Firm to Aid Russian Nuclear Disarmament

A Gardena construction firm is helping disarm Russia.

Early next month, G&C; Equipment, which sells and leases construction equipment, will send machinery and two employees to Russia to help that nation dismantle its nuclear weapons.

The U.S. Department of Defense awarded G&C; a $3.1-million contract to supply the heavy construction equipment and send employees to train Russian workers on how to use the machinery.

Gene Hale, president of G&C;, said he will ship eight pieces of equipment to Russia next month. Two employees will spend three months training equipment operators to use the excavators that will dig the nuclear missiles out of the ground, the cranes that will lift and move the weapons and the machinery that cuts up metal.

G&C; also will provide training manuals translated into Russian, Hale said.

Hale, a Gardena resident, is proud that his minority-owned company was awarded the defense contract. “I think it’s interesting that we’re a black-owned company that bid for the contract, and the Department of Defense awarded it to us,” said Hale, who serves as chairman of the Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce.

The Russian project is the 13-year-old firm’s first major international contract.