The Informer Volume V | Issue 2 | Spring 2011

A MESSAGE FROM RUSSELL C O N T E N T S

www.sierradetentionsystems.com (800) 868-JAIL | office 303.278.6879 | fax 303.278.6921

1177 South 4th Avenue, Brighton, CO 80601

As we approach mid-year, we tend to look both backward and forward. We look backward over

the first half year to determine if we met specified goals and we look forward, not only to make

mid-year adjustments, but to set new goals for the year’s end. Since the winter issue of this news-

letter, the State of Pennsylvania saw fit to cancel the remaining two projects that we had celebrat-

ed landing. Their cancellation occurred after award of the project, hurting many families of the

general contractor and many of his subcontractors. As one of his subcontractors, Sierra, and its

suppliers too, were negatively affected as we lost $24.3 million dollars in volume over a three year

period. What to do?

First, we agree that no pouting or whining (after from the customary 45

minutes) will be allowed. Having a negative attitude is not who Sierra is.

Since we are reminded of who Sierra is not, we shall not forget who Sierra

is—simply put—the best in the industry. While we are not immune to the

same economics that plague other industries, we are doing much better

than most. We are grateful for the work we have, and to be certain, I am

grateful for each of you.

Second, we challenged Brandon Borgmann and his team to begin locating and working on replace-

ment work. They are currently courting enough work in California, not only to replace the volume

gap created by the loss of the Pennsylvania work, but exceed it by 15%-20%. We do

acknowledge, however, that there is a 4-6 month rough patch that we must endure due to this PA

jobs loss.

(continued on page 2)

A Message From Russell 1

Safety Update 4

Employee of the Month 4

Crawfish Boil 5

Sierra’s Databases 8

Demo Cell Tour 9

QA/QC 10

Health and Wellness 11

Sierra Birthdays 11

Expansion 12

Editor: Colton Mailes

The Informer

Page | 2

Third, we continue to close other projects that we are

currently working. The Adelanto and Crown Point projects

are now closed and in our backlog. Further, we chal-

lenged the Tech Services Department to locate and close

new maintenance and commercial security projects. The

Brighton security contract and Denver County mainte-

nance contract are now in our backlog.

Fourth, we recognize and act on the signals sent to us by

the detentions marketplace. Even a casual read of Correc-

tional News (our industry’s trade magazine) cites facility

closures, bid postponements, lower occupancies, and

many other unmistakable indicators of a slowdown. To

answer the need for transformation, we have placed re-

newed emphasis on the commercial and industrial security

needs. This area of the security market is growing. Also,

as a part of the action plan to transform, we look inside.

Electronics has already taken steps to reduce design and

assembly cost through the use of our own electronic door

boards.

Aside from the everyday efforts of becoming more effi-

cient with manpower and production, the Operations De-

partment has taken major steps in cutting unnecessary

costs. Audra Fisher has been assigned to assist the pro-

ject managers in finding affordable living arrangements

for our field staff on a project-specific basis. Audra has

been researching and identifying housing arrangements

for each upcoming project based on timing and manpow-

er needs. She has already had a great deal of success

with SCORE, Warren E. Burger, Gunnison (with Chris

Osler’s help), Washita, Washington, and both Southern

Ute Projects, and she is currently exploring our options in

Adelanto for office and field staff. Bobby Butler is also

pushing our superintendents to minimize the amount of

manpower that we place on each project that receive per

diem. We are focusing more and more effort on finding

local labor to eliminate as much per diem cost as possible.

Volume V | Issue 2 | Spring 2011

Page | 3

The Operations Department has routed all travel arrangements through Jennie Thoene or Audra Fisher to ensure that we are

not making expensive last minute flight/car rental arrangements without the leadership knowing the arrangements or the rea-

sons. Jennie and Audra can also make sure that we are being charged the correct rates on rental cars and hotels and they usu-

ally find the best possible deal on flight arrangements even when it entails not being on a non-stop flight.

The Fleet Vehicle Program will reduce wasteful spending on vehicle allowances, mileage reimbursement, and reduce our risk

from a liability standpoint. An indirect benefit to this program is going to be the advertising and marketing value that comes with

having company trucks and Tech Services vans out on the road with our logo and phone number plastered all over it. This add-

ed value is probably more than anyone realizes and it will be ex-

citing to see results once the program is implemented. A new fuel

management program that will also allow us to monitor fuel costs

much more accurately than what is currently in

place.

So, as we look forward, we set new goals for our

year end. As you may have already gathered, we’re

taking our lumps and coming out stronger. By the

end of this year, our goals are to be leaner, strong-

er, and moving our volume and profitability in an

upward direction, while bucking the current eco-

nomic trends in our country.

