Jose Ledon
J ose met Liz through a mutual friend during her sophomore year at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Rutherford, N.J. They moved to Las Vegas in 1981 and started their family and Jose's career in the area's booming construction industry. He earned the respect of the local industry, he said, while learning the construction process, from knocking on developers' doors to physical labor and final billing. They had two daughters, Alyssa, now a sophomore at Doane, and Natassha, 18, who wants to study culinary arts.
By 1996, they were ready to "take the plunge" and start their own company. "We started the business from our savings account and good name," he said. In the early years, the company worked mainly in electrical, telephone and cable installation for commercial and residential developers. Then an opportunity with Southwest Gas led the company-Bravo Underground Inc.-to grow dramatically, forging into gas, water, sewer and storm drain work that grew as fast as Las Vegas.
Today, the company has over 300 employees and a multi-million dollar equipment fleet. Success, the Ledons said, came from knowing the work, working hard, valuing employees and customers, and "being in the right place at the right time."
"[I'm] very proud to give back to the community... I was born in Cuba, but this is my country." |
When it came time for their oldest daughter to choose a college, Jose was less than thrilled to hear Doane and its softball program had made Alyssa's list. Doane was three states away, in a place they knew nothing about. But they agreed to visit.
Jose clearly remembers this journey, too, arriving at night, the dark stretches of empty, winter road making his first impressions match his fears. In the light of day, he changed his mind. "The campus is gorgeous. We love it here," Liz said.
Jose observed a political science class in Gaylord Hall. It reminded him of the first school he attended in the United States-wooden, historic and academic. When they drove through Crete, it reminded him of the community that first encouraged his family in New Jersey. And the cornfields? They reminded him of Cuba. "I smelled the dirt. It took me back to the sugar cane fields," he said.
Alyssa arrived in the fall of 2005, a catcher for the softball program that earned its first regional tournament bid in 2006. Shortly after her arrival, Jose talked with President Jonathan Brand and Head Coach Barry Mosley about the possibility of building a complex to give softball and baseball teams a home on campus.
The project struck a chord with Jose. Baseball is in his blood. "In Cuba, every corner has a boxing sign and every open area has a baseball lot, homemade or official." It made the complex dedication symbolic of both his childhood and adult success. From the pitcher's mound, he told the audience gathered for the dedication that he was "very proud to be able to give back to this country. I'm still going to build a school with my name on it someday ... I was born in Cuba but this is my country."
He has another date etched in memory now. He'll remember the day he threw the first pitch, his daughter behind the plate, on a new field his family made possible. March 27, 2007.