Jumping through hoops: strict environmental regulations challenge producer.

There's more to maintaining a strong tradition than just keeping the plant's sign brightly painted at the company gate. It's the ability to do business of high quality using current best business practices.

For concrete producers trying to continue traditions in California, surviving

Just look at San Francisco's Bode Gravel Co. In business for more than 90 years, the firm has grown to become one of the four largest ready-mixed concrete producers in the Bay area. Even with this growth, the producer has a rich family tradition. The current ownership began when Danvers Boardman St. acquired the company in 1987 after more than 50 years of employment. Today, his three sons--Danvers "Dan" Jr., Doug, and Randy Boardman--are managers.

The challenge of continuing the tradition hit the producer hard in the late 1990s. Bode Gravel Co. owners were faced with moving its main ready mix operation because of redevelopment occurring in San Francisco's Mission Bay neighborhood. Plans for a new University of California bio medical campus, supporting lab, and offices forced the concrete plant and other industrial operations to move.

Finding a new home

In the months following the realization that they needed to relocate, the Boardman team realized that finding a suitable site in San Francisco and obtaining the necessary approvals would be a monumental challenge. The real estate research uncovered one small area large enough to support a ready-mixed operation where heavy industrial operations would be allowed. It was on San Francisco's southern waterfront adjacent to the Bayview/Hunter's Point community.

Bode officials negotiated a lease for the property with the Port of San Francisco. But the challenge then only began. The land use was subject to necessary agency approvals and any community concessions necessary to mitigate the industrial operation's impact.

The new site was a 2.5-acre waterfront parcel at the port's Pier 92. Bode wasn't the only company on the hunt for space. The massive redevelopment then taking place in the Mission Bay area had forced the accompanying relocation of many industrial operations. This action had already caught the eye of environmentalists and concerned citizens.

The Bode Gravel Co.'s potential new lease soon became the catalyst for strong community opposition. "We thought the approval process would last three to six months, but instead, it turned into a four-year roller coaster ride through the realities of modern day politics and community-industry co-existence," says Dan Boardman who directed the permitting process.