After college he married and, feeling the family did not need another journalist, embarked on a career in his chosen field of civil engineering. In the 1960s he focused on his construction company, Chamorro &amp; Cuadra Contractors SA, formed with Pedro and José Cuadra, but the company faltered after an unsuccessful highway project, prior to the 1972 Nicaragua earthquake. Pedro Joaquín advised liquidating the company and in 1974 he asked Jaime to take over direction of "La Prensa"'s finances.