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in the field as a kid and continued through junior high, high school, college, and beyond, focusing on the trades and hands-on work. Subsequently, I went on to work for a large custom construction company in San Francisco, where I gained tons of experience before returning to Santa Barbara and started at DD Ford Construction approximately 21 years ago. In 2010, Blair Edwards joined the DD Ford team as its Controller, and shortly thereafter the second generation of DD Ford Construction was formed in 2014. For the past 15 years, Blair has been an integral part of the company. As a result, he is not just a business partner but also my closest friend in the world, practically family to me. I feel incredibly blessed to have such a strong bond with Blair, as well as with our founder Doug,” he reveals.
The DD Ford team is passionate about the home building industry, a love they are dedicated to instilling in the younger generation by engaging with different middle schools and high schools to introduce students
to alternative career paths in construction.“ This is an initiative we are all very proud of. Both Doug and Blair used to have a career as teachers, and my wife still is a teacher, so we all hold a particular appreciation for teaching and education not just in a school context, but also from a hands-on perspective. Over the last 15 to 20 years, we have prioritized supporting these values through financial contributions to an organization in Santa Barbara known as Partners in Education. Additionally, we enjoy a partnership with Tradart, which worked tirelessly with the public school system in town to reintroduce trade programs, specifically shop programs, in all the junior highs and high schools in Santa Barbara. Being involved with Tradart has been a pleasure and gave us the opportunity to hire a number of high school and college-aged interns who may have not considered higher education to be the most reasonable path for them. Our goal and responsibility is to show young individuals who may not have either the opportunity or
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