Gabriel Valenzuela attending Super Bowl® LVIII is a win for all the hard-working people of the construction industry. The 53-year-old veteran crane operator was the winner of CONEXPO-CON/AGG’S recent Super Bowl® Tickets Sweepstakes in honor of the City of Las Vegas hosting its first Super Bowl®. CONEXPO-CON/AGG has called Las Vegas home since 1996.
“I really never thought something like this could happen to me,” says Valenzuela, who works for Nimble Crane in the Permian Basin, an oil-and-gas-producing area located in West Texas. But hard work and persistence is something that comes naturally to Valenzuela. He grew up in South Central Los Angeles and began working construction right out of high school. His cousin helped him get hired and his first job was as an oiler on a Manitowoc 3900. He’s been working ever since.
Being the oldest of seven children, Valenzuela felt a responsibility to help his family. “I was 18 years old and didn’t know anything,” says Valenzuela “But I was hungry. I had an opportunity and I wanted to work.”
Valenzuela is grateful to his mentors. “I can run a lot of different types of equipment, but my God-given talent is running cranes,” he says. Before moving with his wife and kids to Texas in 2006, he spent several years working as a crane operator for Balfour Beatty.
Throughout his 35-year career, Valenzuela has made a point to learn from his peers and build relationships. “I educated myself on everyone’s job,” he says. “In such a high-risk industry, you always want to know what you are doing.”
During fracking operations, cranes are on site continually to perform a variety of tasks. Valenzuela operates mobile cranes, primarily Grove and National, ranging in size from 15 to 530 tons. Crane technology has advanced over the years and Valenzuela has learned to adapt and appreciate both productivity and safety improvements.
“When I first broke into the crane industry, everything was friction over conventional, then with time, it became conventional over electric and today its electric over hydraulic,” says Valenzuela. “Back in the day, precision depended upon a man holding a brake. You had to work. Now you have computers calculating longitude, latitude, radius and wind speed. You can tilt the cab. You have a joystick.”
With his kids grown, working 14 days on and 7 days off allows him time to decompress and the freedom to travel. “Oil and gas operations are 24/7 and the men and women who work in oil and gas know what it takes to be out in the field,” he says. At this stage of his career, Valenzuela hopes to give back to others. “I have a duty to this industry and to the men that came before me that took the time to mentor me,” he says. “I want to be a mentor to the next generation.”
Super Bowl® Highlights
Spending the weekend with his wife, Teresa, in Las Vegas, Valenzuela was awed by the city’s bright lights, world class entertainment, gambling and luxury accommodations. But for an avid Raiders fan like Valenzuela, the highlight of the trip was walking into the packed Allegiant Stadium for Super Bowl® LVIII. “I was on the edge of my seat the whole game!” he says. “The fans were crazy.”
Valenzuela is thankful to AEM and CONEXPO-CON/AGG for the experience. “We’re happy to show appreciation for the hard-working people of our industry,” says Peter Kaufmann, Marketing Manager at the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. “Since Las Vegas has been home to CONEXPO-CON/AGG for nearly 30 years, it was important for our industry to be represented at this major event.”
