'Tough cookie' doesn't let safety crumble

By the time she graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1989 with a degree in physical education, Deb Hilmerson had decided that there had to be more remunerative opportunities than a job as a high school basketball coach.

While weighing her options, she signed on as a laborer with Hanson Spancrete, a summer employer during college, and worked as a laborer installing pre-cast concrete on the Target Center and Mall of America parking ramp projects.

Surprisingly, that's how she found the career opportunity she was searching for.

Hilmerson, 43, is founder of Hilmereson Safety Services Inc., a Savage safety and health consulting firm serving the heavy construction, oil-and-gas and mining industries. It's a business that grossed $730,000 last year, 6 percent above the 2007 total of $690,000 despite 2008's economic meltdown.

In the process, the company has landed some high-profile assignments since its 2001 founding, including work on Mystic Lake Casino expansions, the Xcel Energy Center, the new Twins ballpark and the Gopher football stadium.

Clients have included 3M in the United States and Asia, ExxonMobil, Georgia Pacific, British Petroleum and Chevron, plus a legion of construction companies and subcontractors.

What's the attraction? Marv Kotek, owner of Frerichs Construction in Vadnais Heights, offered one view: "Deb is a forward thinker who's very knowledgeable about safety practices," he said. "She's continually updating us on the newest safety procedures, and her on-site inspections are very thorough."

Together with the training she offers construction workers, one result of her close attention is that "we have very low workers compensation premiums." Kotek said.

That's not the only benefit Hilmerson figures she offers. "Many companies don't see the value of safety procedures that go well beyond federal OSHA standards," she said. "Not only can job-site accidents significantly increase workers compensation costs, but they can disrupt a project and affect morale and productivity."

But back to that job with Hanson Spancrete, which involved manhandling -- er, womanhandling -- huge sections of walls and flooring into position as they hung suspended by a crane.

Given that Hilmerson stands 5'9" and weighs 5 pounds less than her 150-pound playing weight during four years as a point guard for the Gopher women's basketball team, the image of her muscling those concrete pieces around is daunting to contemplate.

"I'm a tough cookie," Hilmerson said.

Also a smart one, which is how that muscle job got translated into a thriving business. During the parking ramp project, Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health officials formed a safety team among Mall contractors and Hilmerson was tapped as Spancrete's representative on the team.

It was the beginning of a focus on what she calls "developing a culture of safety," grounded in the notion that "every person deserves to go home uninjured at the end of the day."

Her commitment led to an offer in 1992 from Mortenson Construction, the general contractor on the Mall parking ramp project, as safety coordinator on a $200 million waste-water treatment plant it was building in Seattle.

In the next seven years, she was promoted to safety director for West Coast projects, then was brought back to Minneapolis as safety director for Mortenson's industrial division on jobs nationwide.

"Deb came aboard as we were developing a zero-injury safety culture, and she fit the role perfectly," said Mortenson CEO Tom Gunkel. "She's confident, direct and very smart." And perhaps most important, "she understands the difference between being an enforcer and being a coach."

As she sought to broaden her expertise, Hilmerson changed jobs several times after 1999, including assignments as "risk engineer" for a large Swiss insurance company and as director of operations and safety at precast concrete manufacturer Fabcon Inc.

The health-and-safety consulting business wasn't the end of her entrepreneurial hustlings.

Last year, she founded Hilmerson Safety Learning Systems, which offers software that uses game technology built around such TV favorites as Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune to help safety trainers keep trainees engaged and interested. The software contains more than 800 questions relating to safety standards, but is flexible enough to allow clients to customize training programs.

The company also offers interactive software that allows trainees to navigate through a virtual construction site to identify hazards.

Raised in Little Falls, Minn., Hilmerson worked as what she called "a grease monkey" in her father's auto salvage yard, removing fenders, doors and radios and crushing auto hulks.

"That's where I learned my work ethic," said Hilmerson, who labors 60 to 70 hours a week at her business. "It's how you make a difference in your life."

Dick Youngblood • 612-673-4439