-time employees. They keep an average of 30 jobs on their schedule at all times.

But what makes this type of work interesting is the fluctuating pricing. You see, the cost of a job varies depending upon what the scrap will sell for. And they try to recycle everything: from plumbing to pipes; from electrical wires to fixtures; from structural steel to the very concrete. Percentage-wise according to weight, very little ends up in a landfill. Yet what American prides itself on is their safety record; and their penchant for safety and abiding by regulatory measures.

(Above left) Complete demolition of the three story Bullocks Department Store in La Habra, Calif. (Above Middle) Pepe Galaviz making the rounds on one of the many demo jobs American Wrecking has going every day. (Above right) American Wrecking performed complete demolition services on the Hotel Californian for the City of Los Angeles.

Even though the employees may feel safe in this extreme type of work, the equipment sure doesnÕt. It really takes a beating. ItÕs not even worth buying new equipment. The attrition rate renders it impractical. And they certainly donÕt buy their used equipment from other demolition outfits. They prefer to buy from other types of construction companies, such as the underground business. They have even gone so far as Arkansas for their purchases. Pepe has an eye for the general machinery; and Jerry has knowledge of the trucks. They know what to look for. Once a piece of equipment is purchased, it goes to their own shop for inspection, and a good beefing up. They prepare their equipment as best they can, adding structural pieces of angle iron in key stress points, and welding on other metal pieces to help tolerate the abuse.

Even though the US has gone towards recycling more and more, much "scrap" still needs to be sold outside the US, since there is still much material that is not allowed to be used in the US. So they invested in a scrap yard in Mexico, to which they ship much of their scrap material. Yet they lobby for more scrap to be useable right here at home. But business has been good. All three partners expect 2001 to be 30 to 60% better than the previous year.

	(Left) Jerry Galaviz shooting hoops for his company sponsored team, the "Wrecking Crew". (Above) Bob Hall shooting targets at one of the many cowboy shooting competitions he attends each year.

When not engaged in business, the two VPs spend their free time shooting up the townÑseems they just canÕt disengage from demolition. Well, not really. Jerry is an avid basketball player, and plays in the Baldwin Park League. His team, the "Wrecking Crew", often ends up in the play-offs. And Bob involves himself in the cowboy shooting competitions; with quick-draw events that hearken back to the days of the Old West. Some of these are sponsored by the Roy Rogers Museum in Victorville.

With the inspiring direction supplied by Pepe, look for American Wrecking to keep shooting for the stars.