| With full-steam ahead, Pam and Yehudi "Gaf" Gaffen are celebrating their construction management company, Gafcon's, 20th anniversary. Scroll down page for a December 2007 "Daily Transcript Article"
Gafcon-Harris Prop H Program Managers Hired | Copy of GUHSD Press Release By NATALIE WARDELL, The Daily Transcript Friday, December 7, 2007
With full-steam ahead, Pam and Yehudi "Gaf" Gaffen are celebrating their construction management company, Gafcon's, 20th anniversary.
The business, which has assisted on projects at the Del Mar Fairgrounds and San Diego State University, has almost doubled its staff this year and increased revenue by 50 percent.
The Gaffens met on a construction project in Cape Town, South Africa in 1979.
They married a year later and immigrated to the United States together, with dreams of starting their own business.
"You always hear that it's a land of opportunity," Pam Gaffen said. "We wanted to give it a shot. We took it very seriously."
Pam and Yehudi "Gaf" Gaffen are celebrating their construction management company, Gafcon's, 20th anniversary. Photo: J. Kat Wornowicz  | Their first job was to project manage a custom home. From there, the Gaffens created a trend of diversity, lending expertise as a construction advocate for a myriad of projects in San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles, as well as internationally. From government-funded endeavors such as schools to parks to government buildings to private projects like mixed-use developments, multi-million dollar custom homes and office complexes. The company's largest project is designing 1,347-acre Great Park in Irvine.
Gafcon's design, created by architect Ken Smith, won in a competition of 27 design teams, and now its design of a 2.5-mile canyon, lake, culture terrace, amphitheater, aviation museum and open space is being developed on the site. The park is expected to take 20 years to complete. "I think we've always been pretty flexible in terms of development," Yehudi "Gaf" Gaffen said. "I call it opportunistic." Flexibility has helped Gafcon handle construction recessions. No employee has ever been laid off. Instead, the business has employees wear different hats, Pam Gaffen said. At any time, Gafcon may be offering expert witness services to up to 400-500 cases, advising on "someone else's train wreck," Pam Gaffen said.
The company also offers services to distressed projects and companies that were dismissing employees because of recession. Those businesses still needed to provide services and fulfill contracts, despite not having the manpower -- so Gafcon stepped in, consequentially giving its employees work.
The husband and wife team speaks highly of owning a business together, noting that it's helped sustain their marriage and instill good work values in their two children, now in their 20s. It helps that they are both energetic entrepreneurs.
"Pam says I'm sick because I look forward to Monday morning," Yehudi Gaffen said. He said he is a "glass-half-full" type of person who is a "deal junkie." His wife takes care for the deals after her husband makes them, coordinating production from company's downtown San Diego office. She describes herself as a hard worker, yet nurturing.
Part of that nurturing spirit is the benefits employees receive. The office fills with the smell of hot food around noon every weekday when lunch arrives for employees. The lunch tradition started by Pam Gaffen who was worried about the then-small company's five employees working through lunch. So she started bringing them sandwiches.
"It's a perk that we really really enjoy," Pam Gaffen said. "To me, it made absolute sense. I
have the philosophy of working hard. I demand a lot, but I also play hard." In addition to lunch, Gafcon's 160 employees enjoy gym membership reimbursement, a turkey on Thanksgiving, daily yoga classes and many other benefits.
Women at Gafcon celebrate the holidays with an annual gift exchange in which guests arrive in animal print -- in honor of the Gaffen's South Africa heritage -- and exchange lavish gifts like pashima scarves and evening gowns. The perk to the business owners, is the company's low turnover rate.
"Gaf's job is to take care of the outside clients, my job is to take care of the internal clients," Pam Gaffen said, noting that the internal clients are the employees. While in their mid-50s, they don't plan on slowing down any time soon.
The two hope to create more sub-companies, such as the information technology company they just formed, SharePoint 360. Despite other ventures, they said Gafcon will always be the focus. "We've had offers to buy the company," Yehudi Gaffen said. "But we figure we're having too much fun."
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