Congratulations to Guida’s Bay Area Chief of Parties, Joe Vargas, LSIT, for his ten-year work anniversary!

Joe began his career at Guida as a Party Chief, who worked predominantly in the field on various pipeline projects, before moving into his role as Chief of Parties at Guida, where he manages field crews full-time from the Bay Area office.

Joe’s direct supervisor, Vice President of Northern California Operations, Adrian Trespando, had the following kind words to share about his time working with Joe:

“Joe Vargas has been my right-hand man since we were awarded our contract with PG&E 11 years ago. He has helped to define the work and is always ready to work regardless of day or night, weekday, or weekend. I have no doubts that without him we would have struggled to be this successful. We were coworkers, but now I count him as a dear friend.”

Among the Guida family, Joe is not only known for his love of dragons and licorice, but also his diligent work ethic and dedication to his profession.

Since joining the firm, Joe has worked on a myriad of projects. One of his personal favorites was the Hearst Castle Neptune Pool Renovation. Originally constructed in the 1920s, Hearst Castle’s Neptune pool is a historic marble pool that was drained for renovations in 2014 due to cracks and leaks. Joe worked in collaboration with the San Diego office to help restore the Neptune Pool’s statues; once the pool was retiled, it was Joe’s job to ensure that pool’s statues were returned exactly to their historically accurate positions. Joe appreciated the historical significance of the project, as well as the collaboration between the two offices, and it ended up being a project he fondly remembers. Another favorite project of Joe’s was the 2-mile Chevron Bay Area Pipeline, where he worked on a two-mile stretch of pipeline that travelled through marshland. It was a challenging job, and he ended up having to survey from a barge deck to get the measurements that he needed.

In recent months, Joe has been instrumental in supporting and guiding the Bay area staff through the pandemic as smoothly and safely as possible. When the pandemic began, the Bay Area office team began working remotely from home; however, Joe continued to go into the office each dayto ensure that sanitizing stations were available and that the office was clean and safe for his field crew members when they needed to come into the office. This is just one example of many where Joe has put in hard work and made personal sacrifices in order to support those around him, and the overall success of Guida. We are truly fortunate and grateful to have him as a part of the family.

Thank you for all of your contributions to the Guida team over these past ten years, Joe! We appreciate you. Happy Anniversary!