Filling a Niche
Father and son have kept Newcastle-based Selby ’ s Soil Erosion Control business operating since the 1960s
BY Graham Womack | PHOTOS BY Hector Amezcua
Jay Selby Jr . was finishing high school and gearing up for college when his father , Jay Selby Sr ., came to him with an opportunity . It was 1995 and Jay Jr . was 18 , his father in his early 60s . Jay Sr . had run his Newcastle-based company , Selby ’ s Soil Erosion Control since 1968 , doing business with customers such as the California Department of Transportation . “ He was ready and so I took him in as a partner ,” Jay Sr . says . His son is now president of the company .
Family business can mean different things to different families . In some , it ’ s a coterie of relatives across generations coming together , with evershifting roles and responsibilities . In the Selby family , the term has largely been about two men staking out a longterm spot in a niche industry for more than 50 years . SSEC , the flagship company of the family business with about 50- 60 employees , sprays hydroseed on hillsides to prevent erosion , among various endeavors such as environmental protection and sediment control .
Today , other parts of the family business include the original Selby ’ s Soil , which handles equipment rentals and the Idado-based SSEC APEX , which was created out of a merger in February 2020 between SSEC and a Washington state company , Apex Curb & Turf . SSEC APEX also provides erosion control .
Jay Sr . says the idea for his original business started with a law in Los Angeles County in the 1960s mandating that slopes of land larger than four feet had to be seeded or revegetated . Jay Sr ., who grew up around agriculture near Watsonville and Salinas and worked in sales for companies like Caterpillar , International Harvester Company and John Deere , decided to take the plunge .
Work was plentiful even early on , with the Reno Gazette-Journal noting in 1969 that Jay Sr ., then living in Ventura , “ has seeded some 2,000 acres of cuts and fills for the California Division of Highways
“ The fact that I have no children and have no plans for it , I don ’ t think it ’ s going to stay a family business . But I do think it will continue on .”
JAY SELBY JR . President , Selby ’ s Soil Erosion Control
during the last five years .” Today , while the industry is not particularly competitive , it remains vital , with the company responding to disasters such as the Camp Fire in Paradise in 2018 .
Jay Sr . established himself as an innovator in his industry , pioneering the concept of making hydroseed for hills green in color , which allows it to look more natural and less obtrusive . “ I always tease him , ‘ If you would have just patented two or three things ’ that he came up with over the years ‘ I wouldn ’ t even need to have a job ,’” Jay Jr . says .
Not long after the founding of his company , Jay Sr . relocated his wife and children to Northern California , where Jay Jr . was born in 1977 . After Jay Jr . joined the business , his father remained actively involved for another five years or so , before winding down his involvement around his 70th birthday .
Now 89 , Jay Sr . goes into the Newcastle office a handful of hours a week and retains minority ownership in the family ’ s California companies . Jay Jr . owns 51 percent , with other minority partners Brandon Coppedge and Trevor Robertson .
“ I ’ d say the last 10 years , really , he ’ s fully retired ,” Jay Jr . says of his father . “ He loves hearing the stories . He loves coming in and bantering with everybody in the office .”
Jay Jr ., who lives in Coeur d ’ Alene , Idaho , also oversees SSEC APEX . Whether it all remains a family business for another generation remains to be seen , though Jay Jr . is optimistic for the enterprise ’ s future .
“ The fact that I have no children and have no plans for it , I don ’ t think it ’ s going to stay a family business ,” says Jay Jr ., who plans to let the company ’ s younger generation take a more active role over time . “ But I do think it will continue on .”
Graham Womack is a freelance writer based in Sacramento . His work has appeared in a variety of publications , including the San Francisco Chronicle , The Sacramento Bee , and Sacramento News & Review . On Twitter @ grahamdude .
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