The DECCO Difference

Over the past 85 years, DECCO has evolved from its roots as one of the largest coal conveyor system installers in the early 20th century. Today, the company provides specialized construction, maintenance and fabrication services to leading biopharmaceutical, technology and industrial clients throughout New England. Its approximately 200 employees, or “partners” as they are known at DECCO, give their best day in and day out to provide their clients with what they call “the DECCO difference.”

While there is no formal definition of the term, it can be summed up simply as always going the extra mile to provide the highest level of service and care. This commitment is so ingrained into the company’s operations that in an independent survey of more than 300 construction users, DECCO was overwhelmingly cited as the highest-quality, value-added mechanical contractor in the Northeast.

DECCO has earned their reputation not only through an unwavering commitment to delivering quality services with the highest regard for safety, but with a mission to engage and encourage team members to support the local communities where they live and work. An internal philanthropic committee actively seeks out unique opportunities to serve the local community, with more than $25,000 each year going toward supporting organizations such as the Brookline, New Hampshire, fire and police departments and the local recreation department. Whether its donating old gang boxes for repurposing into recreational equipment storage or providing the financial means for emergency services to purchase new “jaws of life” equipment, DECCO is always willing to lend a hand.

In addition to these corporate efforts, partners are encouraged to come to leadership with service projects near and dear to their own hearts—and they’re always met with support.

“In order to walk the walk in our mission statement, we needed to strike a proper work-life balance,” says Kyle Reagan, executive vice president. To that end, DECCO affords employees flexible scheduling and time away from work to dedicate to serving causes they most care about. One DECCO foreman, Hector Carrasquillo, recently organized a donation of school supplies and DECCO drawstring bags (for use as backpacks) to elementary children in the Dominican Republic.

“Thanks again for allowing me to be able to help my parents’ hometown and for putting those smiles on those faces! Now the world knows about ‘the DECCO difference!’” Carrasquillo says.

Beyond volunteer work and charitable donations, DECCO also aims to better the communities it serves by introducing young people to careers in the skilled trades.

“Massachusetts is a highly regulated, bureaucratic state with lots of roadblocks for folks who want to get into the trades,” Reagan says. Traditional methods of recruiting (newspaper ads, etc.) had been unsuccessful. With the skilled labor shortage looming and a desperate need to fill skilled jobs, how would they manage to attract new workers?

DECCO’s leadership team got together to brainstorm innovative ways to approach the labor shortage, and the resulting plan was simple, yet effective: personal outreach. Each team member came up with a list of names of young people they felt would be great candidates for an introduction to the skilled trades, and then they actually became boots-on-the-ground recruiters and talked to each individual personally to educate them on construction career opportunities.

Interested candidates attended what’s now known as DECCO Bootcamp, a six-week program at the beginning of each new school year that covers topics such as power tool safety, different trade paths and more. There are currently 25 people in DECCO’s three-year apprenticeship program who came from Bootcamp, and Reagan believes these individuals are shaping into some of DECCO’s finest employees.

The first wave of bootcamp attendees are now second-year apprentices, and the second and third waves are first-year apprentices. They’re in the process of recruiting 10 or more individuals to begin next year’s apprenticeship program.