JE Dunn Construction received recognition among a global community of over 1,400 leading private companies across more than 46 countries, being named a 2023 US Best Managed Company Gold Standard winner through the Best Managed Companies program.
Sponsored by Deloitte Private and The Wall Street Journal, the program recognizes outstanding U.S. private companies and the achievements of their management teams. This is the fourth consecutive year JE Dunn has been awarded and is one of only 17 companies in the U.S. to have achieved the honor of Gold Standard in 2023.
“I think the thing that really sets JE Dunn apart is our focus on our people,” Gordon Lansford, chief executive officer of JE Dunn, said in a podcast interview with Craig Kuckelman, Kansas City managing partner at Deloitte (listen above). “If we get the best version out of our employees most days, then our clients and our communities are going to benefit from that.”
The award recognizes excellence in private companies, looking specifically at superior strategy, execution, culture, and governance/financial performance. Through a rigorous and independent process, applicants were evaluated and selected by a panel of external judges focused on assessing hallmarks of excellence in four key areas: strategy, ability to execute, corporate culture and governance/financial performance.
One of the four pillars of the US Best Managed Company program centers around a company’s strategy including the development, communication, and execution of the strategy, Kuckelman noted in the interview, asking how JE Dunn leverages its strategy effectively to drive success.
“I think the key to our success as it relates to strategy is being consistent in our strategy,” Lansford said. “We’ve had the same key strategic initiatives going on 10 years now, and while we change our metrics every year, those have remained consistent. [Every employee] knows what their individual contribution to that strategy is; they know what success looks like for the company and they know how that benefits them as employee-owners.”
JE Dunn’s well-known purpose statement, “We exist to enrich lives through inspired people and places,” is brought to life through its employees and what drives them. “We exist for more than just making money and building buildings,” Lansford said. “We like to focus on the end users, whether it’s students, or patients, or a non-profit we’re supporting, [to see] the joy and pride when they walk in to their new place when it’s completed, as well as impacting the communities we support.”
Consistency in that purpose, among other factors, has helped highlight and provide a clear focus on what success looks like at JE Dunn, and how it navigates improvement while remaining true to its core values. Employees remain at the heart of all we do, Lansford told Kuckleman. “It’s really impactful when you have a purpose and you live it out in your company.”
About the Best Managed Companies Program
The Best Managed Companies program is a mark of excellence for private companies. U.S. designees have revenues of at least $250 million. Hundreds of private companies around the world have competed for this designation in their respective countries through a rigorous and independent process that evaluates four key criteria in their management skills and practices — strategy, execution, culture and governance/financials. U.S. program sponsors are Deloitte Private and The Wall Street Journal. For more information, visit www.usbestmanagedcompanies.com.
