J.B. Denny Company, a Virginia Beach, VA-based general contractor, has received the Spirit of Safety 2002 Large Contractor of the Year Award for Safety Management from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District. The award comes as a result of J.B. Denny’s safety record while constructing two, three-story dormitory buildings at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton. The company’s safety awareness is foremost in present construction endeavors as well.
The Spirit of Safety Awards program was developed in 1996 to promote safety awareness as a team effort at all levels. The district’s accident rate is now three times lower than the national construction industry average after only six years of using the program.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District, selects a safety award winner for both a large contract and a small contract for each quarter of a fiscal year. J.B. Denny received the First Quarter Award for Fiscal Year 2002 for a large contract, the dormitories. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also selects two award recipients of the year, a small contractor and a large contractor, from the group of eight award winners from the fiscal year. During a Safety Award Luncheon at Langley Air Force Base on Dec. 3, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers presented J.B. Denny with the 2002 Large Contractor of the Year Award.
“We got the first quarter award, which I had known for a while,” said J. Blaine Denny, president and CEO of J.B. Denny Company, “but I was really delighted and surprised that we got the Contractor of the Year.”
To qualify for the Spirit of Safety Award, a project must be within the Norfolk District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Furthermore, the number one criterion to even be nominated for the award is that a company cannot have any lost man hours on the project during the fiscal year. In other words, no one is hurt and fails to come to work the following day due to an injury. Additionally, to be considered a large project, the cost of construction must be more than $1 million.
The two, three-story Langley Air Force Base dormitory buildings cost $13.5 million to construct. The buildings are 44,000 sq. ft. (4,087 sq m) each, and contain 96 dormitories per building. Each structure also has a multipurpose room with pool tables, large screen televisions and various other amenities.
“The Air Force went all out equipping these places,” said Bill Marzec, project manager of J.B. Denny. “They are like very nice mini-motel rooms to house enlisted Air Force Military personnel.”
Construction on the dormitories began in February 2001. The first building was occupied in May 2002, while the second building was completed in August with tenants moving in immediately.
The safety award is proof that J.B. Denny Company works hard at maintaining a safe work environment. Further confirmation of its safety consciousness is that the company employs an independent safety consultant who visits the job sites. Safety Solutions Inc., owned by Lee Atkinson, performs random inspections at all of J.B. Denny’s construction projects.
“We work at it pretty hard,” explained Denny. “We have our own self inspection program, and each job has a safety plan that we try to implement.”
Denny also was pleasantly surprised when Virginia Occupational Safety and Health (VOSH) performed a random field inspection at Convergence II, a Class A office building currently under construction on Bendix Road in Virginia Beach. VOSH’s regulations and standards are established by the Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board, a regulatory board appointed by the governor. The VOSH program operates within the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI). The VOSH inspection at Convergence II disclosed no discrepancies, which, according to Denny, doesn’t happen often.
“Maybe our efforts are paying off,” said Todd Norfleet, Denny’s site manager for the Convergence work. “We try to get all subs to buy into our program, so a clean inspection is indicative of a working plan, but the real objective is to run a safe worksite so no one gets hurt.”
Convergence II is just one of J.B. Denny’s ongoing projects. The 85,000-sq.-ft. (7,897 sq m) office tower is identical to the now completed Convergence I, which sits on the other side of the pond. The office towers cost approximately $6 million each. The Convergence Office Park project has been in development for three years. While there are two remaining sites available for two additional buildings, there are no plans to start construction any time soon because the sites are driven by leasing.
“There are no plans afoot to start anything imminently,” clarified Denny. “There is no guarantee we’ll even get the next two buildings, but we have built the two that are there.”
Other projects on the company’s agenda include the Social Services Building overhaul in Franklin, VA. J. B. Denny is renovating an existing 12,125-sq.-ft. (1,126 sq m) building in historic downtown Franklin. The restoration includes the installation of new windows, an elevator and a new basement access.
J.B. Denny also is completing an interior renovation of approximately 3,000 sq. ft. (278 sq m) of the 10th floor of the Norfolk City Council Offices. The renovation will provide the City Hall building with additional office space and conference rooms.
A recently completed project consists of two buildings on a four building site at Courthouse Green, an office park in Williamsburg, adjacent to the James City Courthouse.
“We actually hold permits for two more buildings,” said Denny. “It has not been started because they are awaiting tenants. The construction is developer driven not contractor driven.”
Since its incorporation in 1978, J.B. Denny Company has performed more than 200 successful construction projects. The company currently has 30 employees and performs public and private sector work. In addition to dormitory type housing and office buildings, the company’s construction undertakings consist of heavy and light industrial, retail, and site development. Denny has a successful record of completing projects in the traditional method of construction as well as through fast track design/build efforts.
Since J.B. Denny self performs 15 percent of the work on its projects and the rest is subcontracted out, the company does not own a large fleet of equipment. It owns two backhoes, a flatbed dump truck and pickup trucks, “for the incidental things that you have for building construction, but we are really not an earthmoving company,” said Denny.
“Frankly, we are looking for work right now,” exclaimed Denny. "The Langley Dorms are finished. The Convergence II office building is basically finished, so we are bidding all kinds of work and waiting for a response on the bids. It’s the contracting business.”
