Russ Baumgartner was raised in a construction environment. His father, Harold, started CCI in 1958 and Russ was taught general engineering, business practices and most of the concrete trades. He graduated with honors at 22 in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University. At 26 he was charged with opening a branch of CCI in San Diego that has operated as an independent corporation since 1986.
Success came early as the construction economy in San Diego was booming in the late 1980's. The company became involved in both public and private markets. At that time two current key employees were hired, Steve Templeton, General Engineering Superintendent and Otto Marx, Structural Concrete Superintendent.
In the early 1990’s, CCI, like most construction companies, experienced the downturn in the economy. It was then Russ learned the value of streamlining the overhead that characterizes the present operation. The Structural Concrete division carried the load, doing jobs such as the Missile Maintenance Facility, Rose Canyon Trunk Line Sewer Structures, and Mission Terrace. Tom Shepherd added his structural expertise to CCI in 1994 and currently is the structural concrete general superintendent.
The building industry began to recover in the late 1990’s and CCI, one of the few companies that survived, expanded rapidly, landing public jobs like India Street Improvements and the New Carrier Wharf on North Island. Meanwhile, The structural division was busy with the Hotel del Coronado seismic and hotel improvements, Solar Turbines Beautification, Naval Training Center Conversion, and Ted Smith’s Essex Lofts. It was then that CCI developed a reputation for it’s ability to perform complex jobs with outstanding quality and attention to detail.
Since 2000, CCI has found itself in the enviable position of being the preferred concrete contractor for projects like the Ivy Hotel, Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego Wild Animal Park, Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel, L’Auberge Del Mar, Smart Corner, The Grande at Santa Fe, Electra.
The street division captured more than 80% of the street work downtown performing over 37 projects.
Key hires for this period were Jim Flippen, Chief Estimator Rick Vasquez, Sr. Project Manager and JoLynn Trent, Controller.
In 2007 CCI decided to enter the decorative concrete market, a natural fit, and brought decorative expert Jay Peterson on board.
Currently CCI employs 70-80 people, has a bonding limit of $10,000,000, a liability limit of $5,000,000 and owns an impressive equipment list outright. Our client list includes Barnhart, Inc., Bosa Development, Con-Am, Hensel Phelps, Highland Partnership, Intergulf, Swinerton Builders, PCL, Reno Contracting, Roel Construction Company, Rudolph & Sletten, and many more.
CCI is dedicated to the highest quality of work, professionalism and timeliness for your next project.
