DECCO

Loyalty and Longevity

With over seven decades of innovation, leadership, and performance – DECCO has proven it is New England’s premier process and mechanical contractor. Winners of countless national and regional awards ranging from safety excellence to accomplishments in construction, DECCO has forged by a strong culture of success and loyalty. Remaining true to their core values of commitment, partnership, excellence, and ethics they exhibit unwavering commitment to nationally-recognized quality, industry-leading safety, and unmatched professionalism continues to exceed their client’s expectations.

In the last seven decades, DECCO has dealt with many business challenges that have been thrown their way. From industry practices to evolving industries, innovation and tackling their client’s “mission impossible” projects, the company faced the obstacles head on and overcame them with tact and awareness. Now, DECCO are constantly leading the region and adapting to what the work brings. However, recently, the merit shop contractor, based out of Brookline, New Hampshire had its internal allegiance tested by a local trade union out of Boston.
“A local trade union came in and tried to convince our people that there was a better way to go and that they should join them,” DECCO Vice President Tim Barton said. “They put on a six-week robust campaign that targeted 87 of our employees and aimed at convincing them to be part of their brotherhood.”

“But after everything was said and done, 68 of that targeted group said ‘no thank you, DECCO is where I want to spend my career’ Barton continued. “They often cited how they liked the core values; they appreciated the camaraderie, team and family element. It was a litmus test of whether what we believe to be true is present throughout the organization.”

MULTI FUNCTIONAL

Serving clients in the region’s most technically challenging industries from life sciences, utility/power and bio-pharmaceuticals, DECCO and their team of 120+ trades people ¬– ranging from pipe welders and fitters to plumbers and apprentices – DECCO is able to complete the area’s largest projects while also focusing on delivering service and professionalism to their small project capabilities.

“Without hesitation, it’s our partners that set us apart,” Executive Vice President Kyle Reagan said. “As an ownership team we are pushed to continually challenge the 120-130 field partners who have entrusted us with their career, while also pushing our management staff to continually find ways to help the field do their job better and to turn our clients into fans. Everyone takes pride in the national awards we’ve won and the work we perform locally.”

A majority of DECCO’s work occurs in eastern Massachusetts. And although the company does work as far as north Portland, Maine and as far south as Danbury, Connecticut and Providence, Rhode Island, the company is adept at meeting a wide range of challenges.

“We do a variety of projects – from high-end all the way down to simple utility buildings and utility piping,” Barton said. “The real highlight is the projects we do for the bio-pharmaceutical type clients in our territory and the relationships we have forged with them to be their preferred contractor.”
“We pride ourselves that owners come up with what we call “The Mission Impossible” projects. In fact they’ll often come to us and say ’we don’t think this can be done, but what we’d like to do is…’ we grab those jobs with open arms and we say ‘we’ll get it done for you,” Reagan said. “Commitment” isn’t in our core values by accident- it’s who we are,” Reagan said.

AWARDS

Along with being vice president, Barton is also DECCO’s Director of Corporate Safety. Spearheading initiatives, Barton tackles the role with vigor and pride. The hard work and processes that have been implemented company-wide continue to reap the benefits of award accolades. Whether it’s from a national level – such as the ABC Safety Training Excellence Program (STEP) Award and the ABC Accredited Quality Contractor Status – or from a regional safety and training awards level where they were recognized by ABC Massachusetts for Safety: Loss Ratio Under 10% and ABC New Hampshire/Vermont in the same category, the company’s track record is a credible resource when growing their reputation.

“We’re proud of the awards we win for safety,” Barton said. “ABC sponsors national competition for the safest companies and they give awards from bronze, silver, gold and platinum and every year we win either platinum or gold for our safety performance.”

“The criterion measures the traditional things that construction companies are gauged by, which is: your loss ratio, your training and your EMR – all the things that are important in our industry from a client perspective.”
A look at the statistics and you’ll see why DECCO’s safety imprint is hard to ignore: current EMR – 0.69, an ABC STEP Platinum rating for 10 straight years, and zero lost time accidents in over 2,500,000 man hours.
“It means a tremendous amount from attracting new clients who are interested in the safety performance and the awards we’ve won,” Barton said. “When it comes to attracting people into our apprenticeship program – the youth coming in out of trade school or vocational high schools – they’re impressed by the apprenticeship awards.”
While safety remains a critical component in the ongoing growth at DECCO, the company has also been recognized for their prowess when taking on projects. The 2014 Excellence in Construction Award attests to DECCO’s unrelenting commitment to performance, productivity and positive results for its clients.

“The excellence in construction award speaks to the projects,” Barton said. “We regularly win an Eagle Award or a Merit Award for the work we do in New Hampshire and Vermont and in previous years, we’ve been successful at the national level when submitting larger projects that led to national awards.”

SHIFTING LANDSCAPES

Thriving in the county’s “Great Recession” DECCO still faced a future of uncertainty. But after looking at the landscape and monitoring what was happening within the region and the markets they serve, the company realized that they were going to do what they’ve always done in their seven decades of existence: adapt to the client’s needs.
“We’re always looking at the landscape to understand how it’s shifting,” Barton said. “If you go back a decade in this area, those large bio-pharmaceutical companies were building very substantial production facilities and we were able to respond to that need. It shifted not so much towards building new, but modifying and expanding in a different marketplace.”

“We’ve also moved into more of a service where a smaller client, that we don’t have a presence with, needs our sophistication and expertise,” Barton continued. “Mobile and van-based, this offering can be deployed on an as-needed basis in a timely way that helps us stay nimble and respond to client needs.”

By maintaining their relationships and continuing to apply their core values of commitment, partnerships, excellence and ethics, DECCO’s beliefs for a brighter future are reinforced by their dedication to never settle or compromise. An inspirational example of standing the test of time, DECCO’s transparency from top to bottom will help them carry on perfecting their craft.

“You can’t rest on your laurels,” Barton said. “You can’t expect for long periods of time that people are going to want to stay the course. In the last 10 months we asked everyone in the organization how they feel about what they have, what’s missing from their perspective and how we can make DECCO a better organization. “The goal is to grow with the best of the best that are available to work in the region for DECCO and continue to offer the best in the eyes of our clients, the general contractors and the ABC.”