I thought I would take a little time and get personal with you. Together, my wife and I are the owners of Ahwatukee Pro.Lwn. Svc. Inc. My name is Steven Balogh, and my love for construction started very early in my life. In the early seventies, when I was a young boy, my family moved from the heart of Cleveland to small suburb that was growing and new houses were being put up as fast as they could tear down the woods to build them. Everyday was exciting to me as I watched the construction workers, earthmovers and semi trucks. I remember on this one warm and sunny day, I watched a crew of workers pour concrete from a cement truck for a new section of road. When the cement truck was empty it would pull away from where the men were working and another would take its place supplying the men with more concrete. This one empty truck pulled away and stopped close by me. I remember the sounds of the deep rumbling engine, the smell of the hot diesel engine, and the swishing noise the air brakes made when the driver set his parking break. The truck driver climbed down out of the huge truck and asked me if I wanted to go for a ride with him. I asked my parents if it was okay, and with their permission and without hesitation, I said YES! and climbed up into the truck. The truck driver gave me a short ride, then stopped and let me out. It was fantastic and from that moment on, it was my destiny to work in the construction industry.
Fast forward a few years to the economic crisis of the mid 70’s, my father needed to supplement his income. He thought to start a landscape service that specialized in grading yards for people, getting them ready to plant grass seed or install planting beds. He bought a 1949 Ford, model 9N tractor. I can remember it was Bright red and gray. I was about 8 years old. I would go with him every Saturday and sometimes during the week after school to help him. I remember I would follow behind the tractor just watching the implement turn the soil. It was memorizing to me. I would study my dad and look for ways to do the job better. As I grew, I became more involved, and I started using a rake for my dad, then quickly moved up using a roto-tiller cultivating the soil close to obstacles. Then by the time I was ten, I was using the tractor and I had my own small lawn mowing business on the side that I did for my grandparents and neighbors.
When I was twelve, my family moved to a small farm with a few acres of Christmas trees. As time past, we were doing less landscaping and started planting corn and pumpkins. At Christmas, I sold the trees for my father and I started to learn how to price them so that the customer always received a fair deal. People came from all over Northern Ohio, to buy our Trees. At fourteen, I started contracting with other farmers planting their corn fields. That is when I started to feel some pressure because more was at stake. I learned quickly that the work I did had to be the best. I was always worried that if the crops I planted did not grow, I would disappoint the farmers, so I always made sure I did a good job form them. I never had a bad crop and the farmers said that they could not have done a better job.
When I graduated, I wanted to try something different, so I went to work on the shipping
docks in downtown Cleveland. I quickly moved up to spotting trailers in the yard. When I was twenty, I got a job working at Yellow Freight Systems as a city truck driver. At the time, I was the youngest truck driver that they had ever hired. At twenty one, I met my future wife, Julie. The day I met her I knew I was going to marry her and two years later I did. I was transferred to Phoenix to start working at Yellow’s new terminal for the growing area. Things could not have been better but that would change. Soon after we bought our first house, the economy slowed 
down, and I was laid off. I was Twenty Five, I had a new house payment and a family that was depending on me to support them. I had a few thousand dollars that was invested in my 401k program, so Julie and I decided to withdraw it and do what my father did when he needed to support his family. In June of 1992 we started Ahwatukee Pro Lwn Svc Inc. You can see the picture of the small truck and trailer parked in front of our new house below. I soon rediscovered, my love for the construction industry. We have been growing and cultivating our small business and supporting our family by doing many different projects and have made our name a staple in the Ahwatukee area.
We are glad you took the time to read this bit of history on us. If you think we might be able to help you in your next project, we hope you will give us a chance to prove what we can do for you. We look forward to working with you.
S.Balogh