DCA 2023 Mid Year Meeting Wrap-Up

While heatwaves scorched much of the country in July 2023, DCA members watched closely as repeated rounds of flooding struck the mountains of Vermont, where the 2023 Mid Year Meeting was set to be held. Fortunately, when the time came to board the planes and head north, Mother Nature gave Vermonters some much-needed relief from the rain. The members’ destination lay an hour inland from Burlington and the shores of Lake Champlain, past the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream headquarters and into the breathtaking countryside. Built of the same timber and bedrock that gave the Green Mountains their name, The Lodge at Spruce Peak offered a comforting haven in the upper reaches of Vermont’s ski country. Balconied rooms surrounded by high, forested peaks gave everyone a view to remember.

Monday, July 24
The registration desk greeted travelers on Monday by the terrace at the ski lift, offering local snacks like maple-flavored Rice Krispy treats and popcorn, as members — many with young families in tow— signed up for the week’s activities. Just an hour into registration, the first important meeting of the weekend got underway as the new Future Leaders Committee convened down the hall.
DCA Executive Vice President Rob Darden kicked off the meeting by introducing Future Leaders co-chairs, Sarah Mahlik of TT Technologies and Elizabeth Michels of Michels Corp. Appropriately enough, both are second and third generation leaders at their own companies and have been attending DCA functions since they were children. The Future Leaders Committee meeting took the form of a panel discussion as younger members talked about the impact of their involvement with DCA while “the old gray-hairs” mostly listened. Jessica Fox of Wright Traffic Control remembered how effective the red badges were for helping her make contacts at her first convention, which encouraged other members of her company to become active in committees right off the bat. Dennis Springer from Hallen Construction recalled how a surprise nomination by staff member Teri Korson to the DCA-Dale Michels scholarship committee gave him the push he needed to step up. Caleb Scheve from Price Gregory pointed out how DCA events make a real impact on the industry in safety and regulation, beyond the more obvious networking aspects.  

Throughout the meeting, the chairs and panelists encouraged members who want to get involved to be persistent, stay positive, and keep trying if at first they don’t succeed. Korson wrapped things up by encouraging everyone to “convince your bosses to let you go” to the 2024 Convention in Hawaii so that DCA’s future leaders can continue their development.

Monday evening, the weather made its single intrusion of the week as the threat of rain forced the “Hello Vermont” welcome dinner indoors. As a live band played folk-style music onstage, members perused the work of local artists Natasha Bogar and Montalto Ceramics and tasted the many local varieties of beer and cheese. Ben & Jerry’s ice cream was served for dessert, of course, and as the weather calmed, lots of folks and kids gathered to play games set up on the balcony outside in the cool evening air.

Tuesday, July 25
The second day of the Mid Year meeting began with a puzzle—what sort of magic can you do with a Rubik’s Cube? Guest Speaker Stephen Brundage was the man with the answer.  Performing magic since he was six years old, Brundage has been featured on “America’s Got Talent” and Penn & Teller’s “Fool Me” for his astounding ability to manipulate a simple child’s toy. Brundage demonstrated numerous ways to solve the famous cube — in a bag, in mid-air, behind his back, blindfolded, and more. He also had some fun with the crowd demonstrating his ability to memorize an entire book, then taught Randy Rupp a little bit of magic using cue cards. Then, of course, in magic’s finest tradition, he performed some dazzling card tricks, including a few learned from his idol, David Blaine, and gave the audience a lesson in sleight of hand.

Where are all the boomers?
Rob Darden led a relatively brief Town Hall next, reviewing the membership report and the goals of the Strategic Vision Committee before turning the focus to the Future Leaders Committee. He noted that a lot of boomers were missing from this year’s event, yet there were still over 250 members in attendance, demonstrating the need to develop those newer faces in the audience as the boomers prepare to retire.  

The Membership Committee meeting opened with a reminder to participate in the annual equipment survey that associate members use to determine contractors’ needs. 

Turning to membership numbers, the committee noted that membership peaked in 2018 and the roughly 2:3 ratio of contractors to associates has held steady for the last several years. Jeri Lamerton of Lamerton Strategic described her efforts to create a standardized exit survey for resigning members. She also discussed the need to attract ex-members back with materials that highlight the association’s value.  Volunteers were again requested to contact inactive members, with it pointed out that encouragement from other members works better than a call from the staff. Darden encouraged attendees who are their company’s only active DCA member to try to involve a colleague. That way, he said, if you leave the company, DCA membership doesn’t leave with you. The co-chairs acknowledged that the situation is not dire in terms of membership or finances; they just want to be proactive.

All eyes on electric
The Trenchless Committee meeting started with a brief update on Dr. Sam Ariaratnam’s activities on the Gas Pipeline Committee in Washington, D.C., noting that most of the action will happen in November therefore  he will have a more thorough update in Hawaii next year. Upcoming events include a Horizontal Directional Drilling Association (HDDA) meeting in Houston in September 2023 and the NASTT No-Dig event in April 2024 in Providence, Rhode Island, which is offering free attendance for public utilities.  

Next, Dan Sharpe of Sharp Equipment gave a fascinating presentation on his company’s journey to develop and test a prototype for an all-electric hydro vac. The chief benefit of going electric is reducing the noise level of these notoriously loud machines, but it’s not the only one: the all-electric hydro vac also offers zero emissions, zero fuel costs, low maintenance, and easier operation.  