Regards,

Russell Pilcher

CEO and Founder

The Informer

Page | 4

SAFETY UPDATE

-Brad Letterly

When on a project, you should consider that an owner or general contractor may

not require certain personal protective equipment (PPE), but Sierra’s policies may

be more stringent. You might have to go beyond our safety policy, but never go

below it.

Eye Protection

There are roughly 2.5 million eye injuries a year, about 50,000 cause a permanent

loss of sight, and 90 percent could have been prevented.

Here is the breakdown of our policy on eye protection:

Must meet ANSI Z87.1 standards

Meaning they must be stamped with the Z87.1 on the glasses

If working indoors, no dark lens

Only clear or indoor/outdoor (I/O) lenses

Prescription lens need to meet these standards—just adding side shields does

not work—both need the Z87.1 imprint

Wear shields and safety glasses in the following applications:

Grinding

Using the chop saw

Chemical applications with splash

Power chipping

Overhead drilling

Machining with flying parts

Congratulations to the

March, April, and May

Employee of the Month

Winners!

March

Cheryl Mirrop

Fred Kinnaufer

April

Shane McGaughey

Stephanie Zuagg

May

Lee Ames

Joel Franco

Eric Dewitt

Volume V | Issue 2 | Spring 2011

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CRAWFISH BOIL! On April 29th, Russell invited Sierra employees, their fami-

lies, and much of Brighton to share in his Louisiana heritage

by flying in 300 pounds of crawfish for a Colorado-style cre-

ole bash. With the mudbugs piled high on paper-covered

tables, everyone braved the impending rain and went to

town cracking open the shells and sucking the heads. Cool-

ers of classic brews and two kegs kept things moving while

Cajun music set the mood. Laisser les bons temps rouler!

The Informer

Page | 6

CRAWFISH BOIL!

Volume V | Issue 2 | Spring 2011

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CRAWFISH BOIL!

The Informer

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SIERRA’S DATABASES

As Sierra grows, so does its need for organization and record-

keeping, and Cheryl Mirrop is leading the effort to create data-

base solutions for the company’s needs. These databases will

provide searchable, archived directories for the mountains of

data that accumulate during disparate projects, saving time

and preventing loss. In beginning, the new databases are quite

simple: desktop shortcuts to an alphabetical projects database,

for example. They’re workarounds. But, when that technology

is applied across hundreds of documents, with direct links to

vendors and financial information, the results are significant.

Cheryl has also been teaching database classes to PD Sims’

group, and they’ve been running with the new knowledge.

Melissa TeBockhorst wrote the code for an error-checking script

that can review lines and lines of data in minutes. The script

has been used to make sure the touch screen and IO list corre-

late and ensure there are no duplicate devices in the IO list

before production, and it caught 50 errors in its first run.

Much of the database work is laying the foundation for future

developments. For example, Cheryl has created a place to store

employee names and contact information for the Human Re-

sources Department, and while that’s a useful tool now, it will

prove invaluable down the road when new, larger databases

will draw from that centralized source for everything from drop-

down menus to mailing labels. Because the programs used in

its creation allow linking, the system removes the danger of

outdated information and keeps employees from reinventing

the wheel each time a project needs employee data.

Other projects currently in the works are able to track:

Safety Department Inventory of company-owned personal

protective equipment.

IT equipment.

Trouble tickets and calls for Technical Services.

Generic device passwords that technicians use during test-

ing, avoiding the possibility that a locked product might

have to be returned to the manufacturer to be reset, caus-

ing a work stoppage.

Order changes that are received mid-project, ensuring that

the new due date, parts, cost, status, etc., are considered.

Security credentials of employees that leave Sierra, ensur-

ing that access to secure facilities is ended at the appropri-

ate time.

Safety violations, enabling the Safety Manager to pinpoint

problem areas and trends, while archiving photos and oth-

er relevant data.

In the long term, Sierra is looking into SharePoint solutions that

will make it possible for some departments to go paperless and

will archive data logically and automatically. It will also allow

Volume V | Issue 2 | Spring 2011

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DEMO CELL TOUR—

SUMMER 2011

-Meredith Pilcher

While popular headliners begin their sum-

mer tours across the nation, a marketing

rock star of our own has begun its tour of

Colorado. North, South, East, and West,

the Sierra Demo Cell will accompany

members of the Broomfield Sheriff’s

Office across the state as they use

the cell for officer training.

In a collaborative effort with

the Technical Services and

Marketing departments,

the cell was outfitted

with signs detailing fur-

nishings, project bene-

fits of the cell, and effi-

ciencies gained by using

Sierra as the installer.

After remembering that Sierra

had once shown the Depart-

ment the cell when deciding on the con-

struction of their facility, Sergeant Shawn

Laughlin asked Brent Botz if the cell was

available for use in their “Jail Academy.”

Brent then brought the project to Marketing

and after conceptualizing and enacting a

plan, the departments sent the Broomfield

Sheriff’s Office on their trip to Colorado with

a fully branded 8x10 box of concrete

strapped to a trailer. Colorado officers will

learn life-saving techniques and protocol

within the cell.

