Mark and Courtney were both born and raised in Reno and even though they left for a few years, they always knew that Reno was their true home. Their strong community ties to the Reno area go unbroken.
As a part of the Klaich family, Courtney's love for Reno is rooted in being a 4th generation native Nevadan. Courtney started her career in education in 2001 as a Spanish teacher. When Courtney met Mark, she was in the prime of her career, thriving as an assistant principal in Washoe County School District. In only seven years in the district, she had vaulted through the ranks from teacher to dean to assistant principal making her a highly respected administrator and earning her the distinction of YPN's Top 20 Under 40.
Mark attended Santa Clara University on a baseball scholarship and studied civil engineering. After graduation, he signed on with one of the West Coast's largest general contracting firms, Devcon Construction. He moved back to Reno in 2007 when the company secured the contract to build Greater Nevada Field, home of the Reno Aces baseball team, and also the Reno Air Traffic Control Tower at the Reno Tahoe International Airport. Mark shared, "That was a dream job for me. Baseball was my life as a kid. To build that stadium here in Reno, with full support of the community, was incredible. It was quite a large undertaking and a huge jump start for my career."
Courtney and Mark began dating during the Reno Aces days. The two instantly connected in their love for adventure, life, the great outdoors, and each other. As they were both working in demanding careers, they made it a point to meet up after work for hikes with their dog Luna and spent most weekends soaking up every minute of the great outdoors they could. They married in 2010 on a February day in Incline, in a winter wonderland with 10 inches of fresh powder...it couldn't have been more perfect.
After the success of the Aces stadium, Mark became recognized for his work on sports construction. His employer then asked the couple to move back to Santa Clara so Mark could work on the construction of the $1.2 billion Levi's Stadium for the San Francisco 49ers. Although the couple struggled with the decision to move away from Reno, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity they could not pass up. At the time, Courtney was eight months pregnant with their son, Freddy. They lived in the Bay Area for three years until the project was complete. "It was quite a wild experience and shaped us as a couple and as a family. We were also blessed to have our daughter, Gwen, during the years in the Bay Area. Meanwhile I was working 60 hours per week. We learned how to parent on our own and Courtney became even more resourceful than she already was," Mark said.
After his experience at the helm of a construction company, Mark took a big leap and started his own general contracting firm, BLC Builders. When choosing a name for the new company, the couple paid tributes to their Reno roots with the nod to The Biggest Little City (BLC). The leap also presented the opportunity for Mark to work with one of his closest friends, Kevin Tappan, when Kevin agreed to retire from his successful banking career and join Mark at BLC Builders as the company's CFO.
BLC Builders specializes in commercial construction and works on both tenant improvements and ground-up projects. Mark has brought his experience working in developing systems and efficiencies deployed for large scale projects to his new team. "A general contractor should bring something more significant than just logistics management to a project," said Mark. "We need to bring creativity and attention to detail to what can be a hectic process, conveyed to clients efficiently and always with realistic timeframes and cost. I very much see each project through the eyes of a client and want to work to ensure BLC is always acting as an extension of the owner."
Mark and Courtney feel that it is very important to show Freddy and Gwen a global perspective on language, lifestyle, community and culture. Over the past 5 years they have spent 4 months traveling abroad with the kids. "When we travel we want to learn. We want to teach our kids that the world is more complex than just our wonderful city of Reno...and also that we are all connected. Exposing them to different cultures and ways of life makes their world bigger," said Courtney. The Folgner kids have held no reservations about making friends with local children on their trips to Costa Rica, Iceland, Croatia, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Italy, France and Mexico.
Rounding out the family is Oscar, their 30-pound Aussie Doodle. He is somewhat of a celebrity around the neighborhood. The Folgners love living in Caughlin Ranch. They like to bike as a family to Midtown for dinner or to attend community events. In the winter, they enjoy being close to Mt. Rose where they go skiing. Oscar also enjoys the family hikes, bike rides and exploring new parks in Reno. In the summer, you can find them floating the Truckee River with friends, ending up at Greater Nevada Field to take in a Reno Aces game, of course.
Mark and Courtney like to think globally and act locally. They take philanthropy seriously as they give back to the community that they love so much. Their new company, BLC Builders, provides a more flexible schedule in which they can volunteer, donate and support their community connections. It has given Mark the ability to connect with projects that enhance the community the Folgners call home.