“What I love about this campaign is that it came from our people. It was our employee’s passion for creating safe, supportive spaces for kids, and that really drove its focus,” said Darin Stegemoller, Senior Vice President at JE Dunn. “Every Child PDX and Project 48 are doing incredible work to make sure kids in our local community are cared for and empowered. We’re proud to support their efforts and be a part of the impact they’re making.”

The awarded grants include:

• Project 48 – $100,000 Project 48 has been awarded a $100,000 Cornerstone Grant for their “Life Skills Program: Pathways to Stability, Confidence, and Community for Youths Transitioning Out of Foster Care.” This program addresses the significant needs of young people aging out of the foster care system who often lack stable housing, guidance, and access to opportunities. The grant will fund 12 trauma-informed Life Skills cohorts over two years, providing essential tools in employment readiness, financial literacy, and mentorship.
• Every Child PDX– $50,000 Every Child PDX, a transformative initiative of The Contingent, will receive a $50,000 Cornerstone Grant for their project, “Reimagining Foster Care Systems: Advancing Equitable Recruitment and Retention through Community Mobilization.” This initiative aims to address urgent disparities within Oregon’s child welfare system by establishing a culturally responsive, community-driven infrastructure. The grant will specifically support efforts to recruit and retain foster families, with a focus on historically underserved communities.

“JE Dunn is honored to have the opportunity to give back to the communities where we live and work,” said Mike Tilbury, Senior Vice President – Advanced Facilities Group at JE Dunn.  “We believe in serving others and this grant was an excellent opportunity for our Advanced Industries Group to help make an impact.”

The 2025 Cornerstone Campaign underscores JE Dunn’s dedication to making a tangible difference in the communities where its employees live and work.

For more information about the JE Dunn Cornerstone Campaign and future community involvement opportunities, please visit Cornerstone Campaign.

The post JE Dunn Awards $150,000 in Cornerstone Grants to Portland Nonprofits – Funds to Support Safe and Supportive Spaces for Kids in Need first appeared on JE Dunn Construction.

At the groundbreaking event today, members of industry joined OLCC along with local elected leaders to each take a ceremonial shovel and help turn the earth at the site. The lead contractor for the project, JE Dunn Construction has already begun site mobilization, including clearing, leveling, and installing construction fencing in preparation for full-scale construction which was evidenced at the site today.

“Our current warehouse operates at capacity, creating logistical challenges, and risking revenue opportunities for the state,” said OLCC Executive Director Craig Prins. “This new facility, with its advanced material handling systems and expanded footprint, will allow us to better serve Oregon businesses and consumers efficiently and responsibly.”

The new warehouse will replace the current warehouse infrastructure in Milwaukie, which has been in operation since the 1950s. The new facility, located along the I-5 corridor, will significantly expand capacity, streamline operations and improve efficiency for businesses and consumers across the state.

“This new warehouse represents a long-overdue investment in Oregon’s distilled spirits distribution system,” said Commission Chair Dennis Doherty. “It ensures we can meet growing consumer demand while maintaining our commitment to responsible alcohol regulation. With JE Dunn’s expertise, we’re confident this facility will serve Oregonians well for decades to come.”

Canby Mayor Brian Hodson welcomed the investment in his community. “We’re proud to be the home of OLCC’s new distribution center. This project not only brings economic benefits to Canby but also reinforces our city’s strategic role in Oregon’s logistics network. We look forward to seeing this vision come to life.”

“Breaking ground on OLCC’s new liquor warehouse and distribution facility is a tremendous milestone not only for our project team, but also the community,” said JE Dunn Project Executive, Jeff Fisher. “OLCC provides many benefits to the state of Oregon beyond its core operations. This facility will only strengthen that impact. A lot of work has gone into getting to this point, and JE Dunn is proud to be part of a project that will bring lasting enhancements to the community. We look forward to continuing our partnership with OLCC and keeping the community engaged as the project progresses.”

In the coming week, JE Dunn will continue mass grading for the building pad, establish temporary construction haul roads, and receive deliveries for upcoming phases of work. Substantial completion of the warehouse is expected at the end of June 2026, with the facility fully operational by the end of August 2026.

* Rendering courtesy of LRS Architecture

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The post Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) first appeared on JE Dunn Construction.

The truth is, building a strong internal culture requires a tremendous amount of vigilance and nurturing and cannot be accomplished without intent. This starts with aligning the leadership team around shared goals AND getting a strong level of commitment and action. This alignment shouldn’t stop in the board room once everyone agrees that they want to create a strong culture, each member of leadership needs to have a contributing role. They need to show up, philosophically and physically, to demonstrate the behaviors that foster positive culture building while also growing those behaviors in others.

The next step is to recruit the best employees. This goes beyond hiring individuals with the strongest technical prowess — it includes assessing the individual’s ability to impact the culture. In this stage, it’s important to be aspirational about the direction of your internal culture. A common trap is that people often want to maintain the status quo and are tempted to hire carbon copies of the team members they already have, especially if they feel the company culture is already strong. This can lead to a lack of innovation and cultural growth, and before long, you will find your firm falling behind, failing to respond to changes in employee needs and preferences. Instead, look for new hires who can augment your culture and support the next evolution.

Once you have the right people on board, the focus moves to retention and reconsideration. The goal should never be to retain at all costs. There will always be those individuals who just don’t align with the business, whether they are not performing at a technical level or perhaps they consistently bring a negative perspective. If these behaviors are ongoing and cannot be corrected, it’s time for reconsideration. Retaining culture-killing employees has a tremendous impact on culture and will undo all the work that’s being done by your cultural ambassadors, which results in a zero-sum game, or worse, taking you into the negative.

When it comes to retention, it’s all about listening to your team and acting on your commitments. Listening to your team when it comes to poor performers, listening to your team about their needs, and listening to your team about opportunities for improvement are all critical components to retention. To foster retention, it’s important to recognize and embrace differences in demographics and lifestyles, treating everyone with equal respect. Respect is the result of understanding, so it’s important to prioritize different perspectives. At the end of the day, it’s about being kind, a principle we all learn as toddlers but often forget when we’re under the pressure of office politics and relentless deadlines. So, when you see yourself getting frustrated because you feel like someone isn’t understanding you or vice versa, step back and see how you might be able to shift your approach to foster a mutual understanding.

There are many culture killers, but at the top of the list is gossip. It’s important to recognize the difference between sharing an issue to get a perspective that aids in the resolution of the issue, and sharing an issue repeatedly, getting suggestions and feedback and failing to take any action on the issue. Infighting weakens internal culture and diminishes the credibility of an entire group.

The benefits of building a strong culture are numerous. It generates high-performing teams, makes leaderships and everyone else’s job easier, helps with recruiting, reduces attrition, and creates an environment where people want to come to work. Building a strong culture doesn’t happen overnight and you are never done building. There are key questions that should perpetually be asked: are we providing clear opportunities for growth, are we taking the time to get to know people, and are we accurately assessing performance? These are all important steps in the process of intentional culture building. Building a strong internal culture in this way is a continuous process that requires effort and attention at every level from the entire organization.

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