By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
A leap of faith and the belief in the idea of “make it happen” have carried Del Rio’s DLP Services to a place among the state’s best.
Recently, DLP Services was recognized by Texas Workforce Solutions as one of the top 23 employers in the state with the 2022 Texas Workforce Solutions Local Employer of Excellence award.
For Chief Operating Officer Gabriel De La Paz, the award meant more than just a shiny recognition of his company’s efforts. It meant being recognized for something De La Paz and his team just enjoy doing – helping keep people working and changing lives.
“When I learned we were nominated it didn’t feel like that big a deal,” De La Paz admitted. “When we went to the conference and saw the companies that were nominated and started asking questions about the award, it was then we realized that it was a huge deal. To me, it’s a blessing to be recognized for something you enjoy doing.”
Currently, DLP employs nearly 900 people through its offices around the country. While its homebase is here in Del Rio, they also maintain offices in Arizona, Idaho, Virginia and New Mexico.
The business got its humble beginning 15 years ago as a Castle Bounce and party rental business.
“I invested my income tax and bought a couple of inflatables and some tables and chairs and would rent those out for about $100. It was a lot of hard work because it was just me, my wife and my oldest son. We’d go and set up and then have to go back and pick it up when everything was done. That meant missing out on a lot of weekend activities and parties of our own,” De La Paz said.
De La Paz spent most of his life working for Alcoa. He began as a forklift driver at the age of 19, eventually working his way up to plant manager before leaving the company after more than 20 years of service. De La Paz said that while he didn’t have a college education, he learned the art of business from the different managers and executives whom he worked with throughout his early career.
“I always knew I wanted to have my own business. I didn’t have a college degree, but I had a lot of common sense. One of the most important lessons I learned was that if you’re comfortable in your job then you either need more work or you need to find another job. I was always ready to work,” De La Paz said.
That “other job” entered De La Paz’s life during a chance conversation with Tony Hernandez of Amistad Bank. Hernandez was looking for someone to clean the bank and offered the job to De La Paz. He, his wife Gabby and their son took on the task and did such a good job that other businesses started reaching out. When De La Paz realized he would need better equipment to handle those bigger jobs, he sold his party rental business for $20,000 and invested it into what has now become the backbone of DLP Services.
“I bought buffers and waxers and away we went,” De La Paz said. “I never say no to a customer. Our service means a lot and I always want to keep our customers happy. The jobs we did early on were done with a vision of 5 to 10 years down the road. If you go above and beyond, they’ll always want you back. It’s very rare that we lose customers. If it’s an easy job or a hard job, we give it everything we have to do it right.”
“Once we got that ‘A’ certification with the government, that opened us up to a lot of government jobs and that’s when things really took off,” De La Paz added. “When COVID hit, a lot of people were affected by it, but for us it was a blessing. We were able to offer cleaning and laundry services to a lot of these camp sites that were set up by the government.”
DLP is more than just janitorial services. They also offer staffing assistance, fire and water damage cleanup, remodeling and construction. What began as a team of eight people has grown to currently a team of 845 people, but De La Paz said they’ve had as many as 1,200 people working under the DLP banner.
“We have over 800 people right now that are like our family, and they have families of their own. It’s our responsibility to keep them working. We put them in part-time or full-time jobs, but those jobs are changing people’s lives,” De La Paz said. “We work hand-in-hand with the Workforce Commission to try and help get as many people hired as possible. We’re always looking for good people.”
Never one to rest on its laurels, DLP is focusing on its next big venture, a call center situated in Del Rio that will focus on sales throughout the state and eventually nationwide.
“I believe DLP can be a name recognized wherever people go. I truly believe we have what it takes to be a $300 million company. But this will always be our home. I love Del Rio, I love this town and we’re trying to get involved in more events, especially youth programs for ages 15 and under,” De La Paz said. “We plan on awarding $15,000 in scholarships to students in the welding, HVAC, construction and electrical trades through the CTE program here. Those are skills they can use forever. My son is in electrical trades and he’s learning a lot. He may not become a master electrician, but he’ll be able to do stuff around the house on his own and not rely on others. That kind of learning is important because I strongly believe we need youth to become leaders.”
De La Paz has always believed in the mantra of “make it happen.” He said that the tools for an individual’s success are available all around, but ultimately it’s up to that person to decide if they want to be great or not.
“There’s no excuse not to be successful any more,” De La Paz said. “I have three boys of my own and I want them to be even more successful than I am. I always stress to them that they can do whatever they want, and I believe it’s the same for anyone willing to try.”
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
