We are introducing you to this year’s Most Admired CEO honorees. Brad Des Jardin of DesCor Builders is an honoree in the distinguished career category.
DesCor Builders likes to say it constructs buildings and relationships.
The Roseville-based general contracting business, founded in 2005, synthesizes its values into four categories — passion, accountability, commitment and excellence, or PACE.
“We call it our PACE values,” said Brad Des Jardin, who along with Neal Cordeiro founded the company. “And PACE is also movement.”
Des Jardin, formerly the company’s president and CEO, has since stepped into a more advisory role. It’s a move he’s been planning for a decade. He knew a succession plan was required and a new generation needed to take the reins. Des Jardin now provides guidance to DesCor’s new leaders, ranging from advice on contract issues to employees.
It was a long path from founding the company, running it with his business partner for almost 20 years and now helping steer it as an adviser.
Des Jardin met Cordeiro in 1996, quickly realizing that they made a strong team. They thought an opportunity existed to build their own business, one Des Jardin said would offer sophisticated service at an economic cost.
They formed DesCor Builders — a moniker coming from both their last names — in 2005. An accountant and field superintendent rounded out their team.
“We felt that was the four-legged stool,” Des Jardin said.
They got their first job — at $4,000 — a week after opening and did $8 million in revenue their first year. Now they have over 80 employees. They ended 2022 doing $250 million in revenue. Since DesCor opened, the group has made over $1.3 billion in revenue and completed over 1,300 projects.
“We were able to attract great people,” Des Jardin said. “They were really drawn by our values, our purpose and our mission.”
Christie Shorrock, director of development with Stanford Sierra Youth & Families, has seen Des Jardin’s values in action firsthand.
DesCor Builders has sponsored an annual Oktoberfest for 16 years. The proceeds go to Shorrock’s organization. Last year, it raised $113,000. In total, over $450,000 has been raised.
“It’s highly important,” she said. “It makes an incredible impact.”
Shorrock has known Des Jardin for years, saying he cares about community and foster children. She said he’s also a consummate professional and praised the visioning he’s performed for DesCor Builders.
“They’re very employee-centered,” she added. “They care about people. They care about people’s families. It’s just a phenomenal company.”
That business climate has been a goal of Des Jardin’s.
He said that, as CEO, his job was to champion those values and create an environment where all stakeholders could succeed. CEO, for him, stands for Chief Encouragement Officer.
He has two more years of working part-time for DesCor Builders and already has mentored at some startup companies. His focus in those talks remains the same as it did at DesCor — value, purpose and mission.
“We build great buildings and greater relationships,” he said. “We’re relationship builders.”
Link to article: https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2024/03/13/most-admired-ceo-brad-des-jardin-descor-builders.html
