Our Foundation: A Multi-Generational History of Resilience

Most people ask about our company history, but a modern corporate timeline only tells half the story. To understand the stability, depth, and identity of our independent transportation infrastructure corporation, you have to see the full lineage behind it. What follows are the verified historical records, timelines, and family foundations that built the enterprise we operate today. 

1896-1905: Military Records and Agricultural Foundations

Our lineage begins with Great Granddad Ortega, who served as an Official de la Armada España (Officer of the Spanish Navy). He was officially stationed in the Philippines during the critical historical windows of the Philippine Revolution (1896-1898) and the Spanish-American War (1898).

Following his military service, his son, Granddad Salbador Ortega Gonzalez, was born between 1900 and 1905. In accordance with Spanish naming standards of that era, the child inherited the father’s and mother’s surnames, placing the father’s surname (Ortega) immediately after the child’s first name, and the mother’s surname (Gonzalez) last. He was born either in the Philippines during his father’s naval stationing or in Los Altos, Arandas, Jalisco, Mexico. 

Following the Spanish-American War, the Ortega family settled in Los Altos, where Great Grandad Ortega became the founder and developer of extensive agave agricultural fields and industrial distillery. 

1911-1930: Wartime Disruption, Tragedy, and Exile

During the Mexican Revolution, Great Granddad Ortega embraced his military officer’s role once more, serving for the Federalistas. This positioning drew severe political retaliation. Ortega’s own brother-in-law, Gonzalez – who fought for the opposing rebellion side – shot Ortega in the back of the head at a local cantina. Because of his familial proximity, Gonzalez was the only individual who could get close enough to execute the hit. 

Granddad’s three older brothers were killed soon after in a coordinated effort by rival factions and corrupt local public officials to seize corporate control of the family’s agave fields, the distillery, and the established distribution routes.

Between the years of 1911 and 1916, when Salbador was just eleven years old, his three older sisters forced him into immediate exile to protect his life following the killings. After years navigating exile, Salbador established residency in San Antonio, Texas. Between 1920 and 1925, he departed alone for New Braunfels, Texas, leaving behind his older first wife and their two children. In 1930, Salbador remarried in New Braunfels, Texas and established the family line that leads directly to our modern corporation. 

1930 -1938: The Great Depression and Environmental Resilience

During the Great Depression, Salbador supported his family of three children by shifting operations across the West Texas region and the Gulf Coast. Long before our corporation operated heavy earthmoving fleets, our family mastered land clearing, grading, and resource management under the hardest economic and environmental conditions in Texas history. Salbador sustained his family through construction labor, landscaping, ranching, harvesting cotton, harvesting rattlesnakes, and distilling and transporting moonshine “white lightning.”

The family’s history during this decade provides a direct record of surviving extreme Texas weather events – the very elements our civil engineering structures are bult to withstand today: 

• Lamesa, Texas: Salbador moved his family here to manage a major ranching operation, which was completely devastated by a historic West Texas tornado. 
• Corpus Christi, Texas: He relocated the family to the Gulf Coast to harvest cotton, until a severe hurricane struck the coast and destroyed their livelihood. 
• Midland, Texas: The family returned to inland ranching, only for a second major tornado to destroy their site and drive them permanently back to Comal County. 

1938 – 1970s: Land Acquisition, Elite Military Service, and Staging Expansion

In 1938, Salbador Ortega Gonzalez permanently anchored our family enterprise in Comal  County. He purchased two acres of land in New Braunfels, Texas, acquired directly from Mr. and Mrs. Vaughn. Upon the physical land asset, he established Salbador Ortega Gonzalez Nursery and Landscaping. This 1938 land purchase marks the official root of our site preparation, earthmoving, and grading heritage. By the late 1940’s and 1950’s, my grandparents welcomed five additional children, bringing the total to eight children (not including the two children from Granddad’s first marriage).

