Paul Cloutier

Paul Cloutier, Senior Project Manager with Hopke – 20 Years and Still Going Strong

After 20 years with W.B. Hopke, one might think that senior project manager, Paul Cloutier would begin slowing down or a least take it a little easier. Yet Paul has no intention of winding down anytime soon. At age 67, Paul still gets up each morning at 3:30am to work out at his local gym, and he’s in the office from 4:30am to 4:30pm. What motivates Paul to go to work each day? He thoroughly enjoys what he does, and he loves working with the people at Hopke.

Paul is no stranger to hard work. It’s something he learned early in his career. “For 19 years, I worked in a sawmill in Curlew, Washington State. There, everyone went to bed early and woke up early and put in a hard day of work. It takes a lot of stamina to work in a sawmill for 19 years,” Paul said.

After leaving the sawmill, Paul worked for a fiber optics company installing conduit systems, a job he held from 1993 to 2005. In 2005, he met Dave Lawton and Jim Cloniger and they encouraged him to work for Hopke. “At the time, I had just resigned from my job, and I had a son on the way. The day after Thanksgiving, I began working for Hopke and I have been here ever since. I was hired as a project manager, and I knew almost nothing about the wet utilities business. But Frank Hopke and Chuck Johnson took me under their wing, worked with me and quickly got me up to speed.”

In 2022, Paul advanced to a senior project manager position. As senior project manager (SPM), Paul wears many hats. His responsibilities include overseeing numerous projects, ordering materials, and pulling permits from Spotsylvania, VA to Rockville, MD. He prints project drawings for the superintendents. He’s the only SPM at Hopke that does VDOT notices. He contacts Miss Utility when needed, and he handles the billing and the invoicing for his projects.

When asked how he has maintained so much enthusiasm for his job for so many years, Paul didn’t hesitate with his answer and said, “I really do enjoy what I do. Even on a bad day, my job is enjoyable. The job is never boring, and every day is interesting. Some people look at the clock and wonder if the end of the day will ever come. For me, I get to work and before I know it the day has ended, and I still have more to do. I think it’s a combination of the type of work we do, the nature of the large projects we work on and the quality people and teams we have working on them. That’s what makes it so enjoyable for me.”

Apart from working five days a week, Paul comes into the office on Saturdays and Sundays too. He likes to tidy things up from the previous week and prepare the workload and get a jump for the upcoming week. To the younger guys to be successful at Hopke, Paul offered the following advice and stated, “I would explain to them that they have to enjoy their work and must like the people they work with. Getting along makes the job enjoyable! They must have a willingness to learn. They should always finish what they start, before moving on to the next thing. And putting in the extra effort makes a huge difference for the company and gets noticed by management. It’s how many at Hopke have moved up and increased their pay.”

As W.B. Hopke Co. continues to grow, the types of projects keep getting bigger and more intricate. Paul said, “The Landmark Project in Alexandria, VA is the largest project Hopke has ever worked on. The Landmark Project will help propel our company to the next level and position it for even larger projects in the Washington Metro area.” One of the more memorable projects that Paul recounted is the MWAA project at Dulles Airport where Hopke installed a 36″ diameter sanitary line in a 29-30 foot deep trench that stretched across a taxiway and a runway. “Things have changed for Hopke. Today is much different than the old days. Then we used to do everything ourselves. Now we have all new technologies and teams of people to do the work. Things are much faster today and well organized,” Paul said.

Paul lives in Springfield, VA with his wife Julie and their 19-year old son, Ace. Ace is attending Marymount University and seeking a degree in Sports Medicine. Paul and his son are avid sports fans, and his son has participated in numerous sports including football, rugby, baseball and basketball. Paul is also the deputy commissioner for the Springfield Youth Club winter and summer basketball leagues. Ace is the manager for his college team and coaches for Paul’s High School rec league.

W.B. Hopke would like to thank Paul Cloutier for his 20 years of company service. Paul’s dedication and effort at Hopke is always on display and greatly appreciated.

W.B. Hopke is a fourth generation, family-run construction business focused on building high quality utility infrastructure and lifelong careers. Hopke is located in Alexandria, VA and works throughout DC, Maryland, and Virginia. With almost 70 years of experience, Hopke prides itself on repeat customers across all kinds of market segments – schools, churches, data centers, distribution facilities, multi-family, mixed use, residential subdivisions, senior living, self storage, heavy highway, retail, commercial office, automotive, stream restoration, and parks.

Contact W.B. Hopke about a career in utility installation and site work at 703-971-0404 or info@wbhopke.com.