Willie Hernandez

Willie Hernandez, W.B. Hopke Foreman, Hits Major Milestone Achievement with 21 Years of Loyalty and Service

W.B. Hopke would like to recognize foreman Willie Hernandez for his 21 years of service to our company. As such, we are dedicating this article to Willie, outlining his efforts, insights, character and loyalty to W.B. Hopke. It is well deserved.

Willie Hernandez started working for Hopke on January 3, 2003. He had been in the landscaping business prior to working for Hopke and one of his friends, who worked for Hopke at the time, suggested that he apply for a position. Willie met with Chuck Johnson for an interview for a laborer position and Willie has been with Hopke ever since. It’s safe to say that both Chuck and Willie made a good decision.

Since his employment, Willie has steadily moved up in the ranks and increased his responsibility at Hopke. Like many before him, Willie learned on the job and paid his dues. He has learned five different positions in 21 years, and every time he mastered one, he was promoted by his bosses to move to the next level. He has worked as a tail man, pipe layer, loader operator, backhoe operator and now foreman.

When Willie was asked about what advice he could pass along to the younger co-workers at Hopke, he said, “It’s the same advice I give to my son Erik Diaz, who is also on my six person crew. I tell them all, learn the whole job. If you want to keep moving ahead at Hopke, learn every aspect of your job and when you prove that you have learned it, you’ll move up to the next position and make more money and gain more responsibility and respect.”

“One of the best parts of doing a job is when we finish it, and the bosses tell me and my team what a great job we did. Billy Green was my biggest influencer at Hopke, but all the bosses let you know when you have done a good job. Hopke is a good company with good people and plenty of opportunities to move up. That’s what keeps me here with Hopke,” said Hernandez.

As a foreman, Mr. Hernandez has a lot of responsibility. Apart from running his crew and keeping them safe, he checks their personal protection equipment or PPE’s for safety compliance. On site, he is responsible for checking slopes, elevations, and grades on the pipes and to make sure the trench boxes are properly in place. “That is the number one goal – keeping my team safe at all times,” he said.

In his off hours, Willie likes working at home around his house. He has been married to his wife Mara for 25 years and has three children, two sons and one daughter. He and his family also like to take their boat out to the Potomac river and fish for the big ones. But as he stated, “sometimes you catch nothing.”

Through the years, Mr. Hernandez has seen many changes. Most of the changes has to do with safety, which is a good thing. The equipment has changed drastically too. “The equipment we have today is far superior to the equipment we had when I started. Our new equipment has everything, even A/C and heating,” said Willie.

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.