In the early 1960s, as post-war Texas infrastructure boomed and the family operations scaled, the company executed a major asset expansion by purchasing as additional 20 acres of adjoining land. This acquisition expanded the family footprint to a 22-acre contiguous tract, providing the critical real estate equity, industrial staging yard, and heavy equipment storage necessary to transition from residential landscaping into large-scale commercial earthwork. 

During this mid-century era, the family’s leadership was further forged through elite military service. Ignacio B. Gonzalez (Dad) served on the front lines of the Korean War with the 101st Airborne Division, where he was personally awarded the prestigious Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) under enemy fire by General Douglas MacArthur – a framed medal that still hangs at our corporate offices. Later, both Dad and Uncle Patrick (an official boxer in the U.S. Marines Corps) deployed to the theater of operations during the Vietnam War, infusing our operations with world-class discipline, precision, and rigid safety protocols. 
 

1980 - 1987: Gonzalez Sanitary Services Fleet Operations & Corporate Liquidity

In 1980, to actively extend the footprint of S.O. Gonzalez Nursery and Landscaping, Dad executed a strategic asset acquisition by purchasing a regional refuse operation directly from Bustos Trash Company. The purchase included four heavy environmental vehicles (refuse trucks) and established service routes across Northeast Bexar County Texas. Dad rebranded the entity as Gonzalez Sanitary Services, designing the signature orange-and-white fleet colors and adopting the Texas roadrunner as the corporate logo. 

Throughout the 1980s, managing this heavy commercial transport fleet required rigorous logistical coordination and regulatory compliance. Amid intense regional competition, Gonzalez Sanitary Services successfully defended its market share against prolonged turf resistance from major private sector haulers, including Garbage Gobbler and Chicago- based Waste Management (WM). To safeguard our market operations and combat regional expansion efforts, out firm established strategic joint-venture alliances with Browning-Ferris (BFI) and Gutierrez Landfill located in Schertz, Texas. 

Following a series of historic industry disruptions – including the sudden passing of BFI representative Clyde Peke and Mr. Gutierrez-owner of Gutierrez Landfill – our family elected to capitalize on our market position. In 1987, Dad successfully negotiated the corporate sale Gonzalez Sanitary Services to Waste Management (WM). This highly successful exit provided our family enterprise with clean corporate liquidity, solidifying the independent asset base that funded our subsequent transition into commercial contracting. 
 

1988 – 1995: Vertical Construction, Disaster Restoration, and Structural Pivot

In the spring of 1988, our enterprise formally transitioned into vertical construction and specialized contracting. Seizing an immediate market demand for skilled labor, Dad and I partnered with a local fire restoration contractor, Firefighter Service. Working evenings and weekends, we utilized our equipment mobility and structural grading backgrounds to execute complex disaster recovery, site clearing, and building restoration projects. 

This critical operational phase naturally evolved into the launch of Gonzalez General Contractors in 1988 and San Antonio New Age in 1997. Operating as a general contractor, our company moved aggressively into vertical commercial construction, structural framing, industrial site preparation, and large-scale commercial concrete installations. Navigating the strict insurance, structural bonding, and architectural demands of major general contracting throughout the Texas metropolitan areas provided direct engineering footing required to scale into public works. 

1995 -2001: The Structural Hospitality and Commercial Boom 

Between 1995 and 2001, the corporation entered its peak historic expansion era within the vertical commercial market. Capitalizing on the rapid development of the Texas economy, Gonzalez General Contractors formally transitioned into operating as San Antonio New Age, Inc. Under this entity, the firm secured major regional contracts to execute comprehensive structural building shells for the hospitality, corporate retail, and grocery stores. 

Originally launched with JB (Ignacio, Jr.), San Antonio New Age, Inc. was formed to directly focus on the vertical commercial market. During this intensive six-year window, our crews successfully constructed over 30 multi-story hotels, major grocery stores, and large-scale retail facilities across Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. Each of these projects required strict adherence to rigid structural Concrete Masonry Unit (CMU) specifications, heavy steel reinforcing, synthetic exterior coating systems, and tight commercial development deadlines. Managing the simultaneous supply chains, heavy machinery fleets, and engineering parameters for over 50 commercial facilities established our firm as a premier force in high-volume, high-specialization vertical construction. 

