Saturday, October 28, 2006

Blea: Ensuring you live a balanced life

Jackie Schlotfeldt News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jschlotfeldt@news-bulletin.com

Bosque Farms It doesn't matter what you do, but if you have balance in your life, you can be successful at anything.

That's the advice Nick Blea, owner of Lone Mountain Contracting Inc., gives. "You have to have things in order regarding God, family, work and recreation and in that order," he said.

"You can be successful monetarily, but if you're only doing one thing, that's extremism I think."

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Blea's work in the construction industry spans a period of 33 years and while his work has been a combination of various types of general construction from roofing to parks, water tanks to commercial jobs, he added a new one to the list about five years ago and is now specializing in earthwork and athletic tracks.

"We really have two divisions (at Lone Mountain Contracting)," Blea said. "Roofing and track and field."

While his nephew manages the roofing division, Blea manages the field and track work. "It's a real positive business, and it has an impact on the kids and the community."

Although Blea started in the roofing business in Las Vegas, Nev., his love for New Mexico soon brought him back home. Blea was raised in Grants. While Lone Mountain Contracting Inc. conducts a lot of business in the county and surrounding area, it also works all over the state.

"We do a lot of work statewide, but our home base is here," Blea said. "It just depends on the contracts we get."

Blea was awarded the contract to re-do the track at Los Lunas High School.

He said in addition to track work, the company also installs quite a bit of synthetic turf, and with synthetic turf comes different grades, depending on whether it's for football or for baseball and soccer.

"It's like carpet," Blea said. "In fact, it is a carpet."

Los Lunas High School will soon be getting artificial turf for its football field, through legislative appropriations, but the job has not yet gone out to bid.

The whole point of putting in artificial turf is so fields can be used 24/7. It also means getting to stop watering, fertilizing and mowing, Blea explained.

On the roofing side of Blea's business, he said that since the rains during the summer, Lone Mountain has been inundated with work.

"You never buy a roof until it leaks," Blea said, with a smile.

In his 33 years in the roofing business, Blea said the materials have changed.

"Plastics used to have a bad name but not anymore," Blea said. "We realized that the quality of roofing products had to improve, so we went into what's called single-ply rubber membranes and that's what we specialize in. Our roofs last in excess of 20 years."

While his business keeps Blea very busy, he also finds time for missionary work, in addition to serving as chairman on the development board at the University of New Mexico-Valencia Campus.

"We're concerned with helping kids," Blea said. "Our fundraisers, such as the proceeds from Locals and our major golf tournament, goes for scholarships for students," Blea said. "UNM-VC is not a typical school. Most of our students are, on average, older, not just out of high school."

With UNM-VC's new four-year nursing program, Blea said, it will be great for the students to be able to work locally once the county gets a hospital.

What Blea sees for the future of Valencia County is the continuation of rapid growth, especially with all the county's amenities.

"We're not going to curtail growth in Valencia County in any way, shape or form," Blea said. "You don't have to go to Albuquerque anymore and I envision this being, not like Rio Rancho, but along those lines."

Through all of his endeavors, one thing Blea's learned while serving on missions is how strong the spirit of God is in other countries.

"They don't have anything else to look to. A lot of them don't have jobs, but they have a lot of heart, and they are very loving and cheerful," Blea said. "In little jungle areas, kids run around with no fear of being kidnapped."

With his missionary work in Russia, Peru and Thailand, Blea said that people are all the same, no matter where you go. While they may have different traditions or speak a different language, you find a way to communicate, and every person he met was gracious. His experiences from his travels have made a difference in his work as well.

"I realize the human factor becomes so much more important, and the materialism is secondary. Things don't matter as much anymore," Blea said. "Giving is very fulfilling."

Blea also belongs to Craftsmen for Christ at Calvary Chapel, which gets people together about once a month to fix leaks on roofs for those who can't afford repairs. They also make other repairs.

"One thing about our country is we have opportunities, and it's important that people take advantage of it," Blea said.

Lone Mountain Contracting also sponsors Web sites for all schools in New Mexico for any activities they'd like to put on the Internet. They started doing this in August and, in two months, 12 schools have gotten involved. From football games to band concerts to science fairs, schools can utilize the Web sites for their school activities.

Blea also tutors students through Calvary Chapel, and he said, laughing, "I'm pretty good at it."

Despite all his work and extracurricular activities within and outside the community, Blea keeps a balanced life.

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