Zero for 2000

Not a good at-bat record but an incredible safety record. Living up to DPR’s reputation as one of the safest companies in the industry, the Fairfax office maintained a perfect record for 2000, with zero recordable injuries. The Northern Virginia office accomplished this feat despite logging more than 85,900 man-hours.

“Every field person at every one of our projects contributed to making this a reality,” said DPR’s Herman Diebler. For many subs working with DPR, this level of safety comes as no surprise. When asked how they like working for DPR, the most common response is, “It is the safest company I have ever worked for.”

DPR Gets an “A” From the Teacher

When St. Raymond’s School in Menlo Park, Calif. needed help with a re-roofing project, they turned to the School Board’s Facilities Advisor and DPR employee Bill Helfrich. While the project was fairly straightforward—to repair the dry rot found in the gym’s roof—Bill was looking for “people that would care for the project as if it was their own house.”

Raul Garcia, Jerome Johnson, and Manny Vasquez exceeded Bill’s expectations. They took great care in repairing not only the gym roof, but several classroom roofs as well. In addition, they used what little down time they had to return an outdoor bench to its original beauty—rebuilding it piece by piece. With their positive can-do attitude, the DPR crew received high marks from the faculty and high praise from Helfrich.

DPR Recognized Globally

DPR was recently honored with the Arthur Andersen Global Best Practices Award. Competing against hundreds of companies from around the world, DPR, along with Plantronics of Santa Cruz, Calif., received top honors for its customer relations practices.

The management of customer concerns, keeping pace with customer values, and the role of e-business were some of the primary considerations used to judge the initial phase of the contest. In the second phase—a series of panel interviews—DPR was able to tout its use of Web applications for project collaboration and employment of wireless devices in improving closeout and safety standards. After the lengthy interview process was complete, a panel of business, civic and academic leaders awarded DPR the highest prize.

Sacramento Office Celebrates 10 Years

Celebrating its 10th year of “building great things,” DPR recently kicked off construction of the Sacramento region’s latest landmark project, a 250,000-sq.-ft. customer service center for Blue Shield of California. Located on a 29-acre site in El Dorado Hills, the new four-building complex includes a full-service call center and is part of Blue Shield’s ongoing consolidation efforts in the area.

Reporting on the progress of the project will be California Construction Link, which chose the Blue Shield project as its Northern California highlight project. Every other month in 2001, the magazine will publish a detailed article regarding the construction and its progress.

The Sacramento office began this year with another distinction.
The Capital City Chapter of the American Subcontractors Association (ASA) recognized it as the “2000 General Contractor of the Year.”

In judging for this year’s award, the ASA’s local chapter looked at criteria such as overall professionalism; integrity in subcontractor bidding and buyout; good planning and scheduling; and job site organization, safety, and management.