Sharpe calculated a savings of up to $8000/year on fuel and $2000/year on parts and maintenance, and cited a recorded noise level of 74-83 decibels, which is below the 85-decibel threshold that requires hearing protection. Eli Pagel, whose company B&H Construction LLC has been testing Sharpe’s prototype continuously over the last seven months, described a good experience with it overall, mentioning the ease of charging it at a public car charger and the ability to work longer hours in restrictive municipalities like Austin, Texas, thanks to the lower noise levels.

On to adventure!
After lunch it was time for the triumphant return of the DCA Adventure Challenge, last seen in 2019 at the Mid Year Meeting in Nemacolin, Pennsylvania. Attendees divided into teams then each selected a leader, safety officer, GPS officer, map officer, technical officer, fun officer, and storyteller. After designing their own flags, which each team had to always carry, the groups had to find 20 locations around the Spruce Peak property where they would complete trivia questions, puzzles, and challenges for points.  The stations were spread out from the ski lift at one end to the nature trails at the other, and challenges included archery, number puzzles, a rope bridge with knot tying, and soccer ball darts on a giant inflatable dart board. Some challenges proved tougher than others (there is no 17!) and the exercise showed the value of different generations working together. A light sweat and a few bug bites later, Team Orange Crushers emerged victorious.

Tuesday evening wrapped up with a pizza party and family game night at the Spruce Lodge Base Camp, a large octagonal timber-framed dining hall with a stone terrace near the ski lifts. Games like cornhole were set up outside, while members inside competed for gift card prizes in an after-dinner Bingo tournament. Gary Lawson of Ditch Witch and his wife Michelle called out the numbers and distributed the prizes.


Wednesday, July 26
Wednesday morning, DCA Washington representative Eben Wyman of Wyman Associates launched the   Government Relations Committee meeting. The Protecting Our Infrastructure of Pipeline and Enhancing Safety (PIPES) Act is currently the top priority for the committee’s legislative agenda, followed by damage prevention and GIS mapping. The DCA is looking for ways to incentivize GIS use without requiring it, such as a pilot program in Minnesota to provide GIS data on demand, to avoid conflict with the American Gas Association (AGA). Political opposition to GIS is mainly centered around concerns over the security of digitized data, and political issues in Washington have made the subject a bit of a hot potato right now, so DCA is keeping its distance on the subject for the time being.

Wyman also reported on other recent Capitol activity of interest to DCA members. Democrats oppose the Pipeline Sabotage and Accident Prevention Act authored by Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.) proposing a 10-year jail sentence for pipeline sabotage while Republicans oppose a bill that would no longer require cost-benefit analysis for pipeline permitting. In addition, the Supreme Court threw out a new Biden administration rule expanding the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act. In early June, the Government Relations Committee organized a successful D.C. fly-in, and the DCA is interested in possibly forming regional teams for more frequent and targeted fly-in opportunities. The committee also highlighted the work of the Infrastructure Protection Coalition, which focuses on damage prevention and locating issues at the state level, recently approved 13 recommendations to promote for state legislation.  

The Government Relations Committee meeting concluded with updates on the OQIP pilot program, the Celebration of Construction on the National Mall, and the Pipeline SMS project.

Developing the next generation of leaders
The Workforce Development Committee meeting started with a discussion of the new Leadership Development Program, which includes workshops on “strengths finders”, situational leadership, “crucial conversations”, emotional intelligence, and other leadership skills. The program  will kick off with two two-day sessions this October and November in Grapevine, Texas. The sessions are limited to 25 participants.

With a total of eight booths, DCA and several members made a strong impression at the 2023 SkillsUSA TechSPO. Jeri Lamerton will send out information about the 2024 event so that more companies can register individually without going though the DCA. The committee reviewed DCA’s ongoing media campaign, “Success Looks Like This,” which includes the BuildWitt videos, as part of its efforts to increase DCA’s presence in secondary and post-secondary schools and trade organizations. So far, it appears to be working as DCA is fielding requests for more information from guidance counselors and others. Luke Litteken, Executive Vice President of Mears Group and Vice Chair of the Center for Energy Workforce Development (CEWD), concluded the meeting with a brief presentation on the benefits of CEWD membership.

Working in traffic
The Safety/Risk Management Committee wrapped up the week’s business, announcing the recipients of the Safety Director of the Year, Joe Searl of Michels Utility Services Inc.; and Safety Persons of the Year, Marie Boyll of Mears Group Inc. and Jacob Beauchamp of InfraSource Inc.

After reminding everyone to attend the 2024 Safety Congress in Kansas City, Missouri, co-chair Caleb Scheve of Price Gregory Int’l introduced Jason Cramer, Vice President of Wright Traffic Control (WTC), for a presentation on “Working in Congested/High Volume Traffic Areas.” WTC provides traffic control services for construction sites that improve safety. Observing that “drivers aren’t getting any better,” Cramer said that WTC saw 78 site incursions last year at construction sites, and more than 7,000 pedestrians were killed last year in traffic accidents nationwide. Among the most important steps for working in congestion were enforcing a daily pre-job briefing and careful advance planning. Cramer said it is also critical for employees to have the authority to stop work if they see a dangerous situation developing. The remainder of the session was open to questions from the floor about different methods for traffic control.

After scattering to the four winds for the afternoon, members returned to the lodge’s central green for a final relaxing dinner in the warm evening air. A local bluegrass band provided entertainment while children played games on the lawn, the bar stayed busy, and the ice cream flowed freely.

The DCA will gather next at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle, October 23-25, for the Fall Meeting.