Harris, a leading mechanical contractor, has announced its 2020 Employee Award winners across five categories that exemplify Harris: Prefabrication (project and region), Safety, Culture, Innovation and Lifetime Achievement. The following award winners were nominated by their peers. 

Prefabrication Project Award 
Demonstrating Harris' commitment to multi-trade prefabrication and manufacturing, this team lowered first time cost, increased job site efficiency, increased safety and lessened impact on the owner's facility by constructing mechanical rooms for a large medical device company in Harris' St. Paul fabrication shop, rather than on site. With architectural, structural, electrical, mechanical and controls built out, the rooms were trailered to the job site and hoisted on the roof. Only final connections were needed with piping, pumps, filters, electrical panels and building automation in place. Team members were: BIM/VDC Senior Manager John Semanko, Project Manager Andy Bloom, Sheet Metal General Foreman Mike Kendle, Pipefitter Foreman Will Perkins, Turnover Services Coordinator Ken Berg, Service Operations Manager Scott Parkos, and Controls Project Manager Scott Rasmussen.

Prefabrication Region Award
Cost savings, creativity, labor reduction and customer recognition are benchmarks for this regional award. Harris' Building Automation Panel Shop developed a prefabrication method to allow work typically done on-site to be completed off-site, saving hours in the field and maximizing efficiencies. Working on a massive government project, the Salt Lake City Building Automation team engineered, designed, fabricated, and programmed the project's 220-plus PLC and DDC panels months in advance, meeting rigid quality standards and an accelerated schedule. Prefabrication will save nearly 4,000 project hours.

Safety Champion Award: Richard Baker, Salt Lake City Safety Supervisor 
Given to an employee who goes above and beyond, has a strong personal safety record and proactively influences others' safety, Salt Lake City Construction Safety Supervisor Richard Baker has been nothing but outstanding in keeping his Salt Lake City team safe, especially during a year of remarkable challenges. Selected for the role in 2020, Baker's innovative safety approach helped move the SLC team from a 3.57 RIR in 2019 to 0 RIR in 2020.

"Jerry Dalton" Culture Award: Mark Slagle, Director, National Field Operations 
Exceptional dedication and service, integrity, positivity and collaboration, these are traits that represent Harris' culture and Mark Slagle, Director, National Field Operations. They are also the qualities of Jerry Dalton, an exceptional Harris employee who passed away in 2004 and whose name dons the award. Slagle is highly respected by his team and clients. And, safety and morale are always top of mind. On a national project with temperatures over 100 degrees and 6 to 10-hour schedules, Slagle spent countless hours alongside his nearly 130-member crew providing ice water, cool down areas, early starting hours and COVID-safe celebration lunches.

Innovation Award: Ben VanderSluis, Director, Data Driven Solutions 
This honor reflects the impact innovation has on work processes, products and applications, as well as overall company benefit. Considered Harris' PhD Data Scientist, Ben VanderSluis has been instrumental in developing Harris' new Telemetry^SM Service. Working with teams across the organization, VanderSluis led the development of Harris' new tool for capturing building data, then transmitting it back for monitoring and human analysis. Trained technicians make any needed adjustments, enabling a facility to operate more efficiently and effectively.

Innovation Award: Isaac Lowe, BIM/VDC Assistant 
Reflecting the impact innovation has on work processes, products and applications and overall company benefit, BIM/VDC Assistant Isaac Lowe developed a custom ribbon in Revit for Harris detailers to use and streamline workflows. He has also created custom tool add-ins, programming in C, a powerful computer language.

Robert F. Hosch Lifetime Achievement Award: Chuck Leach, Purchasing Manager
The Robert F. Hosch Lifetime Achievement Award, named after Harris' former CEO who passed away in 2018, honors an employee who has built strong relationships, empowers and creates opportunities for others, and shows humility, selflessness and respect. For more than 40 years, Chuck Leach's goal has remained the same, "how can I help Harris succeed." With a passion for industry knowledge, mechanical systems, materials, specifications and relentless negotiating, Leach is known for his impeccable work ethic, oversight, guidance, training and resourcefulness.