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About Us

The effective approach is essential to a successful project. The history and reputation of Design Build Associates reflects that continual commitment.

Meet The DBuild Team

Dennis Brooks, Owner & President
Les Jillson, Owner & Vice-President
Robert Cole, Construction Consultant
Katie Kouletsis, Construction Consultant

Dennis Brooks, Owner & President

Dennis obtained his Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Construction Management from Colorado State University, one of the country’s leading Construction Management Schools.  Courses of study included structural, civil and soils engineering, architecture, construction and business management.  Dennis also graduated in December of 1978 with a Masters of Science degree, with the emphasis on Construction and Business Management.  Since that time, he has constructed buildings for companies such as Levitz Furniture, Safeway, Mutual of Omaha, W.T. Grant, IBM, K-Mart, Orchard Supply Hardware, House of Fabrics, Kragen Auto Parts, Marriott Corporation, and many others.  These projects have been built in Colorado, California, Wyoming, Arizona and Montana.

Dennis, a licensed general contractor, a member of Western Regional Master Builders Association and the Community Associations Institute, established Design Build Associates in 1983 and has developed it into the well recognized firm that it is today.  His emphasis has always been to build a reputable company that can take pride in the successes of each project completed.  Dennis continues to work towards developing the Company, as well as the employees, in such a manner as to represent the ideals and goals he has always upheld.

Under his leadership today, Design Build Associates provides consulting and expert witness services to a myriad of clients.  Dennis always seeks to find opportunities to expand the company’s influence and provide a strong and distinguished service delivered with integrity to all clientele.

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Les Jillson, Owner & Vice-President

Les has been involved in the construction industry since 1969, being a licensed general contractor for the past twenty-eight years.  He is also a member of Western Regional Master Builders Association, Community Associations Institute and the American Indoor Air Quality Management Council.

Les’s general contracting business was originally centered in the Pasadena/Los Angeles area, involving the construction of projects consisting of new custom residential homes, extensive residential remodels, and also included medical buildings, medical facilities, office buildings, retail stores, private school facilities, The Pasadena Boy’s Club, the YMCA of San Fernando, Los Angeles Toyota, churches, the complete renovation and restoration of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses office building, condominium projects, and several residential housing tracts.

In 1998, Les Jillson and Dennis Brooks became partners, specializing exclusively as Construction Managers and Consultants, offering consulting services to clients.

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Robert Cole, Construction Consultant

Joining Design Build Associates in May of 2004, Robert Cole, a licensed General Contractor, brings twenty-five years of project management experience to the company.  As a construction manager, Bob works closely with clients, consultants and contractors to ensure that all aspects of the project, including design coordination, cost evaluation, budgeting, permitting, construction scheduling, contractor negotiations, contract administration and project closeout, are handled in a thorough, responsive and timely manner.

Prior to joining Design Build, Bob was co-owner of CSC General Contractors, a California-based firm specializing in customized design-build construction services for residential and commercial clients.  At CSC, he managed both local and national projects.  Also while at CSC, Bob was selected to work with Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum Architects as construction project manager of the “Office of the 21st Century,” a nationally recognized 2,300 square foot state-of-the-art sustainable design green building project completed in 39 hours with innovative new energy efficiency and sustainable technology products.

Bob is a graduate of the University of Southern California (USC) where he worked his way through college doing new residential construction and working as saturation diver-tender for a deep sea construction diving company installing permanent oil drilling platforms in the North Sea (Scotland/Norway) and the Kinsale Peninsula (Ireland).

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Katie Kouletsis, Construction Consultant

Katie has been working in the construction industry since the mid 1970s.  Her career began in working with Architectural firms specializing in military, commercial and residential projects.

She advanced from office management to onsite inspection and construction management.  Her responsibilities included specification writing, inspections of projects and work in process, ensuring the work being performed was constructed per plans and specifications.  Projects she supervised included retail, commercial and residential construction.

Katie was often involved with the supervision of the construction crews and acted as field coordinator between contractors, sub-contractors and State and Federal governing agencies.

For the past eighteen years, she has acted as a construction consultant/investigator and construction expert responsible for coordination and supervision of forensic destructive testing for projects to determine/verify construction defect issues and/or issues related to mold infestation.

Katie is a licensed general contractor, including two specialty licenses and has the CMRS certification from American Indoor Air Quality Management Council.

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