Overaa Construction

1902-1920 | 1921-1940 | 1941-1960 | 1961-1980 | 1981-2000 | 2001-Present

Overaa — The First Generation

Overaa Construction’s story starts in Scandinavia at the Dawn of the Century. Carl Overaa was born into a large family of dairy farmers in Overaa, Norway. That he ever emigrated from Norway is itself unusual: as the oldest son, he stood to inherit the family farm. However, his love of adventure coupled with the economic downturn of his native land lead him to seek out the “land of opportunity.” Settling in San Francisco, he hooked up with Norwegian native Julia Pederson, the girl next door, or in Carl’s case, the girl across the fjord.

World History

1906
April 18, the Great Earthquake of 1906 shakes the Bay Area and sets much of San Francisco afire.

1908
Henry Ford introduces his Model T and drives from New York to California in 22 days.

1911
The Bay Area is struck by rapid population growth and expansion,
boosting the construction industry.

1915
Bernard Maybeck designs the Palace of Fine Arts for the Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco.

1917
The United States enters World War I

1902
Carl Overaa immigrates to San Francisco from Overaa, Norway.

1903
Julia Pederson (Carl’s future wife) emigrates from Norway to San Francisco. She was “the girl from across the fjord.”

1907
In the aftermath of the Great Earthquake, Carl Overaa, a carpenter, decides to help rebuild the Bay Area. Carl goes into business with his future brother-in-law, Charles Pederson. Carl Overaa Builder is established in San Mateo.

1908
Carl Overaa and Julia Pederson marry.

1911
Carl splits with Charles and heads for the boom country: Richmond, California. Carl and Julia recognize the promise of the developing East Bay community, home to two giant new industries – Santa Fe Railroad and Standard Oil Company.

1915
Carl builds houses, apartments, and stores. Carl constructs a boarding house on Nevin Avenue in Richmond where he and Julia live. Julia manages the books and cooks big meals for Carl’s workers who live in the boarding house. Most of their workers are old friends and family from Norway.

Overaa – Second Generation

Carl and Julia have two sons, Elmer and Clarence. Ole Overaa, Carl’s brother and carpenter foreman, volunteers for the Army.

1922
Women get the right to vote.

1927
Babe Ruth hits 60 home runs.

1929
The Stock Market crashes.

1932
US Jobless rate reaches 25%.

Roosevelt becomes President.

The US population reaches 122.7 million.

1937
The Golden Gate Bridge opens.

1926
Carl Overaa takes a risky leap – the type that can make or break a contractor: He bids and is awarded a contract to construct the Richmond High School. In the midst of this two-year job, disaster strikes: Carpenters receive a 10 percent raise, to $1 an hour! Several subcontractors go broke and Carl is forced to complete the brick and plaster work with his own crew. The project barely breaks even.

1927
After graduating from the newly built Richmond High School, Clarence and Elmer enroll in the University of California at Berkeley.

The Great Depression nearly puts Overaa Construction out of business. Carl can’t find work and Elmer and Clarence are forced to leave college. Carl and his sons move to Couterville to try their luck gold mining. Tragedy strikes: Elmer is killed in a car crash and their gold mine burns down.

1932
Clarence meets his future wife, Julia Lucey.

1939
Carl and Clarence return to Richmond and are back in business. They construct several exhibits for Ford Motor Co. at the World’s Fair at Treasure Island.

1941
U.S. enters World War II and a construction boom hits Richmond. The shipyard opens and Richmond grows from a population of 20,000 to 130,000.

1945
The postwar years bring a boom to Richmond and the East Bay as the growing population needs homes, schools and stores.

1947
The Taft-Hartley
Act puts limits
on big labor.

The World Series is shown on TV for the first time.

1950s
The industrial expansion causes moderate growth.

1955
Disneyland opens.

1960
John F. Kennedy elected President.

1942
Clarence and Julia have son Gerald.

1945
Carl and Clarence enjoy good economic times. Overaa constructs more than 20 schools and works on 90% of the stores in downtown Richmond.

1948
The business is reorganized from a partnership of Carl and Clarence to a corporation with Clarence as President. The company finally moves into its first real office at 520 16th Street in Richmond. Carl, now in his 70s, is still active in the business and community.

1950
Business is steady with some ups and downs, but work stays close to home for Clarence.

1957
Carl is nearly 80 years old and still works hard. The company and Carl celebrate 50 years in business. Carl receives a nice gold watch.

1959
Carl passes away and the company continues to grow under Clarence’s charge. Clarence builds the eight-story concrete Berkeley Townhouse and the massive Blue Chip Stamp Company Warehouse.

