David R. Ashton · President and Founder, Ashtonco, LLC
A builder on the owner's side
Ashtonco, LLC is a licensed California general contractor that works for owners, not against them. We don't self-perform; our job is to make sure the people who do build it right.
David Ashton has spent 36 years in construction and project management: running his own commercial construction company in Oakland, managing projects at a Bay Area shipyard, and, since founding Ashtonco in 2017, representing owners on conventional construction and taking first-of-a-kind hardware into the field.
That mix is unusual. The same person who checks that a grocery store is built to the drawings has taken prototype ground stations of up to 57,000 lbs from the fabrication shop to test sites in Hawaii and Norway, and designed a two-crane crash test for an electric aircraft.
Career
How we got here
- 2017 – present · Ashtonco, LLCOwner's representative and field deployment manager. Projects include the Kraft Heinz rail spur in Lathrop, Food 4 Less Manteca, Starbucks Tracy, Watson Ranch, Makani (a project within Google), an eVTOL crash test, and offshore wind buoy logistics.
- 2008 – 2017 · San Francisco Bay Area shipyardProject manager, then senior PM, then industrial sales program manager. Work included painting and restepping the mast on the battleship USS Iowa.
- 1990 – 2008 · APD Ashton Construction, OaklandPrincipal of a commercial construction subcontractor. Projects included the Sony Metreon in San Francisco, the Children's Hospital Oakland medical office building and an SFO cargo facility.
- 1985 – 1989 · Crowley Maritime, Prudhoe Bay, AlaskaArctic marine operations at a remote North Slope site: tug and barge maintenance, pumping and sealift support, rising to crew chief.
Credentials
- California General Contractor #1058186, classifications B, C-17, C-23, C-43 and C-51, all active
- B.S., Political Economics of Natural Resources, UC Berkeley
- UC Berkeley Extension: Project Management, Awarded with Academic Excellence
- Tuck Executive Education at Dartmouth: Digital Excellence Program (2017)
Ready to travel
- TWIC card for port and secure marine facility access
- Trusted traveler status for fast domestic and international air travel
- Field work across California, Hawaii, Norway and the Alaskan Arctic
- Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, working wherever the project is
Company data
NAICS codes
Ashtonco, LLC · California General Contractor #1058186 (B, C-17, C-23, C-43, C-51) · Founded 2017 · San Francisco Bay Area
| 541611 | Administrative Management and General Management Consulting ServicesPrimaryOwner's representation, project management and early-stage project development for owners |
| 541618 | Other Management Consulting ServicesProgram management for first-of-a-kind hardware and new technology projects |
| 541614 | Process, Physical Distribution, and Logistics Consulting ServicesHeavy-haul, ocean and international shipping, site logistics and deployment planning |
| 236220 | Commercial and Institutional Building ConstructionConstruction management and field observation for commercial and retail projects |
| 236210 | Industrial Building ConstructionConstruction management for industrial facilities, rail docks and test sites |
| 561210 | Facilities Support ServicesOperation and upkeep of test facilities and equipment between campaigns |
| 541990 | All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical ServicesFeasibility studies, site selection and technical project support |
How we work
What you can expect
We represent the owner. Our only interest is that you get the project you paid for.
Problems are found on site, not in a conference room. We are there when the work goes in.
A written daily field log with photos, so you always know what happened and why.
We reply to every inquiry within one business day.
Ashtonco, LLC · Licensed California General Contractor #1058186 · (510) 773-0622
Talk to David