Caliagua: A Southern California Success Story Since 1978

For nearly forty-five years, Caliagua has been a family business, serving the water needs of the people who make this region their home. We’re proud of what we’re building, and we’re proud to serve this community since it’s our home too. Like most everyone around here, we’re transplants to Southern California. The founder, Oscar Bruner, and his wife, Susana, are originally from Argentina and emigrated to Southern California in 1963 with two young sons, Gus, and Andy Bruner. Oscar had previously been a pilot, flying for an Argentine airline. On arriving in California, Oscar initially looked for another position as a pilot. Oscar was offered a position with the cargo carrier, Flying Tigers (then owned by the US military and later acquired by Federal Express). Many of Flying Tigers’ deliveries went to combat areas. During a background check and discovery that Oscar had two children, he was excluded from flying for them. Oscar had an engineering degree, and natural math skills that he quickly put to use when he went to work for Brown and Caldwell, in Pasadena. One of his first major projects was working as a project engineer on a waterwork project. From Brown and Caldwell, Oscar went to work for Pylon. Pylon was heavily involved in water and wastewater plant construction and was also involved as a subcontractor for the construction of launch pads at Vandenburg Air Force Base. When Pylon shut its doors in 1977, Oscar chose the moment to pursue a long-term plan he’d had of launching his own business with silent partners he’d known from his time at Pylon; John and Floyd Doty. This is how Caliagua came to exist.

Oscar’s unique combination of discipline, organization, caution, and very high standards are what allowed our company to survive those crucial early years when most start-ups fail. By 1985, the company needed additional management and Oscar started bringing his sons into the business.

This began with his son, Andy, who had recently graduated from UCI with a civil engineering degree. Prior to joining Caliagua, Andrew had brief work experiences as an EIT at Cal-Trans, and Sidawi & Associates. Andy joined the firm as a Project Engineer/Manager. Gus recalls Andrew’s eternal optimism, effort, and unwavering interest and faith in the family business. I knew I could always trust and depend on Andrew to do what it takes to get the job done.

In 1986, Oscar’s eldest son, Gus, who had graduated several years previously from Cal State Fullerton with a BA in Accounting, was also hired into the firm. Gus brought his previous work experience as a Laborer for Doty Bros Pipeline Co.; Public Accounting work with KPMG (formerly Peat, Marwick & Mitchell), Miranda Accountancy Corp. (a small Santa Ana, CA-based firm), and as the controller for Robison-Prezioso; now known as Cor-Ray Painting.

In an interview with Gus, he remembered those early times fondly and said, “The three of us working together in the business was filled with good and hard times. Like any small, family-run business, we all had overlapping and concurrent responsibilities. As opportunities occurred, we divided the work, Andrew became more responsible for the public works projects; while I focused on our relationship with Turner Construction.” Caliagua became heavily involved as a sub-contractor to Turner between 1990-1997. The Caliagua – Turner Const. the relationship ended in 1997-98 following the reconstruction and upgrades to Anaheim Stadium, following Walt Disney Company’s purchase of the Angels from Gene Autry.

The addition of younger management, and experience in the latest software applications, gave Caliagua fresh perspectives and a keener competitive edge. For example, Gus brought his experience in computerized accounting (still a relatively new technology) with him. In the early 1990s, he also introduced project management and scheduling software into the firm’s processes. By 1995, Caliagua had instituted computerized estimating across all its projects.

Caliagua accomplished another major milestone when the business moved into the company’s own offices in Chino, on land purchased by the Bruner/Doty Partnership. Like many companies across the country, and in multiple industries, Caliagua prospered and continued to grow at a moderate rate up until the mid-2000s, when the residual impact of the housing crisis took a toll on the firm. By 2013/ 2014, Caliagua’s cash flow challenges had led to the sale of the Chino property and all the firm’s assets. Even though Gus took another job with a larger construction firm at that time, he continued tending to Caliagua’s backlog. Fate had other ideas for Caliagua’s future.

In the months leading up to these events, Caliagua was actively estimating future opportunities as a subcontractor and had secured several contracts during these slower months. The projects’ start dates had been delayed and it wasn’t clear if or when these projects would ever see the light of day. Unexpectedly, Gus received a call from a developer working in the City of Chino Hills (Woodbridge Pacific Group) in Oct. 2014. The private developer wanted to know if the firm would still be interested in a project that Caliagua had bid on several years prior, sometime around 2008. After updating the numbers to reflect the current pricing, the developer agreed, and the project was green-lighted to begin. Like the mythical phoenix rising from its ashes, Caliagua was resurrected.

This was also fortuitous for Caliagua & and Gus’s stepson, Cory Wolfrom, a recent graduate from UC San Diego with a Major in mathematics, and a minor in Economics. While enjoying some travel abroad in Argentina following his graduation from UCSD, Gus asked Cory if he would like to join the Caliagua. Cory agreed and began his tenure in Dec. 2014. Cory would learn the principles and techniques of project management. Cory could lean on our superintendent, learn the business, and develop his leadership skills and construction knowledge. Cory’s addition to the firm also moved the company into its third generation of management.

For the last ten years, Caliagua has continued to grow stronger, adding new project manager positions, building out a highly effective construction crew, and turning out excellent finished projects. We continue to win new contracts and are proud of the fact that many of our clients have continued to award us business over the years. Our future has never looked brighter.

In 2023, we celebrated our 45th year in business and we still adhere to the same set of values that Oscar and his sons used to guide our early growth including:

Detailed and intensive pre-construction planning.
Quality relationships with major subcontractors and vendors.
An extensive list of owners and engineers… (something about keeping good relationships with owners and engineers who call us back for future opportunities)
Comprehensive and periodic budget and schedule review throughout the entire course of the project. (We are constantly reviewing the schedule and budget to ensure that our projects meet or exceed the owner’s expectations and the company’s objectives)
Faithful execution of the proposal and the specifications.
Absolute commitment to the quality of the finished work. We hold ourselves responsible for exceeding customer expectations.

Do you have a water or wastewater-related project in mind? We’d be happy to talk with you about it. Please feel free to contact either Gus Bruner (gus@caliagua.net) or Cory Wolfrom (cwolfrom@caliagua.net) and let’s arrange a time to meet!

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