History

The Ashton Company, Inc., Contractors and Engineers, was founded by Harold Ashton, a son of Armenian immigrants, who came to America in search of opportunity and a determination to succeed. He was raised in that spirit and believed anything was possible. His philosophy was "never quit, strive until you succeed".

So on January 1, 1946, The Ashton Company was born as a Commercial/Residential Builder with a minimal amount of equipment, tools, and laborers. In 1950, the company built the Tucson Vocational School, a 130,000 square foot building for $1,350,000 and in 1951 completed the St. Mary's Road Bridge – the company's first. By 1970, a party was held for the '100th Bridge' constructed and since that time, over two hundred additional bridges have been built.

Harold joined the Associated General Contractors (AGC) in 1950 and Life Directorship was bestowed in 1990. Harold served as State President in 1972 and National Director in 1978. Along with his contributions to the construction industry, Harold was also a supporter of his community. Believing it was important to support and mentor our youth, he made generous contributions to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Tucson, University of Arizona, St. Luke's and many others.

With a growing, diversified construction business in place, Harold made the decision to become incorporated in early1952.

Throughout the decades, The Ashton Company, Inc. has expanded its building activity to include a wide array of projects such as interstate and urban highways, airport runways, wastewater treatment plants, booster stations, reservoirs, stadiums, medical facilities, power substations, power plants, tailings dams, mine work, crushing plants, and a natural gas fueling station for both public works agencies and private industry.

Harold was proud of not only the buildings and structures that he constructed, but of the people who made that building possible. In his words, "In my business, I have found the greatest reward is putting other people into positions where they can go the full extreme of their capabilities. Nothing is more exciting than seeing this happen." Harold promoted a simple philosophy that prescribes early opportunity and later responsibility. This philosophy, according to Harold, is based on four stages of life. First you LEARN, then you BUILD on the knowledge with experience and ultimately you ACHIEVE your goals. These three preliminary stages give way to the responsibility phase, when the accomplished person TEACHES, passing on the knowledge of his or her success.

This philosophy still lives on in the Company today where you will find many long term employees devoted to keeping his dream alive.