Overaa — Third Generation

1964
The Beatles appear on the Ed Sullivan show with 73 million television viewers.

1966
Ronald Reagan becomes Governor of California

1968
Richard Nixon is elected President of the United States.
Martin Luther King is assassinated.

1969
July 24, Neil Armstrong walks on the moon.

Woodstock music festival takes place.

1972
After 26 years in the making, BART carries its first passenger. It is the first new transit system in the United States in 60 years.

1980
Ronald Reagan becomes President of the United States.

1964
Clarence’s son, Jerry, marries Gail Anderson. Overaa develops a niche in church construction and goes on to build more than 30 sanctuaries in the Bay Area.

1966
Jerry (M.S., Stanford University) joins the firm as a novice civil engineer. He loses his shirt on his first project, the Arlington Recreation Bldg.

1968
Richmond High School, Carl’s pride and joy, is torn down.

1973
Overaa takes on its largest project to date – the $1.3 million Lafayette BART Station. Unfortunately, Overaa realizes a builder’s worst nightmare: its price is too low. The project ends only marginally profitable, but provides a confident basis for larger and more challenging projects throughout the Bay Area, including 15 BART projects.

1979
Overaa becomes the first alliance contractor for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a $36 million project spanning seven years.

Overaa builds its first design-build parking structure at the SunValley Mall in Concord. Overaa goes on to build dozens of parking structures in the Bay Area and becomes a well-known expert in concrete construction.

1980
Jerry Overaa becomes President and CEO and Howard Verrinder becomes General Superintendent, supervising a crew of 65.

Overaa — Fourth Generation

1988
George HW Bush is elected President.

1989
The Loma Prieta Earthquake shakes the Bay Area.
The Berlin Wall is torn down.

1994
The Northridge Quake shakes Los Angeles.

1982
Overaa celebrates 75 years under a big tent in the office parking lot. Heavy rains flood the tent.

1984
Overaa constructs the Daly City BART Parking Structure and goes on to build 30 more parking structures, including 5 for BART and Stanford University’s structure shown left. Ruth McDaniel becomes Chief Financial Officer.

1988
Clarence dies at age 75 after working up until his last year

1989
Overaa rebuilds the historic Cyclotron Building to house light source technology at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.

1994
Overaa reaches an annual volume of $70 million and is named one of Engineering News Record’s Top 400 Contractors in the nation. Peter Kappelhof and Larry Etcheverry become Vice Presidents of Project Management and Estimating, respectively.

1995
Overaa continues to work at all the Bay Area refineries and becomes the alliance contractor for Tosco Avon Refinery. Overaa lifts the historic Oakland City Hall and installs base isolators.

1996
Overaa shuts down a portion of downtown Oakland and continuously pours 7,920 cubic yards of concrete for the foundation at the Elihu Harris State Office Building.

1997
Overaa celebrates its 90th anniversary at the Exploratorium. The Coasters perform live.

Overaa builds the new Pittsburg/Bay Point BART Station, a project that takes the rail line into East County.

2000
Rosie the Riveter memorial is established in Richmond

2001
Estimated world population reaches 6.2 billion.

The World Trade Center is destroyed on 9/11.

The Dot Com industry implodes.

2001
Overaa’s volume reaches $100 million.

By this time, three of Jerry’s four children have joined the company: Carl Overaa (M.B.A., University of San Francisco) Kara Gragg (M.S. Architecture, Cal Poly) Erin Dissman (B.S. Construction Management, Cal Poly).

Peter Kappelhof becomes President and John Painter becomes VP Operations. The firm develops a niche in water and sewer treatment construction under the direction of Jeff Naff.

2002
Diversification and self-perform capabilities keep Overaa strong. Jerry decides it’s time to build a new office building to accommodate Overaa’s 200 employees and 30 ongoing projects. Repeat clients, such as Saint Mary’s College, ChevronTexaco, BART, and YMCA, as well as numerous religious facilities and parking structures account for the majority of Overaa’s work.

Overaa logs 566,000 man-hours, with an outstanding EMR of .70.

Director of Project Management Tim Fitzpatrick completes a massive renovation of ChevronTexaco offices in San Ramon.

2003
Overaa completes its largest project to date: a $37 million renovation of the Dublin San Ramon Services District Wastewater Treatment Plant. The project completes five months early.

On October 1, 2003, Don Winn, a 30-year superintendent, puts the finishing touches on Overaa’s new office building and the next phase of company and family history begins!