Brent Miller joined the Dome Construction team in 2000. Over the last two decades, he has been an integral part of the company, and he will continue to play a crucial role in his new position as Director of Risk Management.
Brent developed a taste for Construction at a young age, attributing his initial interest to his father. Brent’s father regularly recruited him and his brothers to assist with projects around the house, and gradually that developed over the years into taking things apart with the intent to rebuild them, stuff like engines and transmissions, and even building go-carts! During the summers, armed with knowledge from his father, Brent often sought out construction jobs, making it an easy choice to decide Construction was the path for him.
Brent attended California State University, Chico receiving his Bachelor of Science in Construction Management. After graduating, he worked for a subcontractor before eventually joining the Dome team. Brent’s first project was located in a Kaiser Medical Office Building. Since that first Kaiser project, Brent has worked on hundreds of projects across multiple sectors ranging from High-tech, Biotech and Life Science, Tenant Improvement, Ground-up, Medical Clinics, to Underground Utility projects.
Brent’s transition into the Director of Risk Management is a perfect segue to leverage his strengths, knowledge, and expertise within the industry and Dome.
With this new role, Brent will be focused on Risk Management across all of Dome’s operations. This new role will apply focused attention to all risk management areas within Dome. With a dedicated person in this role, we will be able to manage the risk we have today across the company more effectively. As we grow in size, project types, and new geographical regions, we rest assured knowing that with Brent leading the charge, we will have the coverage needed to maintain our safety culture.
Today, Brent lives in San Jose with his wife and two sons. When he isn’t working, you can find him barbecuing, learning to snowboard, and spending quality time with his family.
We sat down with Brent to learn more about who he is and get a better understanding of what he's looking forward to in his new role.
How’d you get into construction? Was there someone that influenced you?
Growing up, my Dad would typically involve my brothers and me in most of the projects he had going on around the house. He was a big “why pay someone for something you can do yourself” kind of person. We learned how to maintain, repair, and build things using hand tools & then power tools, which I really enjoyed. That led to many “projects” thru the years like building forts, working on bikes, building go-carts, rebuilding engines, transmissions, and generally taking things apart & putting them back together. As I got older each year when summer came around, I found jobs in construction, so a career in construction was an easy choice.
Tell me about a project or an accomplishment that you consider to be the most significant in your career—a pivotal moment.
My first project for Dome was a medical office building for Kaiser that was one of the farthest projects from the office we had done as a company. As a result, that meant we were a bit on an island at the jobsite. Lucky for me, I had the opportunity to work side by side with a great superintendent, Phil Letourneau. He took the time to show and teach me things that I still use today. I feel lucky to have had the chance to learn from him, and I try to pass on the lessons he taught me whenever I can. Having come to Dome after working for a trade partner, the project was my first working for a commercial General Contractor, and it was a great learning experience that provided a real foundation for me to build from.
Tell me about your new role.
The new role is focused on risk management across all of Dome’s operations. The goal of developing the role is to apply focused attention to all risk management areas within Dome. We are taking a different approach that gives vision across all these areas, whereas today, we approach it from other departments being responsible for various components. The goal of adding this role is to manage the risk we have today and help us continue to manage risk as we grow in size, project types & geographical coverage.
What are you excited about most about as you step into this new position?
I’m excited about the opportunity to create this new role that will support Dome to grow to even higher heights successfully. Additionally, I’m looking forward to applying my experience to an already great team to provide even better internal service to our project teams and help us provide even greater value & service to our clients. Another aspect that I look forward to is the opportunity to work across the internal departments like DIAL, Accounting, HR, Safety & Field Ops to help us work even more efficiently & effectively together as we aim to provide world-class customer service to our project teams and clients. This is an amazing group of really talented people, and I look forward to working even more closely with them. Lastly, I’m excited to look at how we manage all our risk & find ways to reduce our cost or add to our profitability by taking new or different approaches and expand on what has already been done in this regard.
What does this new role mean for Dome?
Our ability to manage risk across our business directly affects our clients, our business partners, our team, and our bottom line. For over 50 years, we have worked hard to be the Contractor of Choice and have had terrific success by paying attention to the details & doing it right. As we look forward, the risks we face are growing, and we need to stay in front of those to continue to be successful. The COVID-19 pandemic is an example of new types of risk we face and the need to manage these differently from the past. This new role will apply focused time and effort to help us better manage risk while finding even better ways to do that while enhancing our service and profitability. My goal in moving into this role is to produce similar results in our risk management for us that the DIAL department has created for our team’s training and orientation. We are a much better and stronger company from the investment in innovation and learning and the work product that this fantastic team has created. I think through this investment in risk management, we will become even stronger and better as an organization.
How do you see Dome developing in the next 5 years?
I envision Dome becoming even more savvy and skilled in managing risk across our business and finding ways to enhance service, value, and profitability as we execute our work. As we further develop in this area, I see the customer experience, both internally and externally improving. As we continue to grow in size and reach, this becomes increasingly important for us to execute our work successfully. Our business is heavily reliant on repeat work, and that requires exceptional customer service. We need to have strong internal resources and support to help the project teams deliver that high level of service, and this role will help improve an already great team to provide even better results.
What do you love most about your job and Dome?
I have been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with many different Dome employees over my career and work across our business in that time. I have worked in high tech, biotech & life science, renovations, downtown SF TI’s, ground up, Medical clinics, OSHPD, service & maintenance projects, and underground utilities. The variety of projects and the opportunity to work with many different and incredible team members has allowed me to learn continually.
What has kept you at Dome for the last 20+ years?
It’s the people at Dome that have kept me here for so long. We have amazing people, and the positive attitude and energy this creates is really special. The importance Dome places on working safety and integrity are other big reasons for what makes me so proud to be a part of Dome. These are just some of what makes me want to get up in the morning and fuels me through the day.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Seek out opportunities to learn new things and learn from others. Ask questions and listen. Develop relationships with counterparts across our trade partners, clients, and designers. Invest time and cultivate these as they will provide opportunities down the road as you grow in your career.
What was the best advice someone has given you?
I’ve been given some terrific advice over the years, so it’s hard to narrow it down. A few of these would be:
- Never give up and always try to do your best no matter the circumstances.
- Treat everyone with respect and really listen to others; you’ll be surprised at what you learn.
What do you do when you’re not working?
I enjoy spending time with my family and friends. I like to barbeque for friends and family. Mountain biking, fishing, building things, and time outdoors are also activities I really enjoy.
What might someone be surprised to know about you?
I started snowboarding just a few years ago when my kids started to learn how to do it. I had only skied once before, and I spent most of that time perfecting my take on the Wide World of Sports skier crashing down the mountain look. I didn’t have any experience with snowboarding, so it was all new to me. Learning a new sport at my age has been equal parts humbling and fun. The best part has been spending the time together.