This article was originally published by Construction Equipment Magazine’s West Edition #22 on Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Denbow Co. has rapidly grown into a top Texas contractor, attributing its success to an ESOP, strong communication, and safety. Partnering with Vermeer equipment ensures safety and efficiency in underground utility work, as the company expands its services and footprint in Central Texas.
A relatively unknown startup just over a decade ago, Austin-area-based Denbow Co. has grown into a stalwart Texas contractor entrusted with more than $100 million annually in underground utility contracts.
The formula for success, according to company officials, centers on two things: the right culture and the right equipment.
After a successful career in heavy civil and utility contracting, David Denbow launched Denbow Co. in 2010. The company experienced steady growth during its early years but was catapulted to new heights after strategic moves and hires in the past three years.
Contributing largely to this rapid success was forming an employee stock option plan, building a talented management team and choosing Vermeer as an equipment partner, leading to Denbow’s ascension to one of Texas’ top drilling contractors. The Dripping Springs company now employs 457, a number that grows weekly.
The culture at Denbow is built around three elements, according to both leadership and key personnel: Employee ownership (ESOP), communication and safety are the pillars.
David Denbow instituted an employee stock option plan in 2021. The results are evident in employee retention, as well as “buy-in” for company initiatives on safety and other keys.
After just 12 months of employment, a new hire begins to own stock. There is no employee contribution — the company provides all of the stock purchase funds.
Jared Malcolm, Denbow’s director of safety, put it simply.
“David turned us all into owners,” he said. “We definitely see buy-in from employees right down to the guys laying sod on a finished job: things like taking their safety vest home to wash rather than grabbing a new one every day. Those little things all make a difference.”
Jimmie Martin, who runs Denbow’s telecommunication operations, agreed.
“Denbow has grown every year since by double digits, but while we grow by over 20 percent some years, we are able to keep labor low due in part to being an employee-owned company. Our people are just more invested.”
Holton Einkauf, a Denbow project manager, sees communication as the key.
“What makes this place special is the ability to communicate,” he said. “The push and drive for open communication with everyone in the company from top to bottom. Success in the field from the standpoint of project managers is set up by the rest of the team.
“Our field team has the best knowledge of this industry in all of Texas, if not the entire United States,” he added. “We have a very positive environment. Everyone helps everyone. Nobody is above a certain task or certain duty. Communication is tremendous. We enjoy a very healthy, helpful work environment.”
Holton credited the ability of leadership to identify a need and bring the right people into the company to address it. In addition to Denbow, the company’s leadership team includes Tim Unger and Davis Craig, the co-chief operating officers, and Cody Fredenberg, the vice president of construction.
Malcolm said safety is a top priority at Denbow, in part because trenches are inherently dangerous.
“There have been 17 deaths in trenches already this year in the state of Texas,” he said. “We have a team of five that are dedicated exclusively to safety initiatives, and then all of our crews receive extensive training in safety, as well.”
The company recently received the Safety Award from Texas Mutual Insurance Co. — a coveted honor bestowed on only approximately 100 of the 75,000 companies Texas Mutual insures.
“That’s a testament to everyone in our company,” Malcolm said. “It’s not just the safety team. It’s our guys in the field taking training seriously. It’s our managers taking it seriously up to our senior leadership.”
“We’ll shut a job down over safety before anything else,” Martin added. “We have our own TXDOT manager who oversees our 36 CDL drivers. Safety and DOT compliance come first.”
Denbow’s safety focus extends to its equipment fleet.
Two Vermeer VXT600 vacuum trucks were bought largely to contribute to safety, Malcolm said.
“The hydrovacs allow us to put our eyes on existing lines before we dig,” he said. “That’s huge for the safety of our guys.”
The VXT600s complement Denbow’s two Vermeer D40x55 horizontal directional drills, two smaller D22x30 drills, seven Vermeer T1055 pipeline trenchers and 12 RTX150s.
In addition to location functions, the hydrovac trucks are used for the “soft digs” often required at historical sites in and around Austin and San Antonio.
The horizontal directional drills do the heavy lifting on most of the subdivision work that keeps Denbow’s 12 drill crews busy year-round. Each Vermeer horizontal drill is used in tandem with 800-gal. hydrovac trailer units and 2,000-gal. MX300 truck-mounted mud mixing systems, also from Vermeer.
In open-cut applications, the T1055 trenchers are set with an 18-in. cut to a depth of 12 ft., according to Martin. Twelve more trenchers — RTX1250s — are designated for smaller jobs and set up for 14-in. cuts to a 42-in. depth.
Obed Varela, widely regarded as one of the leading experts on horizontal drilling in Texas, runs the HDD operations for Denbow. He said Vermeer equipment makes his job easier.
“Their technology is the best in the industry, particularly their locators,” he said. “When I started in the industry 20 years ago, it was drill and hold your breath. That’s all changed now.”
Varela said Vermeer technology includes voltage detection that contributes to safe drilling.
“An alarm goes off anytime the drill head is close to danger,” he said. “The operator is blind out there, so you learn to trust the machine.”
Varela said Vermeer equipment is operator-friendly.
“Vermeer’s design really makes it easy to train on their machines,” he said. “We can get new operators up and running pretty quickly.”
According to Martin, Vermeer of Texas-Louisiana has been a valuable equipment partner.
“When we buy a new rig, Vermeer will spend a week with us training and just making sure everything is working properly. They’ll run the machine for a few days on the job to work out any issues.”
“Although we have our own fleet of mechanics, when there is a serious issue in the field, we can count on Vermeer to get there quickly,” Varela added.
Unger said Vermeer Texas-Louisiana has been “a valuable partner that has contributed to Denbow’s growth,” and he added, the company expects continued growth.
“In the last couple of years, we’ve acquired Dry Utilities of Texas and Wildcat LLC,” he said. “We were fortunate to bring their combined 100 employees over to Denbow, as well.”
In addition to its Vermeer equipment, Denbow’s fleet includes 120 backhoes, 31 excavators, 12 skid steers, five wheel loaders and 57 trucks, both on- and off-road. The equipment is housed at two yards — one in Hutto and one in Leander.
“We’re very fortunate to be here in Central Texas,” Unger said. “We’ve grown with our clients, and we will continue to do so. As we look to the future, we’ll continue servicing our current customers while widening our footprint in Texas.”