Our peak-era commercial portfolio included structural shells for the industry’s most demanding corporate clients: 

• Major Retail & Big Box Superstructures: Target, Walmart, and Toys “R” Us.
• National Hospitality & Multi-Story Hotel Chains: Hilton, Best Western, Residence Inn, Hampton Inn, Comfort Suites, Marriot, Woodfield Suites, and Shoney’s Hotels. 
• High-Volume Grocery Stores: H-E-B and Albertsons

2001-2008: Macroeconomic Restructuring and Project Diversification 

The turn of the century brought unprecedented macroeconomic challenges to the Texas construction industry. Following the systematic economic disruptions of September 11, 2001, the commercial construction market experienced immediate, widespread project suspensions, and a permanent shift from traditional handshake agreements to highly rigid, formalized corporate bidding and written contract structures. 

In response to a tightening commercial credit and contracting market, our leadership executed a strategic corporate restructuring in 2002, reorganizing our corporate framework to pivot aggressively into high-end vertical construction, institutional rehabilitation, and custom residential development. 

Operating under this restructured corporate banner, our team leveraged its concrete framing, and site development expertise to secure premier municipal and private contracts throughout the San Antonio and New Braunfels regions, mirroring the technical output of our peak operational years.: 

• Major Commercial Footprint (Structural CMU): Demonstrating our capacity to meet rigid corporate engineering specifications, our firm executed the load-bearing structural Concrete Masonry Unit (CMU) construction for a Walmart retail facility under strict quality control and fast track scheduling protocols. 
• Institutional Historical Rehabilitation: From 2004 to 2007, we partnered with the San Antonio Development Agency (SADA) under their historical rehabilitation program, executing the ground-up construction and historical structural restoration of three specialized properties. 
• Luxury Custom Residential: Capitalizing on the rapid population boom in Comal County, we expanded our high-end portfolio by constructing luxury custom homes within the prestigious Vintage Oaks master-planned community in New Braunfels. 

When the 2008 global financial crisis and subsequent housing market collapse halted private residential development nationwide, we protected our capital. We utilized our multi-decade asset base and debt-free land equity to weather the economic downturn. This strategic preservation of capital ensured our corporate reediness to transition permanently to heavy civil, street, highway and bridge operations as public infrastructure spending renewed. 

2009 – 2017: Technical Specialization, Advanced Metallurgy, and Executive Education

Following Dad’s formal retirement from daily field management in 2009 and amid the continued nationwide commercial construction freeze, our leadership utilized the market downtime to aggressively upgrade our internal technical and executive capabilities. 

To expand our self-performance capabilities in heavy equipment maintenance, structural steel engineering, and advanced fleet logistics, I attended WyoTech in Sacramento, California, specializing in advanced metal fabrication, structural welding, and industrial coatings – building directly upon the heavy fleet maintenance fundamentals learned during our regional refuse operational days. 

Upon returning to Texas, I focused heavily on academic and corporate advancement to prepare our family enterprise for large scale infrastructure contracting, tracking through top-tier national institutions: 

• Advanced Analytical Logic (The University of Texas at Austin): Entering community college in 2010, I was formally accepted into The University of Texas at Austin in 2012, focusing my academic career on Astrophysics and Philosophy. The intense mathematical, spatial-physics, and rigorous logical frameworks required by these disciplines directly anchored our corporate capabilities in complex structural calculations, contract analysis, and systematic problem-solving. Applying precision metallurgy and industrial fabrication techniques to ensure our firm could self-perform complex structural modifications on heavy civil fleets and ironworks. 
• Executive Communications & Contract Marketing (Syracuse University): In 2017, I advanced to graduate-level studies at Syracuse University, earning a Master of Science (MS) in Advertising. This elite executive training mastered the complex communications, corporate positioning, and contract negotiation strategies required to successfully lead a modern prime contracting corporation in the public bidding market.

