The Informer Volume V | Issue 3 | Fall 2011

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

A MESSAGE FROM RUSSELL As usual, there are many things to report, so I’ll introduce them here and let you refer to the articles

on the specifics in this issue.

First, I’m excited to welcome Harry Donahue as Sierra’s Chief Financial Officer. He is introduced for-

mally on page 5 of this newsletter, but here, it’s sufficient to say that his presence solidifies the lead-

ership team in all positions. He has hit the ground running and had a direct

impact by dramatically reducing our overhead in the areas of insurance,

bonding, and personnel. Harry also represents a new level of contacts in

the business and national community, which will benefit Sierra in the near

and long term.

Next is the great review we received for the Benner factory test. Everyone

involved in that project deserves high praise. We were told that this was

the first time our guests had seen a complete, functional prison security

system during the test run, and they were thrilled to see the product they commissioned brought to

fruition. They also found the site visits informative and found the Denver Jail well thought out. In

short, they saw Sierra’s full capabilities and left with a new depth of confidence in our partnership.

Their glowing references to future customers have positioned us to the vendor of choice in several

upcoming bids.

The Technical Services Department, under Johnathan Hassard’s leadership has already distinguished

itself for customer service, performance and profitability. Well Done! Their work on the Brighton City

Editor: Colton Mailes

A Message From Russell 1

Brighton City Hall 3

Marketing Update 4

Welcome Harry Donahue 5

Health and Wellness 6

Employee of the month 6

Safety Update 7

Sierra Birthdays 7

Office Progress 8

The Informer

Page | 2

Hall, which the customer praised for its effective management, is detailed on the following page (along with the pictures below),

and we’re expecting great things from them in the future as they manage our smaller projects and diversify our work by seeking

out vertical markets. They are currently in talks with top suppliers, and there are a range of possibilities ahead of us. Also,

through Johnathan’s expertise and enterprise, we have been approved by the Siemens Group to add fire alarm and related activ-

ities to the Tech Services palette service offerings. There will be more on this later.

In the last newsletter, I noted that we’re aiming to be leaner and stronger as we buck the current economic trends, and that’s

just what Sierra is doing. It’s a blessing to lead such a diverse, bright, and competent group of employees. Therein lies our fu-

ture.

Regards,

Russell Pilcher

CEO and Founder

Volume V | Issue 3 | Fall 2011

Page | 3

NEW BRIGHTON CITY HALL Johnathan Hasserd and the Tech

Services team have completed

phase one at the New Brighton City

Hall, and the customer has ex-

pressed complete satisfaction.

Johnathan worked directly with the

city’s network engineers to gener-

ate the spec and develop the pro-

ject, and the retrofit of the 7-story

building, which formerly belonged

to Adams County, went to bid un-

contested.

Sierra proved a complete turnkey

access control system for the entire

facility—which houses police, fire,

and other city offices—and installed

a duress system, all cables, and all

door hardware. The City of Bright-

on praised Sierra for the efficiency

of our work, and we expect good

things to come of this as we be-

come entrenched in the communi-

ty, which will enable us to take on

more projects with the city.

The Informer

Page | 4

MARKETING UPDATE—TWITTER

-Meredith Berman (formerly Meredith Pilcher)

Sierra is among the first DECs and SECs in the country to take flight with its Twitter marketing campaign, joining the new wave of company-to-community

communication. A powerful tool, Twitter has been known to do everything

from waging wars to growing business for local food trucks. Sierra will be us-ing the platform to market our services, create a stronger online presence and

community, provide our followers with project and corporate updates, and to track our industry partners in real-time to see how we can become involved in

their projects.

With the massive number of events occurring daily in our business alone, we have initiated an employee contest where contributors have a chance at win-

ning a cash prize or specialty Sierra products. Our first winners were James Johnson who sent in several updates on the projects he manages, and Stepha-

nie Zaugg who provided a link to an article about the safety of wireless net-works in correctional facilities. We have received several batches of wonderful

photos and are collecting more Twitter material at both

cmailes@sierradetentionsystems.com and mberman@sierradetentionsystems.com.

We encourage you to contribute any events happening in your projects and departments that would be of interest to our

community. Because of the sensitive nature of our business,

each submission is carefully reviewed and edited to prevent any confidential information from being shared. Follow us in

your free time at @SierraDetention and join the conversation.

Volume V | Issue 3 | Fall 2011

Page | 5

WELCOME HARRY DONAHUE!

