A FAMILY BUSINESS FROM DAY ONE
In 1991, Shawn Griswold moved to Fresno from the Bay Area to be closer to family. In addition to his young household, he brought years of experience in the backhoe industry, having worked in the field from the age of 18. Seeing the boundless opportunities available in the Central Valley, Shawn founded LASAR Construction in 1994, specializing in dry utilities (power, telephone and cable TV).
LASAR took on work as a subcontractor for Irish Construction and handled other small jobs that suited his fledgling operation. Sensing a next-level opportunity for his business, Shawn incorporated in 1999 under a new name: LASAR Underground Construction Inc., allowing the firm to get on the bid list for AT&T. Shawn became president and his wife, Lorrie, was named treasurer/secretary.
In 2005, Dennis Gregory, a longtime employee of Irish Construction, became a partner in our business. Like Shawn, Dennis had worked in the backhoe industry since his teen years and had moved to Fresno in the 1990s. With Dennis on board, LASAR won a series of maintenance contracts with AT&T, adding the Fresno area in 2007 then Hanford and Visalia in 2009.
In 2009, Shawn stepped down from daily operations and Lorrie became our president. By 2015, LASAR had earned maintenance contracts for the Bakersfield area, and in 2017, Modesto was added. LASAR grew to handle a wide range of other projects, including work for high-speed rail, renewable energy plants for several utility companies and work for new home builders.
Today, we service and support customers throughout Central California, from the top of the Grapevine to the Sacramento County line and from the coastal mountains to the national parks in the east.
LASAR is truly a family company, not just because it’s owned and operated by two families and their adult children, but because we employ multiple people from families up and down the Valley, including father-son teams and brothers from the same family. And since family and community go hand-in-hand, we also support several community-based nonprofits – including family-focused programs like Little League.
Family isn’t just part of the LASAR story, it’s a key ingredient to our success!