The cell will travel to Gilpin, Bent,

Montrose, Teller, Garfield, and Logan,

Colorado during the months of May

and June.

The tour is an exemplary demon-

stration of the potential each de-

partment has for marketing their

unique capabilities and Sierra as

a whole. There are sure to be

similar projects to occur this

year as our team continues

finding new ways to anticipate

our customer’s needs.

departments to define specific works

flows and track individual projects

with significantly greater precision,

and document collaboration will be

simple and streamlined. Dustin

Moore, the company’s new IT Admin,

is hoping to have a demo ready in

about a month.

These developments are keeping

Sierra on the cutting edge of the de-

tentions industry and will save untold

amounts by speeding up processes,

while reducing the margin for error.

Lost documents, version control, un-

clear documentation: these are more

than just nuisances for a large mod-

ern business; they can significantly

undermine a company’s efforts to

move forward. The possibilities

opened up by databases and Share-

Point will enable Sierra to sidestep

such pitfalls and continue to provide

its clients with the best products on

time and on budget.

The Informer

Page | 10

THE NEW QA/QC DEPARTMENT

To maintain its high standards across all projects, Sierra Detention Systems has

named Casey Kime as the Director of Quality Control and Quality Assurance (QA/

QC). He began his transition to the new position from senior project engineer in

December, 2010, and completed the move in March. Along with his team, Casey

will be responsible for the quality control of all projects, including the review and

submittal of all documents, in-house and field testing, and training, both internal

and for clients.

The new department will run and document pre-construction operational testing

for the existing systems in retrofit projects and will review all engineering documents for compliance with contracts before

they’re sent out. In house testing will also be under its purview, and the team will follow the products to the site to perform

quality control reviews of both electronics and detention equipment at key milestones during the installation.

Working with field staff, they will play a major role after conduit installation, before the wire is pulled to verify labeling and lay-

out, along with other necessary conditions such as backboxes, and will return to the site to ensure the proper wire has been

pulled and labeled. Once installation is complete, the department will run and document the system validation testing and then

run and document the final acceptance testing in the presence of a security consultant.

Once owner training commences, QA/QC will conduct the classes and videotape all demonstrations for the owner’s reference.

Based on the results of these classes, and the response to QA/QC findings, the department will also propose internal training to

continually raise the bar, providing better and better service.

Volume V | Issue 2 | Spring 2011

Page | 11

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

-Jennie Thoene

Tis the season for playing outdoors! For many of you, the

idea of walking on a treadmill or stepping on a stair climber

makes you cringe. This is a perfect time to enjoy the out-

doors and avoid the gym without feeling lazy. Many of the

activities you enjoy (or may not enjoy) this time of year are

great calorie burners and a great source of exercise…Take a

look!

Activity Calories Burned per Hour (based on 150lb

person)

Walking at moderate pace : 210 calories

Hiking: 409 calories

Mountain Biking/BMX Biking: 580 calories

Swimming laps: 445 calories

Mowing the lawn/gardening: 375 calories

Fishing: 205 calories

Painting (inside, remodeling, etc.): 205 calories

Take advantage of the summer weather and enjoy burning

off some of those winter layers that might have accumulated!

SIERRA BIRTHDAYS!

2nd—James Johnson

2nd—Sandra Kane

3rd—Eric Skoog

5th—Brian Jackson

6th—David Scott

7th—Paul Miracle

14th—John Cote

21st—John Carr

23rd—Mike Cameron

25th—Chris Krest

25th—Wessly Vaughan

28th—Eric Nixon

29th—Daniel Picchione

30th—Joel Green

30th—Juan Padilla

2nd—Jarod Easterwood

8th—David Burkart

9th—Troy Storla

10th—Juan Medina

10th—Melissa TeBock-

horst

12th—Nathan Spencer

13th—Joel Franco

17th—Tim Breakfield

24th—Robert Williams

29th—Kirk Cote

3rd—Betty Pilcher

3rd—Russell Pilcher

4th—Rick Mestas

4th—Cheryl Mirrop

8th—James Engel

12—Jeremy Pheasant

17th—Kris Niebuhr

17th—Lee Vera

18th—Brad Letterly

21—James Pfountz

24th—Eric DeWitt

25th—Brian Orr

April May June

www.sierradetentionsystems.com

(800) 868-JAIL | office 303.278.6879 | fax 303.278.6921 1177 South 4th Avenue, Brighton, CO 80601

EXPANSION!

Sierra continues to grow

into its Brighton location.

With new offices and a

plan room, we’re making

room for the future.

1000 square feet of office space

300 square feet for plan room and extra

storage

Six new offices

Room for three new offices and two pods

of cubicles

Construction by Sierra crews, except for

finishes

Move-in mid-July