It’s my pleasure to welcome Harry Donahue to the Sierra family. Harry comes to us with

30 years of experience in finance, including 4 years spent running his own company, so he

understands and appreciates the culture of a family-owned company like Sierra. A New

Yorker by birth and upbringing, he received his MBA at St. John’s University after his un-

dergraduate work at Iona College in New Rochelle, NY, of Dick Van Dyke fame, and he’s

worked at a range of companies, including Burlington Industries, Johns Manville, Interna-

tional Paper, and Corporate Express before they went on to become Staples. That experi-

ence has uniquely prepared him to aid Sierra as we work to improve our policies and pro-

cedures, while standardizing and streamlining our operations. Internally, his initiatives seek to set realistic em-

ployee expectations and goals, keeping everyone focused and distributing the work load fairly; providing options

and alternatives for insurance coverage; and setting up fleet services for our project managers and techs. Outside

the company, he’s working to improve the rigor of our criteria for selecting the third-party vendors we deal with.

Harry doesn’t consider himself an accountant, per se, rather he’s a businessman with an eye for financial details,

which serves his overarching goal of mentorship and team building. That passion comes out in his community as

well, where he works with the Boy Scouts of America, coaches North Boulder Little League, and stays active at

his parish, where he’s been for 16 years. Harry lives in Boulder with his wife of 26 years and his three children.

Please join me in making him feel at home.

The Informer

Page | 6

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

-Jennie Thoene

The weather is beginning to change, school has

begun……’Tis the season for the flu and common

colds. Germs in the workplace can be lurking eve-

rywhere—telephones, keyboards, computer

mouses, doorknobs, copiers/printers, microwave

handles, and so on. Let’s all help one another

remain as healthy as possible this fall/winter by

doing a little germ-busting!

Regularly clean your personal workspace (desk, phone, keyboard,

etc.); our cleaning crews only wipe off our desks.

Frequently clean shared workspaces (door handles, coffee pots,

light switches, copiers, etc.).

Wash or sanitize your hands several times a day.

Be careful to cough or sneeze into tissues.

Perhaps we can all stay a little healthier this year by being more conscien-

tious of these things!

Congratulations to

the Employee of the

Month Winners!

Tom Albrecht

Dennis Ledford

Greg Sibayn

Tom Read

Jeremy Pheasant

Colton Mailes

Joel Green

Brian Jackson

HR NEWS—AETNA

HEALTH INSURANCE

-Kimberlee Soucie

Here’s the new Aetna contact information:

OAMC: 877.204.9186

Life and AD&D: 800.523.5065

Dental PPO: 877.238.6200

Pharmacy: 800.238.6279

Rx Home Delivery: 800.612.3862

Specialty Pharmacy: 866.782.2779

24-hr Nurse Line: 800.556.1555

Websites:

www.aetna.com

www.aetnarxhomedelivery.com

www.aetnaspecialtypharmacy.com

Also…Travel Policy Updates

These are available in the Employee Handbook on

the Human Resources page of the Forms Site.

Volume V | Issue 3 | Fall 2011

Page | 7

SAFETY UPDATE

-Brad Letterly

Cold weather is close upon us—cold, wet weather. To make sure you’re protecting yourself from the possibility of frostbite, wear

appropriate clothing. Wool and synthetic fabrics fare better than cottons, and you should have a couple of pairs of gloves in

case one gets wet. It also helps to dress in layers.

Hypothermia is surprisingly common, and believe it or not, that brain freeze you get when eating a popsicle or ice cream is a

mild case of the condition. While you can fix a brain freeze by simply pressing your tongue to the roof of your mouth, rewarming your whole body takes dry, insulated clothing or relocation to a warm environment. In more extreme cases, external rewarming

devices may be necessary. The best way to treat moderate hypothermia is to place a hot water bottle in both armpits and the

groin. Be careful, though: hypothermia can be fatal. In severe cases, always call 911.

SIERRA BIRTHDAYS!

5th—Michael Bunyak

5th—Dani Thoene

6th—Troy McConachie

7th—Jody Scarrow

9th—Scott Robertson

12th—Chris Osler

14th—Harry Donahue

17th—Casey Kime

19th—John Wright

20th—John Navarro

23rd—Joseph Pacheco

25th—Stephanie Zaugg

26th—Timothy White

28th—Scott McGough

29th—Michael Evans

2nd—Timothy Bailey

12th—Tom Albrecht

18th—Phil Fowler

18th—Timothy Gallegos

18th—Mike Rypkema

18th—Shane Sigrist

29th—Francisco Amaro

1st—Joshua Blair

5th—Brenda Terwilliger

5th—Keith Thoene

8th—Alonso Quintana

9th—Nathan Ingro

16th—Michael Read Jr.

18th—Gregory Geist

18th—Johnathan Has-

serd

19th—Dale Smith

23rd—Paul Bunyak

23rd—Frank Pifferini

25th—Brandon

Borgmann

25th—Dennis Ledford

28th—Andrew Krejci

September October November

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

1177 South 4th Avenue, Brighton, CO 80601

OFFICE

PROGRESS!

The new offices featured in the

last issue are coming along. Bob-

by Butler, Audra Fischer, Chris

Osler, and John Cote have already

moved into their new spaces.