The Ethics and Compliance program is one of the most far-reaching and important programs we’ve ever instituted at Dewberry. The goal? We want to maintain uncompromising standards in our daily work throughout the organization, in full compliance with all laws, policies, and regulations. Through this program, which includes a Code of Business Ethics and Conduct, training, reporting procedures, and regular audits, we ask all of our employees to uphold Dewberry’s commitment to honesty, impartiality, and reputation.

The program starts at the top: our committee includes Dewberry’s executive chairman, Barry Dewberry, and our CEO, Don Stone. Our chief compliance officer is Dave Francis, our executive director of human resources. As a Dewberry board member, I am also pleased to serve on this committee along with other executives representing our legal, financial, contracting, and IT departments as well as operations.

Setting an Example: Modeling Ethical Behavior and Professional Leadership

My experience with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers introduced me to the critical importance of a solid compliance program many years ago. It was vital that we ensured consistent application of all laws, policies, and regulations across all federal agencies and functions. Examples included use and application of the Federal Acquisition Regulations, IT security guidelines, and human resources policies.

These policies extend to the work of federal contractors as well, such as Dewberry. As a government contractor at the local, state, and federal level, we have an important role as stewards of public resources and that significant responsibility must be reflected in our standards. This impacts our company both internally and externally. Externally, we want to be perceived as being an ethical, well-run organization that consistently “practices what it preaches.” We strive to maintain the confidence of external agencies and organizations, including clients, partners, contractors, subconsultants, government and commercial entities, auditors, and financiers. In so doing, we also model the ethical, professional standards we expect not only of our employees, but of all the industry colleagues with whom we interact and do business.

Promoting a Culture of Integrity

Internally, following sound procedures and policies in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations leads to consistent performance across our enterprise—a common standard of practice that facilitates coordination between offices and individuals. We are all better professionals as we adhere to the Code of Business Ethics and Conduct, complete the required training, and follow through in our reporting. Reporting in particular is vital to the success of the program. Employees are encouraged to report incidents of non-compliance, so that issues can be promptly addressed.

Everyone has a role in compliance. It is vital to our growth as individual professionals, and to our shared success as a company.