“Two out of every three small business fail within five years.
Delta Pipelines has set a benchmark for success in our industry,
outlasting the average small construction business six-fold.”
– Tom CaseChief Financial Officer
Have you ever considered how running water, natural gas, and electricity are supplied to homes and businesses? What about the invisible safety mechanisms that protect these structures from fire and flooding? Most people rarely give these inner workings a second thought. But at Delta Pipeline, the infrastructure that provides these vital services is what we think about every day.
Although we take pride in engineering and installing the most robust pipelines, we strive for much more. Providing an enriching and empowering environment for our team members is equally at the top of our priorities list.
This month, we celebrate 30 years in business. Long before the COVID-19 pandemic popularized the term “essential workers,” we considered all our team members essential—it’s because of them, Delta Pipeline continues to thrive.
People, Principle, and Purpose: The pipeline for prosperity
From our earliest days of working out of a small garage, the familiar challenges of a young start-up presented uncertainty. At times, we weren’t sure if our credit line could accommodate material purchases or if paying the bills was in the cards. Yet, despite these trials, Delta Pipeline prevailed, out surviving the industry average for small business continuity six times over.
Fifty percent of all small businesses fail within their first five years in operation. But simply making it to our fifth anniversary wasn’t enough. Each yearly milestone reminds us that we wouldn’t be here without our team members and that they deserve nothing short of a culture where everyone can succeed and achieve their professional and personal goals.
To every Delta Pipeline team member, you’ve been the lifeblood of our company over the past 30 years, and you’ll be its stewards over the next 30—and beyond. Each of you play an indispensable role in carrying out our mission and building our legacy. You’re in the control tower. You control our company’s future.
A look back at our milestones and formula for success
Craig and Richard founded Delta Pipeline in 1991 with a lofty vision. We weren’t just cutting pipes but cutting our teeth in a highly competitive industry. We knew that “making it” wouldn’t happen on accident—it would be the fruit of a hard-working team who deserved to share in our success. We created our profit-sharing plan to reward team members each quarter with 10% of the profits we earned.
“We formed our company with the mission of engineering and installing the most robust pipelines to provide vital services for people, while providing our people with a pipeline for personal enrichment and empowerment.”
– Craig Danley
Founder, Shareholder
As more projects came our way and our team grew in numbers, we took another industry-leading step, creating Delta Pipeline University in 2015. Through our in-house training program, entry-level Pipeline Helpers can grow to become to Foremen, Superintendent, and even Project Engineers.
Then, in 2017, we added our 401(k) plan to help team members save for retirement. Another groundbreaking step was the addition of our ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Program). This program transformed our company our organization to employee-owned, which ultimately opened the doors for all to succeed and take ownership of the work we do. Finally, we increased our time-off policy to include up to three weeks of paid time off.
Next year, we’ll be introducing our intranet—a digital portal where we can collaborate, communicate, and share important news and information on desktop, laptop, or mobile devices. Here, team members can log in to check vacation time, request time off, view pay stubs, post messages, and more.
Our programs and team culture highlight our spirit of collaboration. We’re convinced that our culture of building from the ground up resulted in the banner year of record sales we enjoyed in 2019, our sustained growth in 2020 despite the impact of the pandemic, and our solid projected earnings this year.
Doing well by doing good
By taking Benjamin Franklin’s advice of “doing well by doing good” to heart and putting people before profit, we’ve invested in what matters most—Delta team members. Our commitment to a collective vision of success for all has served as the primary catalyst for our success. In celebrating this exceptional anniversary and looking to our future success, we look to each of you to continue building vital connections and growing our dedicated family of employee-owners.
We applaud your work, diligence, and dedication to our mission and values.
