Blog

Even amid the busiest moments of the holidays, we remind ourselves to pause and focus on what matters most: the people who surround us at home and at work. We are immensely grateful for all branches of the VPCS family for allowing us to do what we love, day after day....

Construction project managers (PMs) like me are responsible for tracking all the large and small details related to the job (or jobs) we’re overseeing. We’re the bridge between the owner and the people who design, engineer and build the projects. It’s up to us to make...

My official title here at VPCS is Administrative Assistant. But sometimes I think I should change it to Mortar Assistant, given all the ways I fill in the gaps. When people ask me what I do at work, I usually answer with a very enthusiastic, “Whatever’s needed!” In...

When I was hired by Mark Van Pelt, a little over three years ago, I never would have imagined that my responsibilities would include categorizing, tracking and reconciling budgets totaling more than $268 million dollars. After all, I have a literature degree and I...

Around here, I’m known as the VPCS “oshpod guy.” That’s because I’m considered the in-house expert on all the regulations related to California’s Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, commonly referred to by the acronym OSHPD. This is the agency that...

Even the most talented percussionists, the most eloquent string players, and brass instrumentalists with world-class cardio strength aren’t much use without a conductor. The conductor pulls those individually talented elements together to produce the symphony. That’s...

Last month, my (younger!) brother Mark wrote a piece for the VPCS blog reflecting on his first 40 years in the construction industry. It’s hard to believe that we’ve both been in this business for as long as we have. I suppose one of the reasons the time has flown is...

I started my career in construction on June 16, 1979 at 7:00 a.m. (The photo above was taken that very week.) Since then, I’ve collected paychecks from two companies: Lathrop Construction Associates and Van Pelt Construction Services, the latter of which I co-founded...

There are always two very important relationships that we honor and nurture when VPCS works on school projects. The first is the one between us and our client, the school district. And the second is the one between the district and the taxpayers, who are basically our...

If you’re a VPCS client, you may have chatted by phone or exchanged emails with Corinne Figueira. She’s one of the reasons our home office hums along so efficiently. She manages multiple responsibilities and attends to countless details, always making her juggling act...