Lauren Engineers & Constructors sets themselves apart from competitors by promoting ethical life and business practices over all else...
By James Buchanan
What makes one building company better than another? Is it cost? Or does one simply design and build better buildings?
The differences between one company and another can be rather nuanced and at the end of the day what gets built, no matter the company, will hopefully have the form and function originally envisioned by its new owners.
For Lauren Engineers & Constructors, based in Abilene, Texas, one of the defining factors is values. As the company’s vision statement reads: “Lauren Engineers & Constructors vision is to be a light to the world and the contractor of choice through constructive and caring relationships with customers, suppliers, and peers.”
In this brief statement the company sets two very distinct values-based goals for itself. The first, by seeking to be a light to the world, is a spiritual endeavor to bring a relationship with God into the company’s work. The second is on a more earthly plane, which is to provide the best service possible to their customers while treating the company’s partners and employees with true respect.
The former goal is expressed in the company’s core values with the statement, “We believe that our primary purpose is to love and honor God and to serve others.”
Further, the company’s “keys to success” are listed on the company’s website with Biblical references and include the following:
• Work Hard: The dream comes through much
effort - Ecclesiastes 5:3
• Be honest: Ill gotten gains do not profit -
Proverbs 10:2
• Be generous: The generous man will be
prosperous - Proverbs 11:25
• Be an expert: A skilled worker will stand before
kings - Proverbs 22:29
• Hire carefully: Do not hire a fool or a stranger
- Proverbs 26:10
• Keep good records: Know well the condition of
your flocks - Proverbs 27:23
• Give to God: Honor the Lord from your wealth
- Proverbs 3:9
• Be humble: The rewards of humility are riches,
honor, and life - Proverbs 22:4
• Don’t work for money: A good name is to be
desired above riches - Proverbs 22:1
To the company’s customers, suppliers and peers they are committed to a brand defined by keeping the company’s word by doing what they say they are going to do. Sort of, mean what you say and say what you mean, then back it up by action.
Specifically, the company is committed to the following:
Customer satisfaction: The company has developed a process that focuses on maximizing communication throughout its projects from start to finish. To facilitate communication the company created a direct route through which clients may bring their concerns to management and can be acted upon immediately.
Training its employees: The company is dedicated to the continuous improvement of its workforce. To put this idea into practice they have initiated a training program to help employees make the most of their energies to create value for their clients.
The next leg in Lauren’s values-based efforts is its endeavor to promote corporate responsibility, which is expressed in three target areas – environment, people and community.
Where the environment is concerned, Lauren has taken promoting solar power quite seriously. The company is currently the EPC contractor to build a 70mw power plant – the largest capacity solar thermal plant to be built in the last 15 years and one of the largest in the world.
Further, the company reduces its impact on the environment through recycling, careful project planning and coordination, and using equipment designed to reduce environmental impacts.
As to its commitment to people, the company takes being an equal opportunity employer seriously, and as an international employer they respect the cultural, religious, and ethnic values of each individual and believe this attitude helps build a stronger workforce.
The company also works hard to ensure that all employees have the opportunity for advancement and continued training.
On the community level, Lauren is active in a number of volunteer efforts that include Habitat for Humanity, the Salvation Army, the United Way, and a number of scholarship funds.
By putting a moral and ethical foot forward the company has managed to win a lot of business. Companies they have worked with include power generators such as General Electric, Dominion, and Southern Company. In its work in the polymers/chemicals industry the company has worked with Eastman Chemical, KoSa, DAK Americas, and Proctor and Gamble. In the petrochemical/refining industry, Lauren has worked with Navajo Refining, Williams Refining, and Murphy Oil.
Projects they have built include a 225 mega watt combined cycle for Black Hills Corporation in Las Vegas, Nevada; P.E.T. solid stating facility for Tolaram/Buhler in Asheboro, North Carolina; an ash handling project for Separation Technologies, Inc., in Hattiesburg, Mississippi; and installed a gas-oil hydrotreater for Navajo Refining, in Artesia, New Mexico.
These projects match the company’s core competencies of engineering, construction, fabrication, maintenance outages, project management, procurement, and safety.
This latter competency – safety – is an area that Lauren believes has been critical to its success and one they take quite seriously. On its website, they state, “We understand the importance of safety and believe that safety is paramount to all else on the project. We work hard to continuously and aggressively improve our safety performance through proactive program training, employee awareness, incentives and vigorous enforcement of established procedures.”
Due to its efforts, Lauren has a safety record far below the industry average.
The company’s safety program includes the following:
• Responsibility and accountability for accident
and fire prevention
• Safety education and training
• Occupational health
• Substance abuse program
• Accident investigation
• Major loss causes, reviews and remedial actions
• Accident prevention procedures
• Hazardous substance communication
• Worker incentive programs
Lauren Engineers bills itself as one of the leading Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractors in the country serving power, polymers/chemicals, and industrial clients. The company has more than 750 employees and has grown to include two regional offices in Knoxville, TN, and Irving, Texas, since its founding 20 years ago.