Editor’s note: As I waited to meet Michael Angelo Padron, president and owner of MAPCO, Inc., in the lobby of his fortress-like general contracting office, I studied a framed photograph, depicting an eagle, soaring over the calm, unbroken waters of a snow-capped mountain lake. It’s inscription read, “Until you spread your wings, you’ll have no idea how far you can fly.” After meeting Michael, I understand why this work of art is significant to him.

SACN: Michael, were you born and raised in San Antonio?
MAP: I was born in 1959, at Brook Army Medical Center, Ft. Sam Houston.

SACN: Tell me about your parents.
MAP: My mother, Anita, was born in Allende, Coahuila, Mexico. My dad, Robert P. Padron, was born in Detroit, MI, and he passed away when I was a teenager. They had six sons, stair-step style; I’m number three. Mom still lives in San Antonio.

SACN: Was your father in the Army?
MAP: When my dad was ten his mother died, and he went to live with our relatives in Guadalajara, MX. As an American kid, I think he had a problem adjusting to the cultural differences, and he ran away from there at age fourteen, and came back to America. He worked odd jobs, and when he was fifteen, he lied about his age and joined the U.S. Army.

SACN: Where did he serve?
MAP: Dad was a frontline combatant in WWII and the Korean War. He was a highly decorated soldier and a hero. This interview should really be about him. After a 15-year career, rising from the lowest rank to become an officer, he was discharged as a one hundred percent disabled veteran. My father suffered many injuries and was in a coma for eight months. He was only 30 years old.

SACN: Did he meet your mother after he recovered from his war-inflicted injuries?
MAP: Yes, one of the hospital orderlies introduced him to my mother. They were married about six months later. The military was hiring war veterans at Kelly Field, where he got a job in the sheet metal department. He could speak six languages and was very talented. But, one day, when he was out at hanger 375, he saw airplanes flying overhead and he snapped, thinking he was back in the war. From that point forward, he never recovered.

SACN: With six mouths to feed, how did your mother cope?
MAP: She worked hard, and we lived on tortillas, potatoes, beans and eggs. Mom was a seamstress, and she made dresses for a lot of women. She raised all six of us, and at age 72, she doesn’t look a day over 55.

SACN: Was there an adult male in your life who you looked up to?
MAP: My uncle, Fernando Mejorada, who lives in Guadalajara, was like a second dad to me. I always looked up to him as a role model. He’s 80 years old now.

SACN: Where did you go to school, Michael, and do you remember your first job?
MAP: We were in the Harlandale ISD, and my first job was shining shoes. I gave mom every penny of my earnings, and to this day, she gets a paycheck from me every week. I will always take care of her.

SACN: Were you a good student?
MAP: Yes! I earned stars and ribbons in elementary school. In middle school and high school I became disillusioned, and dropped out in the 10th grade. There were more drugs in the 70’s than in a pharmacy. Drugs, alcohol, weapons, fights with teachers, you name it! If I had been able to go to a good school, I could have conquered the world.

SACN: How did you avoid being snared into that anti-social behavioral trap?
MAP: I think it was a gift from God. I managed to avoid conflict with foresight and survival skills. Going to another school wasn’t an option, so I quit and went to work. Besides, my mom needed the help.

SACN: Where did you work?
MAP: I worked for restaurants, starting as a dishwasher, moving up to bus boy, waiter, and breakfast cook. I was a good worker, but in my heart, I knew I needed to go in another direction.

SACN: Where did that decision lead you?
MAP: I went to work at the San Miguel Power Plant, south of Jourdanton. I was about 17, and they paid decent money. After 7 months of commuting, I decided to go to college.

SACN: Did you have to get your GED first?
MAP: Yes, and then I enrolled at St. Philip’s College. I studied electrical trades, and got my associates degree in Applied Science, while I worked full-time as an electrician’s helper. I’m a quick study and have a very good memory.

SACN: What appealed to you about the electrical trade?
MAP: I knew it was something I could master, and I was good at it. I worked as an electrician for a number of years.

SACN: Where did you meet your wife?
MAP: I met Maria at an auto parts store. I had an instinctual feeling that she was the right person for me, based on my judgment of her good character. We eloped and were married in Eagle Pass on June 19th, 1991. We honeymooned in Mexico City and in Guadalajara. I call her mi reina my queen.

SACN: Do you and Maria have children?
MAP: We have a son, Michael, Jr. and a daughter, Ellie. They are both great kids!

SACN: At what point did you start your own company, and how did an electrician become a general contractor?
MAP: I was an electrician licensed with the City of San Antonio and I had over 13 years of experience. I decided to start a company and I named it MAPCO, for Michael Angelo Padron Company. The fact that I had no money, and didn’t know the first thing about running a business were minor obstacles that I knew could be overcome. The key, I realized, was to get bonding.

SACN: How did you go about doing that?
MAP: Through the years, I became familiar with government contracts, having worked at Ft. Hood, Beeville NAS, Audie Murphy, Kelly, Brooks, Randolph, Ft. Sam and others. To get my foot in the door, I subcontracted to subcontractors. Ultimately, I did get bonding and I was able to start bidding jobs on my own. Before long, I needed a bigger bonding company. That led me to a bigger arena, and into the niche where I was sure I could be successful, the government.

SACN: As an upstart company, where did you office?
MAP: I started in a little trailer, then, I moved into a rent house I owned. I added on to the rent house and eventually outgrew it. I’m leasing our current offices and would eventually like to find some property and build a new facility. We finished out the interior with a custom floor plan, gymnasium, showers and the works.

SACN: How many employees do you have?
MAP: Over 60, and they are some of the finest people on earth. I have surrounded myself with trustworthy and talented people. If they know more than I do, then I want them to work for me. One man can’t do it all. I get up in the morning and face each day as though I’m running a battleship. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose, but I never give up.

SACN: Give me an example of a typical MAPCO, Inc. project.
MAP: We do ground-up new construction, plus renovations. Our work at Ft. Sam involves a lot of historical renovation. We do communication and fiber-optic projects, and we’re considered an all-around contractor. We go after a mix of jobs in various locations in Texas.

SACN: To what extent are you involved in your community?
MAP: Let me just say I do help my community, but I keep it very low key. I help a lot of organizations, but I don’t tell anyone, I leave it alone.

SACN: Would you recommend to your children that they enter the construction business?
MAP: I think my greatest desire for my children is that they do what they want to do, and I will support them in that endeavor. The construction business is not for everyone, and it can be a hard life. Some people tell me I make it look like a walk in the park, but it’s a lot of dedicated hours, a huge learning curve, and hard work.

SACN: If you could offer a few words of wisdom to a young man or woman whose goal was to become a general contractor, what would you say to them?
MAP: Love what you do, give it your best, and you’ll be successful. I love what I do. I have no regrets in life. Ever since I was a young man, I’ve looked at life and taken whatever it gave me. I always move forward, I don’t look back.

SACN: Do you take time out to have fun with your family?
MAP: Yes, we travel when I have some down time. My wife and kids pick out our destinations, and the next trip will be to Australia and New Guinea. We also travel throughout Mexico and Central America, and most recently, we spent 22 days in Alaska.

SACN: Michael, what would you like our readers to know about you?
MAP: I’m an honest man, the type of person who makes a deal with a handshake that you can take to the bank. I’m comfortable in my boots and blue jeans, and I am who I am. If I were to win the lottery tomorrow, I’d still be the same guy doing the same thing except more of it!