Taking care of people means making them feel comfortable and valued.

Sacramento Business Journal, October 11, 2019
A+ Employers Award / Best Places to Work
Medium Company Winner 2019: DesCor Builders

The co-founders of DesCor Builders have done more than grow their business by the numbers.

Brad Des Jardin and Neal Cordeiro say they have created a family.

In 2005, the Rancho Cordova-based company began with four employees, now it has 74.

“We have a philosophy, if you do the right things and take care of people, the money will come,” Des Jardin said.

And it has.

Revenues are trending at about $150 million this year, up from $113 million in 2018, he said.

Taking care of people means making them feel comfortable and valued.

“For a person who has been here less than four years to be able to have the opportunity to have a seat at that table and have a voice that is heard is so foreign to me, but that’s DesCor in a nutshell. They empower people.”

– Sean Sargenti, project superintendent

Des Jardin and Cordeiro don’t have corner offices. Instead, they work at desks in an open office space so team members can come to them anytime for advice or to share ideas.

Employees also participate in planning sessions, including ones that will determine the company’s 2030 goals.

“For a person who has been here less than four years to be able to have the opportunity to have a seat at that table and have a voice that is heard is so foreign to me, but that’s DesCor in a nutshell,” said Sean Sargenti, a project superintendent. “They empower people.”

Des Jardin and Cordeiro also make sure they know their people.

“I got a call last week from Neal just to check in,” said Lee Freeman, a project superintendent. Cordeiro wasn’t asking about a project. He was calling to see how Lee’s son Chase was doing. Did the Whitney High School senior like working for DesCor with his dad during the summer? Does he still plan to attend Sac State?

“They always remember your wife’s name, your kid’s name. It’s about you, so that makes you feel like you’re a big family,” Freeman said.

Spouses and children come to barbecues and celebrations; spouses attend the annual fundraisers for Sierra Forever Families.

To work for DesCor, people have to fit into the family-first culture. Often hires come through word-of-mouth recruiting.

For instance, when Des Jardin spotted Joe Giger skiing with DesCor employees, he interviewed him on the chairlift as they rode to the top of the mountain. Giger had a second interview and signed on.

A project manager, Giger appreciates the company’s work-life balance philosophy.

“We are all home at 5 p.m. to spend time with our family. That’s important because a lot of our competitors are conducting business in the Bay Area,” Giger said. “They aren’t home until 7 p.m.”

Before joining DesCor, Sargenti and his wife wanted to have a second child, but he worked out of town all week and sometimes on Saturdays, so that wasn’t practical.

“I can safely say that the focus that DesCor puts on work-life balance and family first is the whole reason I have a 10-month-old,” Sargenti said of his second child.

Seeing all the children at a company picnic makes Des Jardin proud.

“It’s like a sign of prosperity when people feel good enough that they are buying homes and having kids,” he said. “We feel like the DesCor family has just expanded, and we love that.”

Bonnie Stewart | Correspondent | Sacramento Business Journal
October 14, 2019