Ha‘aheo 675

History of Dorvin D. Leis - with Father Dorvin Leis: What do you remember most about how he approached his work? While Dorvin consistently upheld a high standard of quality, he also provided strong support to his team. His sense of urgency and commitment to do it right made him a decisive and results-driven leader.

Dorvin remained unwavering in his core principles: do the job right, be fair and honor your commitments - even in the face of adversity. He valued trust; his words and his handshake were promises he upheld.

Has your company's vision stayed the same? What traditions have you kept? When you peel back the layers, the company's vision has never wavered. To this day, it remains focused on providing long-term, high-value jobs for our employees, delivering exceptional customer service, and supporting our community. These ideals are the foundation of our past and present - and we trust they will continue.

How was your experience of your transition into Owner and President? Who or what supported you at this time? I made the challenging transition into the role of President and Owner with limited formal education and management experience. I was fortunate, however, to have earned the support of the employees through challenging work and long hours and they have remained loyal and dedicated to this company. I am a good example that success is not possible without the help of others. I am deeply grateful to all the people who have made this career possible, including former employee Matt Brady and all the employees, for their unselfish and significant contributions to DDL.

28 Years with DDL, 38 Years as Union Member

What is your Hometown? Manoa

What high school did you go? Saint Louis High School, Class of '84

Over the years, what have you been most proud of? Looking back at what was accomplished. Every project was different. And just coordinating our company (we have plumbing, ac, fire sprinkler, sheet metal, electrical) so I coordinate all those to do one job. To me that is a huge accomplishment. I made sure I could do all the trades in mechanical. I conquered plumbing and after that I went into every trade, and that is what I was able to accomplish looking back. Knowing your craft and knowing how to build a building without the building there - now I can see a building, before there is a building there.

What advice would you give to a new apprentice? Two most important things are accountability and being open-minded. They must be open-minded. If they follow the rules too much, they'll have a hard time looking outside the box. They have to be able to think on their own.

Throughout my whole career my main goal was to make sure I could pass on my knowledge and experience, making guys successful leaders. I teach each person by example, and if I say I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it. If I expect them to hang a 16-inch pipe, I'm hanging a 16-inch pipe. If I expect them to dig the ditch, I am digging the ditch. If I got to stay up all night and read the drawings, I expect them to stay up all night and read the drawings.

34 Years with DDL, 34 Years as Union Member

What is your Hometown? Born in Wahiawa, later my family moved to Maui, where I was raised.

What high school did you go? Baldwin High School, Class of '90

Can you tell me a little about your background and how you got started in the Trade? My Dad is actually a UA 675 retire plumber (Robert Ortogero). I didn't want to be a plumber to be honest. I went to UH Hilo for a year after I graduated high school. And then I came back to the trades and started working for Dorvin. When I started had a lot of old timers, and my Dad was of course at Dorvin too. It was way different back then than now, I think you learn a lot more. Back then there weren't any computers, so a lot of things we had to do hands on really.

What advice would you give to an incoming apprentice or someone just starting out? I'd tell them the Truth, it's hard work. It's well worth it. It does provide for your Family for sure. It's gratifying. You get to work with your hands. I am also a plumbing instructor so that's where I can influence more and work with the Apprentices. That's usually my advice to them.

16 Years with DDL, 18 Years as Union Member

What is your Hometown? Waialua in the North Shore

What high school did you go? Waialua High School, Class of '06

What has your experience at Dorvin been? I feel like Dorvin gave me broad experience on a lot of installations. For me it was the experience throughout the years, starting out as an apprentice and then working my way up. Things that I learned through the years still help me today.

What's one of the biggest challenges in your position? You have to be attentive to the work. You have to do a lot of homework behind the scenes and during work. Doing the homework is the bulk of the work. I tend to a lot of projects, so I am in constant communication with a lot of people from the preplanning, up to the point where we get the guys going.

18 Years with DDL, 18 Years as Union Member

What is your Hometown? I was born in New York and grew up mostly in New Jersey.

How did you get started in the Union and the Trade? I went to school for a year at the University of Maryland and just didn't find any major I was interested in. Then I went the complete opposite, and I became a construction laborer lugging heavy materials around. After that I went to Lincoln Tech in New Jersey and then I moved to Hawaii. I kind of found a happy medium, I wanted to work with tools, and I enjoyed technical stuff and fixing them.

What are some of your responsibilities in your current role? I do a lot of coordination, customer communication, trouble shoot repair for HVAC Systems.

I do a lot of electrical trouble shooting. A lot of units now require laptop and specific software to look at and determine what's going on. So, the field is changing and evolving quickly.

25 Years with DDL, 23 Years as Union Member

What is your Hometown? Kaimuki

What high school did you go? Kalani High School, Class of '99

What was your most memorable project with Dorvin? The SBX-1 (Sea-based X-band radar) was the most challenging and memorable job. It was challenging because of the type of systems that we had to pipe. I was the supervisor for the night shift, and we had Randy who oversaw the day shift. We worked 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 3 months. The challenging part was not seeing much of our family during that time.

Who inspired or helped you along the way? Keenan Wilson and Bruce Izaki (retired) who was my foreman for most of my apprenticeship. They helped me get to where I am today just in the way the way they were disciplined in their craft and set the example of what a foreman should be. It put me on the right track to set an example for the rest of our guys.

22 Years with DDL, 32 Years as Union Member

What is your Hometown? Ewa Beach

What high school did you go? Campbell High School, Class of '92

What do you enjoy most about the work you do? I like developing the next generation. Since I was here there's been like 4 or 5 generations of apprentices. Working with the new ones coming out, developing them and then working with the foreman. I enjoy working with the people here teaching them and helping them be successful.

What was your most memorable project with Dorvin? The first job that I worked at when I got hired in 2003. It was Kamehameha School in Hilo. We lived in a house right next to the job and worked for 6 months. Traveling and being away for 6 months, living with 4 different guys, and the job itself was challenging - had 5 different buildings all going at the same time.

19 Years with DDL, 24 Years as Union Member

What is your Hometown? Pahoa

What high school did you go? Pahoa High School, Class of '99

How did you get into the Union & the Trade? My Uncle was in the Trade & asked me to come to Oahu to try it out, best thing to happen to me.

What are some memorable projects? My first job was running the UH Hilo Dormitory. It was my first big project.

What do you enjoy about what you do? I love working alongside and with the guys and putting out successful projects for the company.

17 Years with DDL, 18 Years as Union Member

What is your Hometown? I was born in the Philippines in Cabugao Iloco Sur and came to the Hawaii in 1978. I grew up in Wailua Homesteads of Kauai.

What high school did you go? Kapaa High School, Class of '89

What advice would you give to an incoming apprentice or someone just starting out? Be ready to come to work to learn and to remain teachable. Don't be afraid to ask questions, make solid effort to follow instructions, take notes, and study the code book. Remain safe on the job and pay attention and use your personal protective equipment. Work hard, stay focused, and be proud of your accomplishments.

What does it mean to you to be a member of Local Union 675? Being a member means we have access to high quality training, better wages, career advancements, and good benefits.