Rosy Lopez

A 25-Year Anniversary Celebration to an Exceptional Employee and Hopke Foreman, Rosy Lopez

Rosy Lopez is celebrating his 25th year with W.B. Hopke Co. We are honored that Mr. Lopez has spent so many years working for Hopke, and in celebration of his remarkable career, we want to pay him tribute and share his story with our employees, clients and vendors.

Rosy Lopez began working for Hopke in the winter of 1998. Prior to working for Hopke, Rosy worked as a stone mason in a landscaping business, laying stone for hardscapes. Based on a recommendation from a friend, Rosy applied for a position with W.B. Hopke. “I walked right into the main office and applied for the job, and I got it. I began working the next day,” said Mr. Lopez.

“I began my career for Hopke, as many new employees do, as a laborer. During the next 12 years, Hopke moved me up in the company so I could learn various other positions. My positions included laborer, pipe layer, equipment operator and foreman. I have been a foreman now for 13 years,” Rosy said.

As a foreman, Rosy’s responsibilities are first and foremost the safety of his crew. He also does the daily work plan and meets with the crew to coordinate their daily work activities and schedule. “I handle their timesheets. I check that we have the materials we need for the projects such as pipe, manholes, etc. And, I shoot site elevations. Typically, I do a project workup a week and sometimes a month ahead of time to make sure we are prepared when the time comes,” Rosy said.

What Rosy likes most about his job as a foreman is being with his crew. He loves the outdoor work, and he enjoys tracking projects from start to completion.

“Hopke management sees you as a person. They are generally concerned about your needs. Many big companies see you as another number. But Hopke is a local company, doing local jobs, and they work with you when you have an emergency or need to tend to family matters. They also want to see you move up the ladder within the company, and they try to help you achieve your goals,” said Rosy.

Hopke has benefited having Rosy as an integral part of its team. Yet Rosy was eager to share his experience working for Hopke and how it has benefited him. Rosy said, “There have been many memories since I have been here. I learned how to operate equipment and even how to shoot elevations. I thoroughly enjoy shooting elevations. In fact, I started doing the research about shooting elevations, and I really wanted to learn, so I asked lots of questions and Hopke helped me learn it.”

Rosy provided some sound advice for his younger co-workers — advice he has learned through years of experience working with Hopke. He said, “If you want to be successful at Hopke, you have to work hard every day. You have to be available and arrive to work on time. This means a lot to Hopke. They notice it. You don’t miss work. Also, you must have a positive attitude, no complaining and push yourself hard to succeed.”

As a Foreman, Rosy indicated that the job has changed greatly over the years. When he started his job, everything was done by writing things down on paper. Now he uses a laptop for making his notes and keeping track of things. The equipment was mostly manual, operator driven, and today’s equipment is pre-programmed to do much of the heavy lifting work.

Mr. Lopez indicated that there were many people that supported his growth at Hopke and helped him to achieve a successful career. In particular, he mentioned Jim French who was his first Foreman as well as Frank Hopke and Chuck Johnson.

Rosie Lopez lives in Clinton, Maryland. He has a wife named Faith, and two young daughters ages 9 and 7. Mr. Lopez said, “I love being a dad and making memories with my family. For fun, my wife, the kids and I will go to church and then after church we go for a long ride, sometimes to small towns or the mountains. We like to explore new places and often won’t know where we are going until we get there. We love to see the deer and other animals. Driving to new places helps me to alleviate the stress from a busy work week. Sometimes we drive all the way to the beach, just to see the sunrise.”

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