CEO of the Year 2023 Finalist: Deron Brown

Colorado is full of devoted entrepreneurs, business leaders and tech-savvy visionaries who are constantly taking the business world to new heights. It’s no secret that here, at ColoradoBiz, we love the Colorado business community. That’s why, every year, we spotlight the most impressive CEOs throughout our Centennial state and give credit where credit is due — to the forward-thinking minds constantly chasing the next great idea and upholding their business practices to the most purposeful ideals. We’re proud to introduce our finalists for CoBiz’s prestigious 2022 CEO of the Year award.

Deron Brown

President and COO, U.S. Operations

PCL Construction

Denver, Colorado

Website: www.pcl.com

Deron Brown leads the U.S. operations and strategic direction of PCL Construction, one of the largest contractors in North America. Under Brown’s leadership, PCL has achieved record levels of new work across its U.S. operations, projecting upwards of $4.5 billion in 2023.  

Additionally, PCL was recognized on the 2023 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list and 2023 Fortune Best Workplaces in Construction list.  

Having held almost every role in construction in his working life, Brown has a deep understanding of the industry and is able to weigh different perspectives and positions that arise in prospective developments. He encourages employees to reach out to him with questions or new ideas. 

Brown is a board member of Mile High United Way, and in 2022, PCL’s Colorado office donated nearly half a million dollars to the organization, through both employee donations and company match donations. Also in 2022, the company donated $60,000 to nine food banks nationwide, including the Food Bank of the Rockies. Over the past decade, PCL’s contributions to food banks have exceeded $1.42 million. 

PCL faced significant challenges during the COVID pandemic: Maintaining safe operations for construction workers who were deemed essential while continuing to deliver critical community infrastructure; rethinking how and where people could work; assessing how to maintain productivity while adhering to safe-distance protocols; and developing secure network infrastructure to enable remote work were among the issues brought on by the pandemic that called upon Brown’s leadership.    

Mike Taylor is the editor of ColoradoBiz.CEO of the Year 2023 Finalist: Vinay Nair