February 2020 Vol. 75 No. 2
Features
PCCA Celebrates 75th Year of Connecting Americans
Mike Ancell | Contributing Editor
As the Power & Communication Contractors Association (PCCA) prepares to celebrate its 75th year, a brief look back can be instructive.
In the early 20th century, the United States was divided into two worlds: one with electricity and one without. That division existed primarily between rural and urban areas. As part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 created the Rural Electrification Administration (REA), which was charged with electrifying rural farms that the power companies had deemed too expensive to electrify.
The REA provided low-cost, self-liquidating loans to electric cooperatives created by rural Americans to build networks of transmission and distribution lines. An industry was born. Nine years later, in 1945, PCCA was founded to provide a unified voice for the industry when working with the USDA’s Rural Electrification Administration.
Seventy-five years later, PCCA is still on the job, representing members’ interests to the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service, the descendant agency of the REA, other agencies, and throughout the country. PCCA will celebrate its 75th anniversary at the 2020 PCCA Convention, Feb. 28–March 4, at Baha Mar, Nassau, Bahamas.
PCCA President David Aubrey, Irby Construction Co., and his wife, Tammy, planned the convention, and David has been working with the PCCA Board of Directors to set an aggressive course for 2020.
Who will do the work?
As the power and broadband construction sectors continue to thrive, PCCA contractors continue to report that they are experiencing serious worker shortages, especially for skilled positions. The PCCA Education & Research Foundation is addressing the worker shortage by expanding its scholarship program and by developing and endorsing a utility construction curriculum for technical schools and community colleges that can be transported around the nation.
During their meeting at the 2019 convention, the Scholarship Committee (comprised of PCCA past presidents) selected the following recipients of 2019–2020 PCCA scholarships: Joseph W. Ives, Wheaton, Ill.; Koyte Winemiller, Huber Heights, Ohio; Peyton R. Lewis, Cypress, Texas; and Rian S. Lamarque, LeClaire, Iowa. The scholarships provide $2,500 per year for children and other dependents of PCCA members and their employees. PCCA added a fourth scholarship this year, due to strong fundraising, highlighted by a $50,000 matching donation by Rod Henkels, Henkels & McCoy. The PCCA Board also decided to create a one-year, $1,000 scholarship for each of the schools that PCCA is working with on utility construction programs.
In 2019, State Technical College of Missouri, the first school that PCCA worked with, welcomed 23 first-year students into its new Utility Systems Technician program and recently hired a second-year instructor. Sellenriek Construction is leading the effort at State Tech, donating countless hours and resources.
Several other PCCA contractors and associates have donated to the cause. PCCA and Push Inc. have been working with Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College in Rice Lake, Wis., and six students enrolled in the school's Utility Construction Technician program for the Fall 2019 semester. They are continuing to recruit students. PCCA is also working with Terra State Community College, Fremont, Ohio, and Somerset Community College, Somerset, Ky., to develop utility construction programs.
To further expand its education efforts, PCCA partnered with the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) to apply for a Department of Labor grant that uses H-1B funds to train U.S. workers to do the high-skilled jobs that H-1B visa holders are currently doing. The grant would piggyback on WIA’s Telecommunication Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program, and the goal is to use a $6 million grant to train 5,000 people over three years by further developing the existing utility technician programs, funding the development of programs at additional schools, and development of new on-line curriculum.
Increasing presence in DC
While PCCA has been building its influence in Washington, D.C., for several years, the association stepped up its efforts with a member fly-in Jan. 29–31, 2019, where PCCA members stormed Capitol Hill armed with materials supporting PCCA’s legislative and regulatory agenda. Members visited House and Senate offices to see lawmakers and staff with influence on issues important to PCCA. To the extent possible, visits were scheduled with lawmakers from areas where PCCA reps had a “brick and mortar” presence or had a considerable number of ongoing power and broadband projects.
Contractors are the job creators in the construction realm, a role that plays very well in Capitol Hill offices. When PCCA contractors go to work in local communities, they hire plenty of workers and purchase extensive equipment to get the job done. In addition, construction work generates significant economic activity in local areas. All of this is music to the ears of elected officials representing those localities. Members advocated for extensive broadband deployment, especially in rural America; an industry-wide exemption from DOT hours-of-service regulations; infrastructure permit reform; full participation and shared responsibility in the damage prevention process; and preservation of President Trump's regulatory reform measures.
Major victories for PCCA in 2019 included its successful effort to have the Department of Agriculture raise the limit of the Rural Utilities Service 773 contract and the selection of Steve Sellenriek (Sellenriek Construction, PCCA Past President) to the Job Skills Working Group of the FCC's Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee.
PCCA's finest
PCCA launched its Hall of Fame in 2015 to recognize exceptional contributions to the success of the association and the industry, and the 2019 class is certainly exceptional:
- Mary Vermeer Andringa is chair of the board at Vermeer Corporation, one of the industry's great, innovative companies and one of PCCA's top supporters throughout its existence.
- Gene Klaasmeyer, president and founder of Klaasmeyer Construction, served as PCCA president in 1990–91 and on the board for more than a decade.
- Greg Johnson, former president of Okay Construction, served as PCCA president in 2004–05 and again in 2006 when asked, helping to keep the association afloat during difficult financial times.
- Steve Bauchman, Bonneville Contracting and Technology Group, PCCA president in 1988–1989, was instrumental in growing PCCA's meetings by moving them to interesting places around the country and making them more family friendly.
PCCA held two meetings in 2019, the annual convention in St. Kitts and the mid-year meeting in Park City, Utah. Enjoying great weather on a fascinating island, more than 340 PCCA members, family and friends journeyed to St. Kitts in March, where they saluted PCCA's latest Hall of Fame class, took advantage of abundant educational opportunities, built on the already-productive government relations and education programs, honored outgoing President Larry Pribyl, welcomed new officers and board members, and explored St. Kitts in a variety of fun-filled ways.
In July, more than 240 PCCA attendees made their way to Deer Valley, high above Park City. The mid-year meeting was blessed by beautiful weather and included a thought-provoking keynote, an important session on employment law, the always-valuable Construction Industry Roundtable, a touching Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and a variety of outdoor activities that showcased the scenic and activity-filled area in and around Park City.
PCCA 2019–20 Officers & Board of Directors
Officers
President David Aubrey, Irby Construction Co.
President-Elect John Fluharty, Mears Group
1st Vice President Robert Breeden, ElectriCom
2nd Vice President Jerrod Henschel, Michels Corporation
Treasurer Ed Campbell, HMI Communications
Secretary Matthew Gabrielse, Gabe's Construction Co.
Education & Research Foundation President Steve Sellenriek, Sellenriek Construction
General Directors
Garrett Akin, Brooks Construction Co.
Craig Amerine, Amerine Utilities Construction
Nick Anderson, Anderson Underground
John Audi, MasTec North America
Jeff Brown, Global Machinery
Josh DeBruine, Michels Corporation
Jim Dillahunty, Henkels & McCoy
Tucker Dotson, Ditch Witch
Robin Gilbertson, J&R Underground
John Hale, Jr., John Deere
Chase Lapcinski, Push, Inc.
Larry Pribyl, MP Nexlevel
Rob Pribyl, MP Nexlevel
Heath Sellenriek, Sellenriek Construction
Ryan Steinbecker, Altec Industries
Sam Stephens, Tjader & Highstrom
Jason Tyler, Brooks Construction
Billy Vincent, ElectriCom
Chris Wozniak, Intercon Construction
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
PCCA, pccaweb.org
Comments