Back in 1949, brothers Milton and Norman Chazin were about to live the American Dream by starting their very own business. It was a construction company and they named it Western Construction.
The name Western Construction came from their belief in the spirit of the old west. Where inspiration and perspiration were all you needed to succeed.
Several years earlier their father Abe Chazin had passed away. Rose Chazin with 5 children and no real means of support was forced to move from house to house. Milton (Mitzie), the youngest son, promised Rose that when they became successful she would never have to move again.
Their first office — if you could call it that — was in a unheated dilapidated garage on Penn Avenue North in Minneapolis where the Chazin family were renters.
There were no cell phones back then (I know that’s hard to believe today) so whenever they needed to use the phone they had to run into the house. Their mother Rose was more than supportive, but when the dirt sidewalk between the garage and kitchen was all over her kitchen floor, she had enough.
“Boys,” she yelled, “it’s time to get your own office.” So with the help of family and friends the brothers scraped up enough money to rent a small one-room office at 3017 Lyndale Avenue South in Minneapolis for one month and hoped for the best.
One month became two, two months became three years, and 60 years later the rest is Twin Cities history.
BUT Wait
The Story Doesn’t End There.
When Mitzie’s son Bradley became 13 it was his turn to start working for a living. At least that’s what his father thought.
At age 13 Bradley started his first real summer job. He was a laborer on a apartment building the Chazin brothers were building in Brooklyn Center Minnesota. His job was to sweep, sweep and sweep some more. Basically he did whatever job no one else would do. Upon arriving the first day his father called him into the job site trailer to set down the law. The law was simple and to the point.
“If you think because you’re my son you can work less and get paid more,” he said, “you’ve got it exactly backwards. Because you’re my son you will work harder and get paid less.”
At the time it didn’t seem fair to the young 13-year-old, but in later years Brad appreciated the work ethic his father instilled in him. First one to the office, last one to leave has become second nature.
He saw his father live this work ethic every day so it was all Brad knew. In those days you were in the field by day and on the phone by night. They didn’t have cell phones, computers and e-mail back then. All communication had to be done face to face or land line to land line (a land line is a phone with a cord attached to the wall).
After Mitzie’s first of 3 by-pass surgeries Brad had to leave school at the University of Minnesota (The U of M later thanked Milton for this)to take over the sales duties his father could no longer handle. Bradley said, “Dad, I don’t know anything about sales.” In Mitzie’s simple and matter of fact way he replied. “Just give people what they want and don’t charge too much.” “I can do that,” Brad replied, so with that Bradley went on to break every sales record for Western and is still having a very successful career.
But Wait
The Story Still Doesn’t End There.
Fast forward to 2009, and the 3rd generation of the Chazin family comes aboard ship. Zachary Chazin is the grandson of Milton and son of Bradley. Zachary knows he has some pretty large shoes to fill but with hard work and determination Zachary will carry on the dream his grandfather had over 60 years ago…
Bradley Chazin
President
Western Construction, Inc.
