When Bob Papera travels around San Diego, he can’t help but have a huge smile on his face. As president of Expo Builder’s Supply Inc., he knows most new construction projects use his building products.

“I take a lot of pride in driving around and seeing the buildings that we contributed to,” says Papera, 59. “It’s not like a widget that we shipped overseas. It’s something concrete that stays here.”

Papera was heir to a family-owned can manufacturing business in New Jersey. But after a stint in the Navy during Vietnam, he fell in love with San Diego and wanted to stay. In 1976, he accepted a friend’s offer to join Expo (founded in 1929), which Papera eventually bought in 1982.

Expo is a manufacturer of stucco products and a distributor of lathing, plaster, drywall, steel framing, acoustical and high performance coating products. Expo has one location in North County and two in the South County. With a client base of 350 companies, mainly in Southern California, Expo supplies building materials to Mexico, China, Japan and the Philippines.

Papera, who has a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance from St. Bonaventure University and a certificate in international business from the University of San Diego, has served as president of the California Materials Dealers Association and now sits on its board. He’s active with the La Jolla YMCA, Children’s Home Society, Door of Faith Orphanage and St. Vincent de Paul.

But he’s most proud of helping his company survive the recession of the ’90s, a time when many builders and building supply companies struggled to stay alive.

“Our darkest hours were from 1989 to 1994, when we started making money again,” says Papera, who credits his faith in God for the victory. “Filing for bankruptcy was never an option for me. And I am blessed with wonderful employees who are like family to me.”

Much of Papera’s business philosophy comes from his father, who retired from the family business last year at the age of 95 (his grandfather worked until he was 101). “I was raised to do the right thing,” says Papera, who calls his father his role model. “That’s why I’m more proud of building the company up since the recession than I am of any other successes we had before then.”

That family tradition may continue at Expo.

Papera’s son, John, works for him, and although his son might take over the business some day, Papera has no intention of retiring early. “It’s kind of in our genes to enjoy our work,” he says, and a plus is the satisfaction he gets from viewing the San Diego skyline and knowing he contributed to it in some small way.

“I absolutely love this business,” he says. “I’ve never had a day when I woke up and said, ‘Oh, I have to go to work.’ That says a lot about the business.”