Doug Woods, cofounder of Redwood City, Calif.-based DPR Construction, passed away peacefully at his home on May 19, according to a statement released by the company. He was 70 years old.
The cause of death and the names of family survivors were not immediately available.
With partners Peter Nosler and Ron Davidowski, and $750,000 in pooled resources, Woods launched DPR as a self-performing general contractor in Palo Alto, Calif., in 1990. (The firm’s name derives from the initials of the founders’ first names.) “When we started DPR, we wanted to be a customer-focused organization,” recalls Woods, who always saw DPR as a service business. “We’re not a hard-bid general contractor; we’re a negotiating, self-performing general contractor that takes care of our customers. To do that, we need great people, who are happy and willing to work hard. That’s one of the things that started us, making us different from the very beginning.”
By 1995, DPR ranked third on Inc. Magazine’s national fastest-growing private companies listing. And over more than 30 years, Woods, Nosler and Davidowski watched their business expand into one of the industry’s largest GCs, with roughly 6,500 office and craft employees worldwide and more than $6 billion in revenue in 2019, the latest year for which sales information was available.
Woods stepped back from day-to-day management of the firm in 2015, but stayed on DPR’s Management Committee until 2017. He served as CEO on the firm’s board of directors until his passing.
CONSTRUCTION IN HIS BLOOD
DPR Construction's Doug Woods emphasized team building and customer service.
Born in Ontario on January 27, 1951, Woods was the son of an engineer. His family built or remodeled every house that Woods lived in growing up, and his father worked in construction and real estate. “Being in the construction field is in my blood,” Woods was quoted as saying.
DPR’s first ground-up project was a skilled-nursing facility for The Terraces in Los Gatos, Calif., and healthcare has since been one of its primary practices. The firm hit $1 billion in annual revenue for the first time in 1998. But Woods wasn’t interested so much in milestones. “For us, there has been no single defining moment but a series of opportunities and challenges that have impacted the company DPR is today and made us stronger.
The company’s unregimented management style—“No titles, no ties, no org chart,” Woods told the San Francisco Business Times in 2015—found its success in collaborative teamwork, which is palpable in the reminiscences of several colleagues and employees.
TEAM BUILDING MORE WORDS
“I only had the privilege of meeting Doug maybe six times. From a guy who came up from the field and had limited education, Doug really showed me what ‘no rank in the room’ meant: ‘Don’t ever forget, we exist to build great things,’ ” recalled Robbie Thomason, a senior superintendent who has been with DPR for more than seven years.
David Ibarra, a 25-year company vet who directs the firm’s mission-critical group, remembers meeting Woods as a new employee doing electrical on a complex project. Woods wanted to know if Ibarria was getting the management support he needed in the field to execute his job. “If not, he told me ‘just call them out.’ I had a founder talking to me directly, and ensuring that I was empowered to do my role.”
Kurt Wallner, a Project Executive at DPR, first encountered Woods in May 2000, when the latter was laying out the firm’s 2030 Mission. “Hearing Doug talk about a vision for DPR, decades into the future, I knew right then that I was joining something very, very special.”
Woods served on the Construction Industry Roundtable and was a board member with U.S. Green Building Council. And his legacy at DPR could, in part, be defined by Mission 2030, the firm’s strategic focus to be recognized as one of the world’s most admired companies by that year.
Related Stories
Contractors | Jun 30, 2015
Arcadis report: Errors and omissions in contract documents leading cause of disputes in North America
While the value of disputes fell by nearly 14% in 2014, the time it took to resolve them lengthened substantially last year, according to a new report from Arcadis.
Contractors | Jun 28, 2015
Construction spending, despite some slowing, stays on healthy growth path
FMI’s latest forecasts find continued strengths in manufacturing, lodging, and office sectors.
Architects | Jun 23, 2015
Architecture Billings Index back to positive territory for May 2015
The American Institute of Architects reported the May ABI score was 51.9, up from a mark of 48.8 in April.
High-rise Construction | Jun 23, 2015
The world's best new skyscrapers for 2015
One World Trade Center and Abu Dhabi's Burj Mohammed Bin Rashid Tower are among the four towers named Best Tall Buildings by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
BIM and Information Technology | Jun 21, 2015
11 tips for mastering 3D printing in the AEC world
Early adopters provide first-hand advice on the trials and tribulations of marrying 3D printing with the science of building technology.
Building Materials | Jun 12, 2015
Construction materials prices up in May, down year-over-year
Prices for inputs to construction industries rose by 1.1% in May—the largest month-over-month increase in more than two years.
Office Buildings | Jun 12, 2015
Houston's energy sector keeps office construction humming
Colliers International projects continued expansion this year in its quarterly report on national office market.
Smart Buildings | Jun 11, 2015
Google launches company to improve city living
The search engine giant is yet again diversifying its products. Google has co-created a startup, called Sidewalk Labs, that will focus on “developing innovative technologies to improve cities.”
Contractors | Jun 8, 2015
ABC: 49 states report decline in construction unemployment rate
Five Plain States reported the lowest unemployment rates for construction workers in April.
Contractors | Jun 5, 2015
FMI's quarterly survey finds contractors mostly optimistic about their growth
The overall economy, as well as the economy in which they do business, might be down, but contractor panelists who provided these insights still see nonresidential construction on the upswing, according to FMI’s latest report.