Our Accolades

In 1993‚ best-selling business authors Robert Levering and Milton Moskowitz wrote a book entitled The 100 Best Companies to Work For in America‚ which featured TD as one of those companies. During their research, the authors carefully reviewed more than 400 nominated companies using six major criteria:

• Openness and Fairness
• Camaraderie/Friendliness
• Opportunities
• Pride in Work and Company
• Pay/Benefits
• Security

In 1998, Levering and Moskowitz partnered with FORTUNE magazine to annually recognize and rank the 100 Best Companies to Work For. TD has appeared on that list ever since, often ranking in the top ten.

FORTUNE publishes a list of their 100 Best “All-Stars,” which consists of companies that have appeared on their 100 Best list since it was first published in 1998. TD is one of only 13 companies on that list.

At TD‚ it is one of our strategic goals to deserve to stay on this prestigious list of “Best Companies to Work For” as determined by FORTUNE, and the Great Place to Work Institute.

Top 100 Training Organizations

TD believes in long-term‚ continuous‚ intensive people-development efforts – a large piece of our mission statement.

Training magazine’s inaugural list of the Top 50 Training Organizations created “a ranking of the industry’s leading companies that have created true learning organizations by adopting training and employee development as a mission-critical strategy.” Training is the leading magazine of those in the training profession. The magazine has expanded its list from 50 to 125 Top Training Organizations over the years.

In Training magazine's inaugural edition,TD was recognized‚ in particular‚ for the following programs:

• TDTech
• Mentoring
• Leadership Development
• Career Paths
• Lean Production and Theory of Constraints Training and Implementation
• Cross Training (field‚ shop‚ office)
• Servant-Leadership Study Groups
• Servant-Leadership Culture

Training magazine states‚ “TD’s commitment to the personal and professional development of each employee is best illustrated in the company’s ‘People Objective.’ This objective promises to ensure that employees will succeed as a ‘total person‚’ grow with the company and feel important. Through extensive personal and professional training programs‚ TD cultivates well-rounded employees‚ while simultaneously enhancing its bottom line.”

For more information on the Top 125 Training Organizations‚ visit the Training magazine Web site at www.trainingmag.com.

National Construction Safety Excellence Award

TD received one of the nation’s top industry awards for construction safety excellence – the Associated General Contractors (AGC) Construction Safety Excellence Award for Specialty Contractors with more than 200‚000 safe work hours. During more than 2.4 million work hours in 1999‚ TD experienced only nine lost-time injuries‚ which equates to a lost-time incident rate of 0.8; the average rate nationwide for the plumbing‚ heating and air-conditioning construction industry is 3.9.

A rigorous pre-qualification process was required of all award entrants‚ which included meeting specific OSHA standards‚ providing a comprehensive company safety program, and sustaining that commitment throughout the organization.

Receiving this award is very meaningful for us at TD‚ as our policy statement on safety includes a company-wide initiative to eliminate all accidents in the workplace and to provide a safe‚ secure and drug-free place of employment!

For more information on AGC Safety programs‚ visit the AGC Web site at www.agc.org.

National Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Principle-Centered Leadership

TD is known for its history of success and its unique style of leadership. So when Jack Lowe‚ Jr.‚ received the National Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Principle-Centered Leadership in 2000‚ it was evident that the seeds his father (and TD’s founder) Jack‚ Sr.‚ had planted had grown to healthy proportions. This award‚ presented by Stephen Covey‚ a longtime friend to both generations of Lowes‚ recognizes entrepreneurs whose personal leadership style has successfully built a top-performing organization through the application of effective leadership principles.

Mr. Covey also recognized Jack for having a part in establishing an empowered culture at TD and epitomizing the philosophy of leader as servant. In his interview with Ernst & Young‚ Jack encouraged his TDPartners to continue to aggressively improve the way they do things. “For a small company in Texas‚ we get a lot of recognition‚” Lowe says. “It’s tempting to get complacent‚ but I tell our people‚ celebrate‚ but never be satisfied.”

For more information on the Entrepreneur of the Year program‚ visit the Ernst & Young Web site at www.ey.com.

ENR's Top 25 Newsmakers

Each year, the editors of ENR (Engineering News-Record) review the significant contributions of construction industry members. Ben Houston‚ a 48-year TDPartner and company president in 2000‚ was recognized as one of the Top 25 Newsmakers in the construction industry by ENR.

Howard Stussman‚ chief editor of ENR‚ was quoted as saying‚ “Ben is being recognized by ENR for employing a unique philosophy‚ ‘Servant as Leader.’ He continually strives to heighten the overall work experience of TDPartners and equips them with a sense of empowerment. This award gives ENR the opportunity to recognize the inspirational and pioneering individuals who are top role models within our industry. Houston was selected as a Top Newsmaker because his dedication and exceptional achievements are what will continue to move our industry ahead.”

While Ben Houston is a leader in the construction industry‚ he gives 100 percent to his TDPartners. We are all very proud of Ben’s many years of accomplishments and know that he will continue to work to make the construction industry a great place to be.

For more information on the Top 25 Newsmakers, visit the ENR Web site at www.ENR.construction.com.

Texas Quality Award

This annual award recognizes Texas organizations for exemplary achievements in quality and excellence, similar to that of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

TD began to study and practice Total Quality Management in the late 1980s. Since then‚ through required employee training in TQM tools and processes‚ we’ve been able to achieve:

• Significantly increased partner satisfaction
• Significantly increased customer satisfaction
• Significantly increased productivity
• Dramatically improved safety
• Healthy matching in the combined ESOP and 401(k)
• Significantly increased profitability and stock value

The Texas Quality Award is a significant recognition of the progress TD has made since beginning our quality journey and a collective accomplishment that we can all celebrate.

For more information on the Texas Quality Award‚ visit the Texas Quality Web site at www.texas-quality.org.