Concrete Decor - Index

Concrete Decor - CDNLSeptember08 - Index

a name, not a number. He’s old-school
that way.”
But, like curing concrete, Chief came
together slowly, over time.
Picking up and
turning down work
The young company bought its first
cookie-cutter stamping tools in 1981. “When
we diversified into stamping,” Monte Walker
says, “that tripled our business.”
The company’s first stamp jobs were
for Jack in the Box fast-food restaurants.
Eventually, they signed contracts with such
major homebuilders and developments as
Del Webb Corp., The Howard Hughes Corp.
and Pardee Homes, bringing the company
into the Vegas high-end real estate market.
Monte Walker was on his own by then,
having bought out his partner in 1986.
Multicolor acid staining, overlayments,
self-leveling cements, epoxy coatings,
surface preparation, enhanced architectural
concrete and countertops … it all was
added to Chief Concrete’s toolbox of
capabilities over time. Walker’s people
handled project work for shopping centers,
spas, country clubs and public areas,
including 25,000 square feet of stamped
concrete streetwork for The District
at Green Valley Ranch, a mixed-use
lifestyle center.
Monte’s son, Matt Walker, joined the
company full-time out of college in 2002. “He
developed a real rapport with homebuilders
and commercial contractors,” says his dad,
proudly.
Remember not so long ago when people
were actually building — and selling
— homes in Las Vegas? Back then, all of
three or four years ago, the local real estate
market looked like even more of a sure thing
than four aces and a wild card.
“We were very involved to the point
where we had to turn down work,” says
Walker. “We didn’t have enough people to
handle it. We had about a three-year period
where it was hot like that.”
Things are a little different in Vegas now,
of course. “It’s been a little slow over the
last year and a half,” Matt Walker admits.
His father has the numbers at his
fingertips. “We’ve got 54 people in the field
and six in the office. Two years ago, we had
SEPTEMBER 2008 · ALL ACCESS · 7