Griffin Dewatering by North American Constructors Journal

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Griffin Dewatering:

Groundwater Control Specialist

Established in 1934 in New York City at a time when construction in the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest city was going vertical, Griffin Dewatering of Houston, TX now operates across the United States. Written by Kevin Doyle Produced by Stephen Marino

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riffin Dewatering of Houston, TX – established in 1934 in New York City at a time when construction was going vertical at a rapid pace – today spans the United States from coast to coast. As NYC’s buildings climbed to the clouds and required deeper foundations to support them, challenges arose as well. Then, as now, Griffin provided the solutions. “There was a tremendous amount of work being done in and around New York City at the time. That is where the need for groundwater control services associated with underground construction became more necessary. That’s where it all began, really how it got rolling,” says company President and CEO Dave Singleton.

“we’re doing several hundred projects a year.”

The company has grown into the largest dedicated contract dewatering company in the U.S. It manufactures equipment and installs dewatering systems for the industry’s most complex groundwater challenges, setting the standard for expertise when it comes to engineering design, system installation, and the filtration and treatment of discharge water.

Demonstrating its geographic reach and end market diversity, the company is currently involved in dewatering and water treatment as part of a fuel infrastructure project at San Diego International Airport; is beginning work on a dry dock remediation project in Virginia; and is involved in a high-end residential project in Colorado.

The company maintains 11 field and sales locations, employs 150, generates annual revenue in the range of $40 to $50 million, has executed in excess of 20,000 projects throughout its nearly 80-year history and, Singleton says,

“We work on large, complex construction projects all across the country. We do public and private construction, commercial high-rises, lots of public infrastructure, dams, levees, bridges, underground utility,

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“We are working on dozens of sites every single day that are geographically dispersed, so [safety] really does come down to the guys in the field. They have to take ownership for themselves and their crew.” - President/CEO Dave Singleton

water and wastewater; basically we work in all construction end markets. There is a lot of work being built right now and, for us, it’s all fun and exciting,” Singleton says. The company belongs to numerous national associations, including the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), the Associated

Builders and Contractors (ABC), the U.S. Society on Dams (USSD), the National Ground Water Association (NGWA), the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) and the American Coal Ash Association (ACAA). “The primary benefit for us is having the ability to work on issues we, our clients, our trade association partners,

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Griffin Dewatering | 6 or our industry are facing. It is good to share solutions and to constantly be trying to professionalize the construction industry. We get a great deal of benefit,” Singleton says.

Focused On Safety Safety training begins the day a new employee comes on board. The company stresses that safety is a shared responsibility and that every employee is authorized to stop work in the event that a situation feels unsafe. “It’s an incredibly important part of what we think about all of the time. We are doing safety training from the moment someone is hired, so before they are put into the field we do safety

training and orientation type training,” Singleton says. The company’s Safety Director is charged with driving best practices throughout the company via daily tailgate talks, monthly safety meetings and unannounced site visits. “We are working on dozens of sites every single day that are geographically dispersed, so it really does come down to the guys in the field. They have to take ownership for themselves and their crew. At any point if any employee feels that something is unsafe they have the authority to stop work and for us to evaluate and correct what the unsafe condition might be,” Singleton stresses. Near-miss incidents are dissected and, Singleton notes, “if we have an incident, we will carefully review that to determine and eliminate the root cause and do everything we can to push the information out to all of our locations and all of our leaders and have every employee get acquainted with what took place. We recently completed more than one year without a recordable incident. ”

Daily Operations The company’s success has been forged by the expertise of its work force and its willingness to take on jobs of all sizes.

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Griffin Dewatering | 7 “It really starts with our people, who are honestly trying to be client and safety focused. In our 85-year history we haven’t veered very far from our first love. I think the final thing is kind of this national footprint that no job is too large and no job is too small. We are all over the USA,” Singleton points out. “We have kept our focus on helping clients control the risks associated with groundwater control and have not veered off into other areas. Additionally, we have worked to build strong relationships with our clients and we are constantly striving to be a more service-oriented business,” he continues. Singleton joined the company five years ago and touches all parts of the organization. “From a broad picture – driving growth for our business and doing that strategically – a big part of my role is strategy and the culture of the organization. Those are things we’ve worked on since I’ve been here,” he notes.

day issues. My job is to give them the tools and support they need to be effective in serving the needs of our clients,” he says. The company’s site-specific solutions handle soil specifications that vary from one job to the next. While sub-surface hydrogeology can be infinitely complex, the fundamental challenge at each job site is keeping the foundation hole dry and stable. The company’s engineers analyze soil type and the height and flow of the water table to design the most efficient dewatering systems. “An overwhelming amount of our revenue generates from construction dewatering and water treatment.

