There are a few ways you can put into perspective the time that brothers David and Bob Godshall have been contributing to Danella’s mission to support the nation’s infrastructure. When they started, the internet wasn’t publicly available. They’ve raised families and seen their kids become adults.
And they bring a wealth of valuable experience to their roles with Danella, the kind that leads to jobs that are well done while making safety a priority.
Right Place, Right Time
David Godshall can attest to how being at the right place, at the right time – and doing good work – can help chart the course of your career. While working for a communications company around 1987, the quality of his work got him noticed. A Danella employee was so impressed that he invited David to see if the grass was greener.
Turns out it was. He showed up at 6am at the company’s Plymouth Meeting office and the journey began.
“I enjoyed it, and the money and benefits were a lot better,” recalls David. “It was a more organized place.”
Nearly 38 years later, he’s still impressing his peers and those he trains in his role as an Operators’ Qualifications Administrator. David leads the hands-on training, testing, and evaluations of gas utilities workers so they’re qualified to install residential natural gas mains and services. As for Bob, his Danella journey started not long after David’s – with his brother as the catalyst. Before joining the company, Bob had graduated with a communications degree and did a lot of video and sound design work. You could say it had a somewhat glamorous side — rubbing shoulders with celebrities like Burt Reynolds, Loni Anderson, Bon Jovi, and Patti LaBelle.
But the hours weren’t the best. As Bob tells it, the weekend work got old quick, so David brought him over to Danella in 1990, where he began by digging holes for gas lines. Two years into his tenure, he became a foreman.
Eyes for On-site Safety
Today, as a Safety Quality Manager, Bob visits job sites throughout the day to ensure laborers are working safe. It’s a job requirement he appreciates from personal experience as his work enabled him to see both the good and bad of what can happen in the construction field—enabling experience to shape his approach to safety.
While the complexity of each job site is a factor, Bob usually completes each inspection thoroughly to ensure it’s safe. Then he’s off to the next one.
“I always make sure everyone’s geared up with their essential PPE – hard hats, vests, eye protection, and steel-toed boots,” Bob explains. “When I’m on-site, I inspect the trench, checking its stability and determining if we need any — or additional — shoring. My job is to watch the crew closely, ensuring they’re following all safety standards we’ve set.”
“It’s nice when I show up at a job site and everything is set up right,” Bob reflects. And even if there is an issue, Bob is pleased when the crew has taken action.
“A good catch made by the foreman or one of the laborers on the crew is where something is off and it is taken care of without having been told, and it’s been documented.”
Helping with Storm Response
In addition to his training work, David is also a small part of the Danella storm team that restores electricity when natural disasters knock out power across the United States. “We’ve got 7,279 qualified personnel nationwide on our call list,” says David.
“Frank and Jeremy, who oversee the storm team, get the initial call to go out. We have a group of regulars who go with us on almost every storm.”
If they don’t get enough men, they’ll send out a text message to fill the required roster. Logistics and time frame play a critical role in determining who and how many they put the call out to.
“Once we confirm they’re able to make it to Plymouth Meeting within the specified time, we filter these linemen to crews and assign them to trucks — and we do all of this in a really short period of time,” David explains. “Sometimes it’s as quick as six hours, and other times, if we’re lucky, we get a day or two to get the men to Danella and ready to roll.”
While his training responsibilities keep him busy, David made time to drive trucks down to Florida over two weekends this fall as part of the company’s efforts to help respond to hurricanes Helene and Milton. “It wasn’t much, but I did what I could to pitch in when the storms hit,” he says.
“My role is one of the support team. We keep the guys who actually repair the electric lines in their buckets and in the air.” In addition to moving materials around and securing hotel rooms, there are times when David and other support staff deliver meals to the crews when the work is hot and heavy, and the guys can’t leave the jobsite to eat. “We’ll go to a fast-food place and order forty cheeseburgers,” recalls David. “I can remember a time when I went out and ordered 300 buffalo wings.”
A Leader in Hands-on Training and Advice
Outside David’s office is a functional training room where he helps employees working on gas contract learn how to:
- Connect plastic gas mains either by fusing them together or with mechanical fittings
- Recognize abnormalities in gas meters
- Build a gas service and meter
- Read a meter
- Follow gas-line safety
David also trains employees to make taps in the pipe. In the training room, where he has sections of capped-off steel gas mains, he can add 50 pounds of air pressure to simulate real-world tapping procedures.
“I really enjoy the hands-on training I do with the guys,” says David. “When I get a green [someone new] and get him qualified, it makes me feel good to turn him into someone who can do quality work.”
David also helps at the warehouse, issuing tools and materials. He arrives early and meets with field personnel to share a “hi, how are ya,” see how things are going, and discuss any problems they may encounter. “They can come to me when something’s not right,” David explains. “If they spot a defect or run into a tough spot on the job, they tell me about it.”
“I do my best to help them out and give them some advice to get the job done.”
A Shared Legacy of Excellence and Determination
Having been with the company for so many years, David and Bob can appreciate how it has changed and continues to improve since they started working there. “I’ve been with Danella Construction for pretty much my whole career,” says David. “When I first started, I never imagined I’d be where I am now. It makes me proud to look back and see how far I’ve come.”
“It is much bigger now,” David continues. “Danella has experienced major growth, expanding both physically with new buildings and in our workforce.” “I’ve gotten to know some really good people here,” he adds. “So I come here for the camaraderie of the people that I work with. It’s not just about the work/money anymore. It’s about the people.”
And while Bob says he never thought he would end up in safety, let alone being a safety manager, he enjoys his job. “I really appreciate having a regular schedule,” says Bob. “It’s nice to know exactly what I’m doing and where I’ll be each day.”
“It doesn’t feel like work to me because I get to spend time with some awesome people. We all get along well, and that makes the job enjoyable.” The ability to succeed at such a high level seems to be integral to both brothers, and it’s a trait that Danella has benefited from for decades.
“We are both very confident in our abilities,” affirms David. “And when we take something on, we come straight at it, and get it done.”