In January Zach Deas, president of Deas Millwork, succeeded Michael McNulty, Sr. of Millwork One as the 2019 Chair of the Quality Certification Corporation (QCC).
The Deas Millwork president followed in his grandfather’s footsteps, embracing the construction industry when he was a young man. Zach founded Deas Construction Inc., in 1998. A millwork division developed within the construction company and by 2005, Deas Millwork was becoming its own brand. When the economy bottomed out in 2008, the millwork division took advantage of its tremendous project backlog and evolved into a broad-based architectural millwork company that includes manufacturing and installing doors, windows, moldings, casework, countertops and finishings. During the evolutionary process, Zach purchased a few small companies, giving Deas Millwork growth opportunities to serve the healthcare, residential, hospitality, commercial, educational, retail, and historic markets in the Southeast and beyond. The firm currently retains about 40 employees, and Deas Millwork has been a QCP Licensee since 2009.
Zach told Quality Times that the Quality Certification Program (QCP) has been a contributing factor in the growth of his firm, helping to distinguish Deas Millwork from the competition. “QCP differentiates us by providing credibility for our company among our clients. The rigorous requirements dictated by QCP give clients defined expectations.”
“The QCP and the Architectural Woodwork Standards also provide us with standard operating procedures. By building everything to these standards, we have a documentable reference which we rely on. These practices help us educate our employees so they know what is expected of them and can be elevated by this standard whether or not the projects are certified,” Zach said.
Quality Times asked Zach about QCP’s opportunities going forward. While he pointed out there are competing programs in the marketplace, “QCP differentiates itself as a ‘whole value program’ by continuing to monitor its licensees and certified projects. The QCP is a lot more than paying an annual fee or paying to have your products tested; there is active participation in both directions—from QCP to licensees and vice versa—whether it be project reviews, plant inspections, etc. Plus, participation for our firm involves continuous training of our employees and feedback that you cannot get from any other program.”
Continuous improvement is in the DNA of Deas Millwork. Zach’s employees are constantly sharpening their skills and processes in order to offer their clients the highest quality millwork available. “In my view, if you are measuring your work against standards, it is much easier to operate than without them. QCP and the AWS give us that standard,” Zach said. www.deasmillwork.com; http://www.Instagram.com/deasmillwork
