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Equipment operator Jerry Barragan performs saw cuts for structural footings in a tilt-up warehouse building.

David Weston has been in the construction industry since the early 1990s. He has been at the helm of Blade Runners as President since 2015, growing the business by 20 percent to 30 percent each year.

When you’re looking at running a blade into 24 inches of concrete, you need an operator that makes clean cuts, has the tools powerful enough for the job and works quickly. Blade Runners has all that and more. “We are one of the larger core drilling and concrete sawing contractors in the Phoenix metropolitan area,” says President David Weston. “We have the expertise and the equipment power to take on a multitude of different scopes of concrete work.”

The company offers turnkey concrete solutions for a broad customer base that includes mechanical contractors, electricians, fire sprinkler service providers, plumbers and a variety of contractors who install and maintain sewer and other underground infrastructure.

The company’s sawing and coring teams provide wall sawing, slab sawing and core drilling. “We work on a broad array of projects,” Weston says. “A mechanical contractor will hire us to create wall penetrations for ductwork or venting; another customer will have us wall saw for a door through a concrete wall or slab saw for underground utilities. Pipeline contractors utilize our services for both concrete and asphalt sawing for underground utility construction.”

In addition to coring and sawing services, the company also offers concrete removal and specialty pours including structural footings and flatwork. “What’s unique about our company is that we can saw the concrete, remove the concrete and then pour back once our client has completed the necessary installation of piping or conduits. We are the only ones in the Valley that do this type of turnkey work in the volume that we do,” Weston says.

And the team is ready to go at a moment’s notice. “We’ll get a call on Monday morning that a client needs 500 cores by Saturday. We are one of the few contractors that can accomplish that kind of fast turnaround,” he says.

Weston cites a past project at Arizona State University’s Sun Devil Stadium that put his team to the test. “The general contractor was running two months behind on a revitalization project. The steel for the handrails was ready to go, and the client needed 800 cores in just five days. We were on that project the next morning,” he says. “We worked Saturday and Sunday and through each night to get that job done. I even purchased additional core drills specifically for this project. I don’t think the client truly thought we’d be able to get it done in such a tight timeframe, but we did. I made sure all my guys received a bonus for their work on that project.”

From Mom-and-Pop to Major Player

Founded in 1987, Weston purchased Blade Runners in 2015 from original owner Bernie Emery. With an economics degree and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Arizona, Weston has been in the construction industry since the early 1990s. “For years, I was a residential general contractor and owned a swimming pool excavation company and residential landscape construction business. I transitioned into the heavy equipment industry, but after 15 years, I decided I was done with travel and yearned to get back into the contracting market. I saw a great deal of potential in Blade Runners,” he says.

Under Weston’s leadership, Blade Runners has transitioned from a mom-and-pop shop into a significant player in the coring and sawing market in the Phoenix area. “We’ve grown 20% to 30% every year over the last five years,” he says.

When Weston purchased the company, Blade Runners had four employees and four old, outdated trucks. Today, the team includes 24 employees and a fleet of seven coring and sawing trucks and five trucks dedicated to the company’s concrete division. All of its trucks and equipment are of newer vintage and well-maintained, according to Weston. “We have a tight maintenance program in place. Our in-house Equipment Manager, Ray Kinser, self-performs all our maintenance and repairs in our state-of-the-art facility,” he says.

Appearance matters, adds Weston. “Our yard doesn’t look like a construction yard. It’s clean and well organized,” he says. “We’ve worked hard to build our brand. People recognize our trucks and our logos around town.”

Blade Runners’ quality work has built its reputation and attracted notice, according to Weston. “We don’t bid on a lot of projects. People see us on site working or hear about the work we do, and they call us,” he says.

A year and a half after assuming leadership, one of those calls served as a real game changer for the company. “Out of the blue, we got a call from a nationally recognized online retailer that has a large distribution center located in town,” Weston says. “We were contracted to perform the sawing and demo work for 167 dock levelers in just five weeks. That $185,000 project led to an additional 
$1.5 million in additional concrete work for the client, 
including foundation and curb and gutter work, as well as excavating, forming and pouring dock-leveler pockets on all their future projects.”

