JE Dunn’s ESOP had a banner year in 2024, reaching a record-shattering increase of over 44% year over year for a share price of $107.25. While the ESOP is built through the hard work of each and every JE Dunn employee, one group went above and beyond: Mission Critical.
The Mission Critical business unit has been a revenue driver for JE Dunn, bringing in over $12 billion for the company since its inception in 2010. That impact isn’t lost on the team.
“For a group that only started 15 years ago, it’s humbling to be such an impact to the ESOP,” said Chris Teddy, National Director of Mission Critical.
With the rise of artificial intelligence and an increased need for large-scale data centers, the Mission Critical market has grown exponentially in recent years. This increased need has led to an uptick in these project types for JE Dunn and repeat business for large, industry-leading clients.
“This is the first time our group — any business unit alone — had a revenue of a billion dollars,” Chris said. “And that milestone is not just achieved through Mission Critical alone, it was such a big factor to be nationally collaborative.”
That spirit of collaboration, Chris emphasized, reflects the strength of an employee-owned company — where one team’s success is shared by everyone.
“Every region in the company provided the support we needed to get to that revenue,” Chris said.
One major factor of Mission Critical’s success is its large-scale leveraging of self-perform work in areas like quality, scheduling, and safety, which Chris said clients can be “insatiable” for.
“Our clients understand how important self-perform scopes are,” Chris said. “The fast pace of these projects requires us to understand what we’re going into.”
As JE Dunn continues to build these complex projects, the team has sharpened its skills in new areas of structural steel and trestle work — paving the way for even more self-perform opportunities. The continued, hands-on expertise helps position the company for repeat work as a trusted, one-stop partner for elite clients who need speed, precision, and quality.
“The trust factor has significantly grown,” Chris said. “It guarantees that we’re going to get substantial work that we want to do, and that we’re very good at doing. It’s very fruitful and profitable for us.”
To Chris, that success is not limited to metrics and big wins. It’s also a personal achievement that drives him and his team to continue succeeding.
“The team I get to work with every day, they’re absolutely the best of the best,” he said. “I’m honored every day I get to work with the folks I do.”
He credits that high-caliber team not just with delivering incredible results for clients, but with generating long-term value for themselves and their peers.
“If they’re putting in the effort and we’re all being successful, the result is going to be paying dividends to them,” Chris said. “They’re contributing to their own success.”
In an employee-owned company like JE Dunn, every individual win matters — not just for the business’s success, but for the future of each person across the company.
“That success directly correlates to their retirement,” he said. “So, when they know they’re contributing to the success of JE Dunn, it’s contributing to the success of each individual shareholder — and that’s an awesome feat.”
