San Diego-born, fourth-generation Californian Patrick “Pat” Dean has been working on ever-more complex and interesting construction projects since he first wielded a paint roller on-site aged 19.

Pat’s humble beginnings as a painter soon translated into a career in construction and a successful business. But back in 2006, as a new father, Pat knew he had to buckle down and hustle as a residential painter. Not content with just a day job, he was also working nights and weekends on his own side-projects whenever the opportunity arose.

“My aunt’s friend would want me to paint her house, so I worked for someone during the week, then on the weekends I would do my side-job stuff” Pat said.

Within a couple of years, Pat had started working for a large general contractor in San Diego. By now, he wasn’t just doing the hard construction work, but had graduated to estimating projects and managing an ever-expanding team of contractors. By 2011, Pat had transferred to an even larger G.C. that also managed construction, maintenance and painting projects at large homeowners’ associations all across San Diego. For the next 12 years, he worked as an estimator, project manager and handled business development for the growing company. Days were spent estimating and managing larger and larger and more and more complex projects.

One memorable job saw Pat managing a team of painters refurbishing the swing stage track or “crown” at the top of the Omni hotel in downtown San Diego. A rappelling crew had to be brought in from Texas to hang under the stage and paint the most hard-to-reach areas of the building. 

Meanwhile, Pat was building his own general contracting business. After meeting Jesse Cooper in 2015, he and Jesse founded Elite Coastal Contracting in 2019.

“Jesse had the electrical background, and I had the reconstruction knowledge, so it was a great fit!” Pat said. 

By the end of 2023, it was clear Elite Coastal was more than just a side-project. Pat and Jesse had so much work coming in that both decided to focus full-time on their burgeoning company. Ever since, Elite has gone from strength to strength, leaving a trail of satisfied customers in its wake! Hundreds of units, dozens of repaired, rebuilt and new construction projects later, Elite continues to expand. 

What drives Pat now is the challenge of difficult or complicated construction work. He and Jesse are growing Elite, but expanding the company “strategically.” 

“We want to grow the right way — but not too fast,” he said. “I pride myself and my company on being able to think through difficult jobs. Jobs that other people might avoid.”

Born in San Diego, Jesse Cooper spent from third grade until his freshman year of high school living in Chicago before his family moved back to Poway. After graduating high school, Jesse spent some time trying out different trades before deciding to train as an electrician in his early 20s. 

Jesse enrolled in an apprenticeship program, which he eagerly took on. He spent the five-year apprenticeship working at two different large San Diego-area electrical companies, before his friendship with Pat Dean sparked the creation of Elite Coastal Contracting. 

“Pat brought the knowledge in painting and HOA maintenance and reconstruction and I had the electrical background, so it was a great fit,” Jesse said.

Jesse takes the most pride in completing projects that don’t just function and literally keep the lights on, but that are left organized, clean and clearly set out, he said. There’s a “little bit of art,” to leaving job sites knowing the electrical work is effectively and efficiently assembled for anyone who might need to access it in the future, Jesse said. 

The most challenging projects for Jesse are older commercial buildings, where there are no diagrams and scant plans to work with. He takes pride in tackling those projects head-on and completing them quicker and more efficiently than most contractors are able to. 

“It takes all of our prior experience to be able to figure out the problems and fix them quickly because of the knowledge we have in these scenarios,” he said. “I love it when we can make the client happy by completing something in three hours that they would have had to pay most companies eight hours to do.”

The satisfaction of saving clients money, while also completing a job with technical excellence is “like hitting the Superbowl,” Jesse said. Recent highlights for Elite Coastal include working on The Grove Condominiums, a large HOA in Carlsbad and Union Square in Downtown San Diego.

Jesse holds a California State Journeyman Electrician’s Card — the gold standard for electrical contractors in the state, as well as being certified as a contractor. 

A devoted family man, Jesse is married with two young daughters and a teenage stepson. He loves nothing more than hitting the beach or the river with the family and friends for a swim or a barbecue. He’s also an avid collector of rare coins and other memorabilia.