“That project was a shot in the arm in terms of revenue,” he continues. “I was able to purchase a new wall saw and other ancillary gear after completing that job.”

The project also attracted the attention of other national retailers, and the company secured additional high-profile projects, working with large, national general contractors on large distribution centers, as well as high-end retail stores at Biltmore Fashion Park and the Scottsdale Quarter.

“We have the expertise and the equipment power to take on a multitude of different scopes of concrete work.” David Weston, President,
 Blade Runners

Unparalleled Expertise

The team at Blade Runners is not only used to tight timelines, but also challenging work environments. The company is currently coring 9,000 cores at an Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation & Reentry facility. “We are working in the prison cells, side by side with low-level offenders who are serving as day laborers for the general contractor,” Weston explains. “Our team has to hit production of at least 100 holes a day four days a week during this seven-month project. And if something happens that shuts the cell block down, like contraband is found, we have to account for that lost time.”

No matter the challenge, Weston is confident in his close-knit team. “The key is to surround yourself with people who know more than you,” he says. Weston cites General Manager Art Recker, who has been with Blade Runners since its inception. “Art started out as a saw cutter. He knows this business inside and out.” Today, Recker manages the sawing and coring division, while Weston manages the concrete unit. “We call Art the dean of concrete sawing and coring in the Valley,” Weston adds. “You can name an intersection anywhere in the city, and he’ll tell you how thick the concrete or asphalt is. You can give him a specific building, and he can tell you what kind of coring depths to expect.”

Blade Runners’ team of trusted employees includes those Weston has known since birth. “I’ve known Concrete Lead Raul Barragan since I owned my landscaping business, and we’ve kept in touch over the years. When I purchased Blade Runners, he was one of the first guys I called. Today, we have 10 members of the Barragan family working for the company, including Raul’s son, David, and his nephew, Jerry—two of our Concrete Foremen. I remember when both of these guys were born.”

Weston believes that treating employees with respect and empowering them to make decisions is key to a company’s success. It can also lead to some pretty innovative solutions. “Not long ago, we had to core drill and pour concrete for a couple of hundred bollards. We customized a skid steer for the project to make the work more efficient. Instead of our operators struggling with 400 pounds of equipment, we mounted everything on the skid steer so nothing had to be offloaded,” he says. “This customized piece of equipment allows us to core holes up to 48 inches in diameter in half the time.”

Leading the Industry

Blade Runners not only stays on top of technological advances, but the company also often leads the local industry in the early adoption of new techniques and equipment. “A few years ago, we acquired two Vacuworx Vacuum Lifting Systems after attending the World of Concrete,” Weston says. “These devices allow us to surgically remove concrete instead of using imprecise and inefficient jackhammers. The system kicks up less silica, creates less noise and removes concrete in half the time. The system is really a game changer in the industry.”

After purchasing a concrete form system at World of Concrete, the manufacturer congratulated Weston. “He told me I was the first customer in North America to purchase the form system specifically for monolith pours,” Weston says.

To complement its fleet of tools, Blade Runners owns two skid steers and two excavators. And redundancy is key for Weston. “We have backups of all our tooling. It’s rare that we can’t complete a project on time due to a piece of equipment being down for repairs,” he says.

To keep days moving efficiently, all trucks are outfitted with GPS systems. “We can monitor employee driving habits and track where all our trucks are at any given time,” he says. “If a crew finishes work early, we can send them on to another nearby job site.”

Weston is grateful for the success of the company and makes giving back a priority. Through his mission work, Weston has helped to build homes and infrastructure in Nicaragua and Mexico, as well as an orphanage in Haiti. Closer to home, the team of Blade Runners lent a hand and donated all of its labor and materials to help expand Impact Church. “We sawed, removed and poured back in excess of 250 cubic yards of concrete needed for a 70,000-square-foot project at the church in Scottsdale,” he says.

He points to a belief system inscribed and mounted outside of Blade Runners’ headquarters: Work safe. Work professional. Work respectful. Work grateful. “That really encapsulates what we try to do each and every day here at Blade Runners. It’s instilled in our culture, and it’s what our customers demand. We are so grateful for the opportunity to serve this community and to serve our customers.”