COVER STORY
By Tracy Bennett
2021 TRAINING AND SAFETY EXCELLENCE WINNERS TRAINING World Class Derr & Gruenewald Construction, LLC High Plains Steel Services
Premier
Putting Your PEOPLE
FIRST
Award winners share safety trends and training tips
Shelby Erectors Ironworker Skills Institute
Gold Gardner-Watson Decking
SAFETY World Class Cooper Steel Derr & Gruenewald Construction, LLC
“We believe our people are our most important resource,” says Jason Farris of Cooper Steel.
A
s part of SEAA’s strategy to expand benefits for members, the Safety & Education Committee now annually recognizes member companies for implementation of craft training programs and achieving exceptional safety records. This is the second year for the awards. The next deadline to submit is March 1, 2022. Apply online at SEAA.net/
awards. In 2021, five companies received the Craft Training Excellence award and nine companies received the Safety Excellence Award. In all, four of those companies received both awards, an indication of how inter-related training and safety are. Profiled here are the companies that received World Class recognition, the highest level. See list of all winners (left).
FM Steel, LLC High Plains Steel Services
Premier Black Cat, LLC Gardner-Watson Decking Quality Steel Services
Gold Pro Steel Erectors
Tracy Bennett is Managing Editor of Connector and Principal Partner of Mighty Mo Media Partners, a marketing consulting firm. Her technical expertise is in construction, lifting equipment, and workforce development.
Training Trends Applicants are evaluated on the portability of credentials, availability of apprenticeship programs, training, and recruitment efforts. Evaluations are made in comparison to other companies of similar size, based on the number of ironworkers employed from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2020. Both award-winning companies are based in Colorado. Derr & Gruenewald Construction, LLC (DGC) employs about 150 people, while High Plains Steel Services has under 30 employees. Both companies also received World Class recognition for its safety records in 2020. DGC, a member of Ironworkers Local 24, is based in Henderson, Colo, working primarily in the Midwest and Western United States. Established in 1977, DGC offers pre-construction, steel fabrication and erection, engineering and detailing services, as well as pre-cast concrete and metal decking construction. Among the company’s highest profile jobs to date are the Pepsi Center (now called the Ball Arena) in Denver, which is home to the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. They also helped build the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, Calif. Founded in 2012, High Plains Steel Services, LLC of Windsor, Colo., is an erector with full-service structural and miscellaneous steel fabrication and industrial coatings divisions, working primarily in the Rocky Mountain region. The company also owns and maintains its own fleet of cranes. In 2017, High Plains uses an NCCER Industrial Ironworker Apprenticeship Program, which is a registered and certified Department of Labor apprenticeship program. Connector caught up with DGC’s Corporate Safety Director Ed Valencia and Kris McLean, President of High Plains Steel to ask about recent trends in training.
24 | THE STEEL ERECTORS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
