Roberto Hernandez

W.B. Hopke Celebrates Hopke Foreman, Roberto Hernandez and 26 Years of Employment

It’s not every day that a company has an opportunity to celebrate an employee who has devoted 26 years of his life to his company. W.B. Hopke is fortunate that Hopke foreman, Roberto Hernandez has achieved such a milestone. It is an honor to dedicate this article to Roberto and to thank him for his service to W.B. Hopke.

Roberto’s story began in 1999. He was looking for a job closer to home and a friend from his church who worked for Hopke encouraged Roberto to apply for a job. Roberto met with Frank Hopke, was hired that day, and has been working for Hopke ever since. Like many new employees, Roberto started at the bottom and worked his way up. Roberto said, “I met with Frank Hopke and he gave me an opportunity. I started at the bottom as a laborer, and to move up, I had to prove myself to management.”

It wasn’t long before management noticed Roberto. From the time he started with the company, he demonstrated a willingness and desire and excelled at his job. Within a couple of years, he moved into a pipe layer position, and then two years later was made a foreman. He has been a foreman for Hopke since 2004.

As foreman, Roberto has many responsibilities. The most important responsibility is the safety of his crew. Depending on the project, he may have as few as three people in a crew or up to eight people. However, most crews have six people. He reminds his team daily of the various safety protocols and hazards at the jobsite.

“I have been here many years and have dealt with numerous types of people and personalities,” said Roberto. He continued, “We have hard workers and workers that maybe can work harder. I try to encourage them to work harder and put in the extra effort. That’s what it takes to get ahead at Hopke.”

Roberto knows what it takes to get ahead at Hopke and he has encouraged his men, especially the new guys, to get to work by 6:30 am and be ready to work by 7:00 am. If you are continuously late, you will not succeed at Hopke. An important part of his job is to answer questions by his crew and motivate them to work as a team. “They all have different personalities, so it is important to get them on the same page and to work as a team. We get more work done if we work better together,” said Roberto.

Roberto has worked for many leaders and superintendents since he has been at Hopke and learned a lot from them. He credits much of his education to Hopke superintendent, Jimbo Cloniger. “Jimbo helped me to succeed here, to better understand the english language and how to run a project and motivate my crews. He has been very helpful for my career,” said Roberto.

On a personal note, Roberto has 3 grown children, Karen, Roberto Jr., and Rena Hernandez, and he has seven grandchildren. He is a family man and active in his church. He likes to fish and cook, and most of all he likes to watch his grandkids play soccer and watch professional soccer on the TV.

From all of us at W.B. Hopke, we want to thank Roberto Hernandez for giving us 26 years, and there’s many more years to come.

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.