“We have partnered with MMA for years and ultimately we see the differentiators being the level of service and rapid response whether that be for claims handling or policy issuance. The construction industry moves fast and MMA is always up to the challenge to do what it takes to reduce our risk and help us manage our way through claims issues.” – Alon Najer, VP of Risk Management

Griffin Dewatering

“From a culture standpoint, it’s working to be a more responsive, more professional, and more accountable organization. We think of the organization as sort of flipped upside down where my job is to support all of the other employees. Our field crews touch many more of our clients and they face many more of the day-to-

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Griffin Dewatering | 9 What does that look like? Someone is doing something underground. They’re building a deep foundation, installing a pipeline, building a water treatment plant, or removing ash from a coal ash disposal pond. We’re helping them control groundwater by installing an active dewatering system,” Singleton says. “At some point we’re removing water and in many instances we’re treating the water to meet discharge regulations. People ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ once the structure starts coming out of the ground but there’s a ton of really, really important work that goes on underground. It’s amazing the amount of time that’s spent underground before a structure starts to emerge,” he continues.

often rents or leases commoditized equipment that is readily available such as specialty rolling stock and forklifts.

Meeting Challenges The company faces the same industrywide problem of replenishing a skilled workforce that is ageing out and leaving a shortage behind them. “The first and most critical thing is to maintain and retain staff that we have; those people are critical,” Singleton says with great emphasis. “We spend as much time as we possibly can training them and supporting them and working on everything associated with being an employee here, meaning compensation, benefits and just

In its drive to be a high-value partner, Griffin holds, clients, suppliers and subcontractors alike to exacting standards. “We try to find companies that share our values and think and act like we do. You can walk on a job and understand if the client is valuing safety or if the sub values safety. Is it production at all cost or are they being safely productive,” Singleton says. “If we run through our core values and our mission statement and people say ‘That makes sense to us,’ then we want to work with you.” The company owns and manufacturers its own proprietary tools but most

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Griffin Dewatering | 10 having a professional and engaging workplace. These items are crucial to make sure we retain those that we have.” Satisfied employees are much more likely to recommend the company as a desirable place to work. Additionally, the company recruits military veterans as well as trade school graduates. “We will train them. They can start as laborers but if they are willing to work hard and work accountably, we will teach them the skills so they can grow in this company. We will teach them what they need to know to be successful,” Singleton says.

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“It is rewarding to see folks end up with the trappings of middle class America, with a new pick-up truck in the driveway and their own home. It’s not unique to Griffin but we love that. Most of our people have been green and that’s OK. It’s worked really well for us,” he adds. The company prefers to promote from within whenever possible. “We want to develop our own champions. This business is a specialty trade. The only way to succeed is to allow people to grow and develop and take on additional responsibility. We

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“People ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ once the structure starts coming out of the ground but there’s a ton of really, really important work that goes on underground. It’s amazing the amount of time that’s spent underground before a structure starts to emerge.” - President/CEO Dave Singleton

work hard utilizing internal mentors and established procedures that allow our people to learn how to meet our high standards. We identify the best role for as many employees as possible and then help them see and attain the next level in their career,” Singleton explains.

Looking Forward Given the unique nature of its work and its standing as the nation’s largest dewatering concern, the company seems well positioned for years to come. Expansion is being considered. “We are evaluating how to effectively grow. Really the only way we do that is if we’re bringing value. We do have a few geographic holes we would like to expand to fill those gaps and a few other growth initiatives to add more skills and services around water management activities,” Singleton says.

“The minute you think you know it all, you’re done. Things are always changing in the world around you and every day is new and exciting. I love getting here and seeing different types of challenges and different types of projects every day holds,” he concludes.