Company History

Steve P. Rados, Inc. began in 1922. As is true of many companies in this country, our company began with an individual immigrating to America in search of a better life. Stojan (later "Americanized" to Steve) Rados immigrated to America from his native Herzegovina (Yugoslavia) in 1910, at the age of seventeen. Steve spent his first ten years in America working at a variety of jobs, including washing dishes in restaurants and two years working in a copper mine in Jerome, Arizona. Over that two year period, Steve worked hard and managed to save $5,000. With the $5,000 he saved, which was at the time a considerable sum of money, he came to Los Angeles. Steve, as a young immigrant, foresaw an opportunity to take part in the expansion and growth in the construction industry in the United States. This was his motivation to move to Los Angeles. Looking back on the past eighty four years, Steve Rados' ambitions were more then realized and the growth of his corporation was greater then even he envisioned.


In 1920, Steve began doing house sewer connections with three friends from the old country; Tom Gogo, Simo Chuk, and Dushan Milosevich. After they had made some money, Steve and Tom wanted to purchase a crane. Simo and Dushan were not interested, so Steve and Tom bought them out. Steve and Tom over the next couple years were successful constructing small projects. Gogo-Rados was started in 1922. Their small company began to prosper. The fledgling enterprise focused on underground projects and gradually acquired a reputation for expertise in such work, especially after a particularly profitable project in Culver City in 1927.

In 1930, Phoenix, Arizona installed its first storm drain, and awarded the construction contract to Gogo Rados.

During the Depression, the company continued performing public works projects.

In 1938, Steve and Tom were building a spillway in San Gabriel Canyon during one of Southern California's major floods. The water in the dam went over the unfinished spillway. Due to the resulting damage, the company lost almost everything. But Steve and Tom continued to work hard with the intent of overcoming this setback.

Steve and Tom's venture lasted until the early 1940's. After the partners separated, Steve continued on his own, formally incorporating the firm in 1948.

Steve became very ill towards the end of his life. At the time (1953), Steve's son Alexander S. Rados had completed his MBA at Stanford and had just completed two years in the Army. He was on the verge of accepting a job in New York when his mother called him to tell him that his father was very sick. She told him "we need you". Alex came back to California from the East Coast to work for his father's company. In 1957, Steve P. Rados passed away. Immediately following his passing, the presidency and leadership of the company was assumed by his oldest son, Alex.

The company continued to prosper in underground construction through the 1950's. In the early 1960's, Alex Rados decided to expand Steve P. Rados, Inc's. market and formed a joint venture with Pentaco Inc. known as Pentaco-Rados whose main focus was highway and bridge construction. A second corporation, Novo, was formed in the early 1970's to facilitate activity in highway construction. Novo and Steve P. Rados, Inc. stayed very busy through the 1970's and 1980's building infrastructure projects. Novo was subsequently merged into Steve P. Rados, Inc. in the late 1980's.

Upon Alex's retirement in August of 2000, Steve P. Rados' two younger sons, Wally and Steve S., became Co-Presidents of the company. Wally is responsible for the Heavy Engineering Division while Steve directs the Bridge and Highway Division.

Steve P. Rados, Inc. is currently active in major pipeline projects, large concrete channels, treatment plants, dams, highways, bridges and elevated highway structures. The company's most recent development has been the formation of a Northern California division in 2000. Through the hard work of our Northern California staff, we have developed a strong team well positioned to take advantage of the current heavy construction opportunities taking place in Northern California.

Steve P. Rados, Inc. has continued without interruption from the date of its founding. It has expanded gradually and steadily through the years in both size and type of construction performed.

Today Steve P. Rados, Inc. has construction work under contract utilizing the most modern equipment and techniques available to the construction industry. There are licensed and professional engineers on the Rados staff enabling the company to perform valuable design functions as well as a full range of construction services.