December 1, 2014

MACRO
gr e at wor k pl aces

company has helped build projects

ranging from Facebook’s data cen-
ters to R&D labs for universities and
pharmaceutical companies, and has
opened 20 offices from Washington,
D.C., to San Francisco. Last year the
company acquired Atlanta-based
Hardin Construction, and revenues
hit a record $2.6 billion.
Already, two of the founders—
Nosler and Davidowski—have
relinquished their stakes in the
company, as agreed, though they
remain active as directors. Woods’
ownership, too, is set to expire at
the beginning of 2016.
“We have the ability—no matter
who you are in the organization—to

Toasting the Boss 100 BEST be able to provide input and impact
COMPANIES and have your thoughts and ideas
TO WORK
considered,” says Brian Gracz, a

(a.k.a. Everyone)
FOR
No. 10 project executive who has been
with the company 17 years.
NAME
Because of an open floor plan
DPR
AN UNUSUAL LACK OF A FORMAL Construction and no titles, clients tend to have

LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE WORKS difficulty figuring out who’s the

boss. In a sense, that’s because
FOR DPR CONSTRUCTION. HEADQUARTERS everyone is in charge, says Peter
Redwood City,
By Robert Hackett Calif.
Salvati, who sits on the company’s
management committee.
Each office also features an onsite
EMPLOYEES bar. Employees (including DPR’s
WHILE ATTENDING a management conference in 1989, Doug Woods 1,590 contracted construction workers)
learned from his boss that he would never rise high enough to lead congregate at these mini-cantinas to
the construction firm he’d worked at for 15 years. So he and two co- PERK
celebrate achievements like winning
workers, Peter Nosler and Ron Davidowski, resolved to quit and start Company- or completing projects, to mingle
their own company—one that prioritizes employee happiness. owned condos with customers, or to unwind during
Since its founding in July 1990, DPR Construction (named for in Lake Tahoe happy hour. At the San Diego site
and Mammoth
Doug, Peter, and Ron’s collective monogram) has encouraged its where Gracz is based—one of DPR’s
can be used
workers to take the lead. The founders decided from the beginning for personal three net-zero offices—employees
that the new firm would be employee owned via a phantom stock vacations. belly up to a surfboard-shaped bar
program that ties compensation to company profits and individual cut from dark Hawaiian koa wood.
dav id cox—courtesy of dpr construction

performance. They even eliminated titles from business cards. And to In D.C., colleagues lounge at a mod-
prevent power struggles, the founders devised a buy-sell agreement Above: DPR ern bar with a granite finish. Each
that would bar shareholders from divesting stock to anyone outside workers in site has a local ambience.
the company. Everyone with equity is required to sell his stake back to San Diego “When we started out, the bottles
share a drink at
the company beginning at age 60. Now celebrating its 25th year, the the company weren’t quite as good,” Woods says,
wine bar. “but we’ve grown to like good wine,
and we enjoy getting together.” Even
as DPR has matured, the culture
Read more about DPR’s portfolio of perks and
remains the same.
get an inside look at company watering holes at

FORTUNE.COM
22
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D you see a solution to the
Do
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g

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1
2013 Aflac WorkForces Report, a study conducted by Research Now on behalf of Aflac, January 7 – 24, 2013. 2Aflac Company Statistics, October 2013, One day processing turnaround based on business
days after required documents are received. Online claims available for Accident, Sickness, Cancer & Wellness claims. Coverage is underwritten by American Family Life Assurance Company
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Z131176 11/13
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