The intense multi-year window of elite technical training and higher education successfully transitioned our leadership from traditional field general contracting into a highly specialized, academically backed executive force, perfectly positioned to launch our heavy civil street, highway, and bridge operations.  
 

The Modern Evolution into Heavy Civil Infrastructure

Following the completion of advanced graduate studies and the consolidation of our multi-generational asset base, the enterprise executed its final, permanent pivot into horizontal public works, and civil engineering. 

In 2018, a milestone corporate buyout successfully finalized, consolidating 100% executive ownership, voting equity, and asset control under a single managing principal. This unified leadership framework allowed the corporation to aggressively capture prime market share in the municipal and county infrastructure sectors. 

By bringing our foundational roots in mass earthwork, multi-decade fleet logistics, and rigorous structural concrete engineering, our firm successfully scaled from vertical building superstructures into heavy horizontal civil infrastructure. Today, we operate strictly as a Prime Contractor, commanding the technical capability, financial liquidity, and field management expertise to deliver critical public-sector streets, roads, and concrete bridge structures across the region. Built on a century-long legacy of unyielding grit and survival, we don’t just move earth – we build the structures that connect it.  

For banks, surety underwriters, and commercial partners evaluating our corporate profile, the line from a 1938 family nursery to a heavy civil street, highway, and bridge corporation is direct, documented, and continuous.

Corporate Classifications & Certifications

As a multi-generational, family-owned Texas enterprise, our corporation maintains deep operational capacity while remaining lean, agile, and independent. We operate strictly as a Prime Contractor, bringing the financial stability, fleet mobility, and management expertise required to oversee entire project sites, manage contract labors, and deliver complex infrastructure from breaking ground to final inspection. 

To facilitate smooth procurement for municipal, county, and private commercial public works, we maintain active compliance and certifications across the following major frameworks: 

• Prime Contractor Status: We act as the single point of contact and primary contact holder for municipal and county civil infrastructure projects. 
• SBE (Small Business Enterprise): Validating our status as a locally rooted, independent company with the asset base to scale to major infrastructure demands.
• MBE (Minority Business Enterprise): Honoring our diverse multi-generational heritage and positioning us as a certified partner for regional public works projects requiring minority-owned corporate inclusion. 
• HUB (Historically Underutilized Business): Certified through the State of Texas to fulfill local, county, and regional civil participation goals. 

By pairing our 80+ year heritage of Texas land ownership, fleet logistics, and vertical-to-horizontal construction mastery with these certified classifications, we provide public and private clients with maximum prime capability and effortless regulatory compliance. 

Principal Leadership & Governance (2026)

We operate under a unified, single-principal executive framework that ensures absolute accountability and zero bureaucratic red tape. Following the successful buyout of previous corporate entities, the settlement of family shares, and strategic equity consolidations, 100% of the executive control, corporate shares, and voting power rests with a single Managing Principal. 

• Kristøffer A. Gonzalez (Christopher) Managing Principal & 100% Sole Owner: Commanding all corporate operation, financial procurement, project bidding, and prime contract execution. Backed by an extensive personal track record in advanced metallurgy (WyoTech), analytical logic (BA, The University of Texas at Austin), and graduate-level corporate communications (MS, Syracuse University), he maintains absolute financial and operational authority over all enterprises. 
• The High-Readiness Leadership Reserve (Anthony & Maximino): Infusing our field operations with elite active-military discipline, precision, and rigid safety protocols. Both Anthony (US Army, enlisted 2023) and Max (U.S. Army, enlisted 2023, corporate asset successor) are strategically stationed regionally at Ft. Hood. They actively deploy their military logistics, tactical planning, and leadership training to oversee specific contract portions, material mobilization, and site operations during critical project phases. 

Every cubic yard of concrete we lay and every bridge structure we erect is personally directed and legally verified by the 100% owner of the company.