Pictured above (left to right): Steve Burton, President; Brian Gansert, President of Operations; Steve Gross, San Diego Commercial Operations Manager; Keith B. Jones, Managing Partner; Mike Tweeten, Hotel Division President.

This past Wednesday, the ACE Team Member Recognition Committee organized a celebration to honor Commercial Operations Manager, Steve Gross, for 30 years of service as a member of the ACE Parking team. Among those in attendance were multiple members of the ACE executive team, many of whom have worked alongside Steve for the better part of the past 30 years.

Steve began his career at ACE Parking in 1988, as an on-call maintenance ambassador at the San Diego International Airport. His parking industry potential was quickly recognized and Steve proceeded to work at numerous ACE operated locations around San Diego County over the next 30 years, Throughout his tenure, Steve has steadily risen to hold leadership, supervisory and managerial positions that bear with them increasing levels of responsibility and new challenges.

Steve recounts the beginning of his journey at ACE. “A few friends and I saw an advertisement in the Union Tribune. It read ‘Valet Park Cars and See the Super Bowl.’ Seemed like the perfect job for a twenty-something.”

Highlights of Steve’s career include valet parking vehicles at the Omni Hotel, The Farms Golf Club, Hyatt Regency La Jolla, Symphony Towers and Mr. A’s, supervising and managing daily operations at over a dozen commercial locations, and helping to open parking garages at Koll Center, Symphony Towers and One America Plaza. A complete outline of Steve’s career at ACE is as follows:

1988  San Diego International Airport  – On-Call Maintenance Ambassador
1988  Horton Plaza – Traffic Director, Graveyard Cashier, Lead Cashier
1988  Omni Downtown – Night Weekend Valet
1989  Downtown Commercial Garages Supervisor
1989-93  Koll Center San Diego – Garage Supervisor
1990-92  Company Claims Processor
1993-2006  One America Plaza – Garage Manager
2006-10  Symphony Towers, Wells Fargo Plaza, La Jolla Gateway – Operations Manager
2010-2015  Mission Valley, Hillcrest, Bankers Hill – Area Operations Manager
2015-Present  Hillcrest, Bankers Hill, 600 B Street, 450 B Tower – Operations Manager

Wednesday’s honorary celebration included light lunch fare, giant decorative silver helium balloons in the shapes of “3” and “0”, and heartfelt speeches from Brian Gansert and Steve Gross. Steve was also presented with a commemorative plaque (shown above), which had been signed by fellow ACE team members and featured pictures of several of the locations Steve has worked at throughout his career.

“I have had the pleasure of working with all three generations of ACE Parking leadership: Evan V. Jones, Scott A. Jones, and now Keith B. Jones. I would like to thank the Jones family and ACE Parking, the property owners, management teams and customers, and my employees and associates for giving me the opportunity to work here in San Diego,” stated Steve Gross.