Erland / The Foundation of Erland’s Success: Our People

By Rick Jensen, VP, Director of Operations

In the last 45 years, we’ve progressed quite a bit as a company—our size, beliefs, and how we operate have all evolved—but the foundation of Erland’s success has always been our people.

Prior to the pandemic, Erland had begun discussing the need to reshape the company’s existing Mission, Vision and Core Values. As 2020 progressed, it only became more obvious that aligning these statements with our strategic goals and objectives needed to be addressed. Flash forward to January of 2021 when we launched our amended Mission, Vision and Core Values that better reflects how we operate today. 

What remained consistent in our revamp was highlighting how crucial our people are to the company’s continued success. A factor that was certainly always recognized but needed to be of greater focus in our statements. The centering of our people to Erland’s Mission, Vision and Core Values better demonstrates our purpose and gives our clients, industry and subcontractor partners, and potential employees a clearer understanding of who we are.

In 2021, we welcomed 19 new employees to our team—each bringing their own unique perspective and experience to Erland. They are helping to shape our future alongside those who’ve built our past. We have 5 employees that have been here over 40 years, 7 over 30 years, 13 over 20 years, and another 13 over 10 years. This is an incredible accomplishment for each individual and for us as a company. And when we say we have a family culture—we really mean it. Of our 115 employees, Erland employs 3 sets of brothers, 1 set of sisters, 5 sets of fathers & sons, 1 father-daughter duo, cousins, in-laws, and the list goes on! One of the best indicators that employees are loyal and love where they work is when they invite others to work there too. It’s something we hope continues for years to come.

We have seven Core Values that all tie into our culture but the one that drives home Erland’s belief that our people are the foundation to our success the most is our ability to foster a family culture and collaborative environment where all are supported, and success is obtainable. The entire company shares this sentiment. It’s why overtime, our clients and industry and subcontractor partners have also become part of our family. Just the other day I got a phone call from the retired owner of a structural steel company Erland worked closely with years ago asking to get lunch and catch up. We all become part of this community—building buildings but also building relationships you can count on for a lifetime. 

You can only build a great building on a strong foundation—and that couldn’t be truer here at Erland. We would not be where we are today without the hard-work of our dedicated employees!