OPC is proud to announce our new CFO, Mr. Gene Blaho, MBA.

Mr. Blaho brings a wealth of past experience to OPC. Gene started his career with KPMG in Orange County, CA. After leaving public accounting, he gained a variety of experience and assumed roles of increasing responsibility in publicly traded companies with revenues of $700 million-$15 billion. In his many roles, Gene has helped business owners and executive teams improve liquidity, raise capital, and improve overall financial performance. His experience includes corporate finance, treasury, financial planning and analysis, internal audit, SEC reporting, and consolidations.

OPC was honored for our work over the past year on the International Right of Way Association’s Chapter 1 newsletter and fall seminar. IRWA Chapter 1 serves Los Angeles County and Orange County, covering our Long Beach headquarters. These certificates are now proudly displayed in our Long Beach office. OPC would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to Chapter 1 and to the entire IRWA team for the great work that they do. We have been able to build a 40-year foundation specializing in right of way in part because of IRWA’s advocacy for our industry and cultivation of a fulfilling community of practice.

After nearly six months of working out of her house under OPC’s Safer at Home guidance, OPC Marketing Manager Maria Brief started to notice a lack of daily physical activity. With gyms closed, she searched for another way to get exercising again.

As a member of the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS), she got an email from the Orange County chapter in late August about a 100-mile exercise challenge. SMPS is an important network for the architectural, engineering, construction consulting industry like OPC, focused on the unique considerations of marketing technical and professional services to sophisticated government and institutional clients.

Maria was daunted at first by the challenge – walk or run 100 miles all in the month of September! But she broke it down and realized that it is only 3.3 miles per day. Not one to shy away from a challenge or a due date, she dusted off her walking shoes, found a pair of mismatched white socks, purchased a Fitbit, and started her month-long 100-mile journey.

Maria dreaded it at first, but now, she looks forward to putting on her headphones and walking off the day’s stresses at her neighborhood park, at the beach, or Long Beach’s sprawling El Dorado Nature Center.

A total of 29 SMPS Orange County chapter members are participating in the challenge. As of mid-month, Maria is right on track to meet the 100-mile goal. She has logged nearly 50 miles and is currently ranked in 11th place in the chapter.

“I enjoy seeing the rankings among some of the A/E/C marketing professionals that I have met and have collaborated with,” says Maria. She added that she has “started feeling more energetic, and I need to hit the pavement tonight to try and inch my way up in the rankings. It will all be downhill from here.”