Sully-Miller Contracting Co. is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year; a century of California infrastructure construction that George W. Sully and Earl B. Miller began with five employees and a team of mules in 1923. The company is marking the centennial event by bringing the families of all of the employees together in gatherings throughout the year.
It started with Family Day at Knott’s Berry Farm, then there’s the upcoming Angels Game, the Equipment Rodeo, and the Holiday Party in December. Add to that a Customer Appreciation event, an Art Competition, and Giving Thanks in November, and you begin to understand why Sully-Miller has successfully grown into the prosperous company that it is today – truly caring about its 550 employees, along with its customers and business partners.
“Caring, Sharing & Daring may sound a little cute,” explained Bill Boyd, President of Sully-Miller, “but it accurately reflects the fundamental values of our culture. Sharing means extending the expertise of our teams to new apprentices from the company’s journeymen, and daring finds its meaning in daring to be excellent, to be innovative.”
The authenticity of Sully-Miller’s philosophy can be found in their employees. Often, multiple generations of a family can be found at work there. Today, there’s one Sully-Miller family that boasts a 60-year tenure, with three generations currently working at the company.
Sully-Miller encourages its employees to grow within the company through training, development, and advancement. “We urge our people to take ownership of their professional growth, to take the time to develop and advance their career,” Boyd stated. “We have Personal Development Programs in place that provide guidance for our people.”
The ethos of caring is reflected in the company’s core values of Respect, Trust, Social Responsibility, Quality, Enjoyment, Continuous Learning, Safety, and Integrity. All of that equates to the creation of a company with great teamwork, and one that builds key infrastructure projects – and the confidence of hundreds of clients.
The ethos of caring is further reflected in the company’s safety program, earning it the top spot in the Colas USA Family of Companies. Driver Safety Recognition Awards are regularly bestowed on equipment drivers scoring 95 and even 100 on the safety performance scale.
Colas is an innovative infrastructure conglomerate founded in 1929 and is headquartered in Paris. Its global resources, research, and financial strength support 58,000 employees in their work around the world. In the United States, The Colas USA Family of Companies is comprised of 28 firms across 22 states.
Over the past century, Sully-Miller has built much of the infrastructure that connects Southern California. As a vertically integrated company, projects are streamlined through the resultant cost efficiency, quality, and service. The company’s unique versatility enables it to self-perform more than 50% of the work on all contracts.
With expertise in roads & highways, airports, seaports, and rail & intermodal, Sully-Miller has done extensive work for Caltrans, Los Angeles World Airports, and the Port of Los Angeles, and continues to build Southern California’s infrastructure into the next century, including current projects on I-15 in San Bernadino County and at LAX, which are detailed in accompanying stories.