Blunt found his opportunity with a Midwestern asphalt-road-building company that wanted to expand into the Washington area. In 1971 he invested in Tyroc Construction and became president and owner of 51 percent of the stock in the Washington company.

Blunt built Tyroc and its successor, Essex Construction, into one of the most successful minority-owned construction companies. Essex Construction does $10 to $15 million in business annually, principally renovating office buildings and multifamily housing developments and building religious and health-care facilities for senior citizens in the Baltimore-Washington area.

But Roger Blunt's road to success was not a smooth one. At one point, he heeded a special sand that the District of Columbia government required for construction projects. Blunt sent a truck to one nearby supplier to pick up a load.

The truck came back empty. The supplier said he "had all the business he could handle" and refused Blunt's order. Although Blunt was certain the sandman was discriminating because of race, he simply outmaneuvered him and found another supplier.

Tyroc ran into financial problems in the economic turndown of the early 1980s and filed for reorganization in 1986. Blunt started over, building a new business, Essex, while salvaging the old one. Today both are part of Blunt Enterprises. His uphill battle was fought in the spotlight: Blunt was president-elect of the Greater Washington Board of Trade when Tyroc tumbled. He resigned from the board to concentrate on his business.

Blunt believes he had two advantages during the tough times. One was his wife, Derrie, his partner in business as well as in life. The other was his military training: As a West Point graduate and an Army veteran, he knew how to work under fire.

After enlisting in the Army during the Korean War, Blunt was one of a handful of GIs to win appointment to the military academy from the ranks. He graduated high enough in his West Point class to get his first-choice assignment. The budding builder chose the Army Corps of Engineers.

In recent years, Blunt has been called on to share his leadership skills as chairman of the national advisory committee to the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities as a lecturer on the subject of leadership.

"You have to light a fire, share your infectious enthusiasm with others, and people will jump aboard," he tells audiences.

Jonathan Blunt, a son of Roger and Derrie's, has joined Essex as a vice president and heir apparent. But Roger is still the heart and soul of the company. The fire he lit shows no sign of going out.