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October 20, 2022 | Issue 1 | |
A Message from Our CEO
We always STRIVE to ensure that our team members are informed, valued, and supported, and therefore, consistent communication is an important priority.
To supplement regular interaction with your colleagues and local leadership, we have enhanced communication in the last few months:
- We hosted the first of many future all-employee virtual Town Hall meetings
- We initiated a weekly broadcast of all open jobs in the company called ‘Hot Jobs!’
- We added team members to our 8 nation-wide Service Line Councils
- We added internal followers to our social media platforms
- We have increased the frequency of Shareholder updates; and
- We have expanded participation in our Region Monthly Business Reviews
And now today, I’m excited to introduce you to the first edition of Huddle Up, our new internal e-newsletter.
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Introducing STRIVE: Our Company Values
As UES continues to grow, it’s critical that we have a defined set of values that guide us like a north star. These values need to demonstrate who we are as a company and what we believe.
Over the last several months, regional and FAST leaders came together to define these values and what they mean for UES. The result was our newly created company values represented by the acronym STRIVE. STRIVE stands for Safety, Teamwork, Responsiveness, Integrity, Value, and Excellence.
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Project Bedrock
Imagine a day at work, whether in the field or behind a desktop, where systems that support our daily workflow are all talking to each other, providing intuitive alerts and notifications helping you do your job seamlessly and allow “real time” interaction with the field, office, and project team members.
As introduced during the September Town Hall by David Hesterlee, PE, (Southeast Regional President) and Kathy Kilmer (SVP, Innovation & Integration), Project Bedrock is building the foundation for all our future HR, sales, project, finance, and operations systems. It is focused on bringing technology and processes to help you do your job efficiently, ensuring client deliverables are professional and consistent across the company, and giving us access to enterprise-wide data like never before.
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Service Line Councils Collaborate to Provide Solutions to Clients
The Service Line Councils were created in 2021 to increase collaboration between the UES service lines. Their goal is to identify and implement practical solutions and best practices across the organization, ultimately leading to greater client satisfaction and an increased demand for UES’ services nationally.
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West Integration
UES’ Western Region is made up of six legacy companies: NOVA, Wallace-Kuhl & Associates (WKA), CTE, McGinley & Associates, Aries, and Speedie & Associates. NOVA rebranded to UES shortly after the acquisition, and in early June of this year, WKA and CTE decided to follow suit and rebrand to UES by the end of 2022.
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Lower Bois d’Arc Lake Program
Alpha Testing is currently serving multiple elements of NTMWD’s Bois d’Arc Lake Program in Fannin County, TX, providing quality control and construction materials testing services to multiple project teams. Bois d’Arc Lake will be the first new major water reservoir built in Texas in nearly 30 years, designed to meet the water needs of the area’s growing population.
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Project Ascension Takes Off!
The first half of the Ascension Island runway is now open! Built by the U.S. military during World War II, the island’s only runway had only received one overlay and minor repairs before the current construction. In recent years, deteriorating conditions of the runway surface meant U.S. and RAF missions to the island were reduced to only one or two flights a week.
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Wondering about FAST?
We renamed the corporate office in Orlando to FAST, standing for Field Advisory & Support Team. The purpose of this change is to emphasize how each of our functional areas is focused on working in partnership with our branches and with an appropriate sense of urgency.
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HR Update: Open Enrollment is Coming!
This year, open enrollment will be from November 14–27, 2022, with coverage effective January 1, 2023. Over the next several weeks, details will be sent out regarding 2023 Health & Welfare benefits, including the Benefits Guide.
We are excited to partner with iBenefits this year, who will provide on-call assistance during enrollment. We will also be scheduling enrollment sessions to make sure questions are answered for you. Stay tuned for more information!
*Please Note: These dates are not applicable to Speedie team members
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IT Update: Better Security
The FAST Information Technology team continues work on several high-priority projects and tasks continually focused on increasing both security and the ease of doing business.
CIO Jim Bird shares that “As we continue to unite UES’s environments, every change is measured against impact and return to our ability to serve our customers. This includes securing our critical company asset: data.”
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Your Monthly Safety Moment
Fire Prevention Week (FPW) concluded October 9–15, 2022. This year marked the 100th anniversary of FPW and the campaign “Fire won’t wait. Plan your escape,” works to educate everyone about simple but important actions they can take to keep themselves and those around them safe from home fires. The safety of our team members is our number one priority, both at work and at home.
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UES IN ACTION
Community & Team Member Spotlights
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UES Team Member Emergency Relief Fund
UES has set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to help support team members in Florida and the Carolinas impacted by Hurricane Ian. Through October 31, UES will match any donations made by UES employees. Help us reach our goal of raising $10,000; we are more than halfway there!
Your donations will go directly to fellow team members who experienced a significant loss from the storm.
Thank you for your support!
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Congratulations, Alan!
At the end of September, Geotechnology had a surprise retirement party for our Drilling Foreman, Alan Karns!
Alan retired on his 35th Anniversary with Geotechnology! We had clients, employees, and Alan’s family join the celebration filled with Alan’s favorite food (Italian) and a cake made by HR Director Erica O’Connor!
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UES Brings Home Hot Firm Award for Second Consecutive Year!
On September 15, Dave Witsken, along with Gary Elzweig, James Bristow, and Brian Kirkpatrick, accepted the 2022 Hot Firm award at the ElevateAEC black tie awards gala, hosted by the Zweig Group. This is UES’ second consecutive year at the #1 spot on the Hot Firm List.
“Our success is driven by a number of factors, including the dedication and hard work of our people, the innovative solutions and services we provide to our clients, the top-tier businesses we have acquired and the excellent leadership team we have assembled,” said Dave Witsken, UES CEO. “We’ve built a culture our 3,200 team members are proud to be a part of, where we can work on exciting and innovative projects and ultimately improve the infrastructure and the communities where we live and work.”
| L to R: Dave Witsken, Gary Elzweig, PE, F.ASCE, James Bristow, PE, and Brian Kirkpatrick. | | | |
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UES Works for Me!
Featuring Gilian Diran
Gilian Diran joined UES in November of 2019 at our Miami location. He was quickly promoted to an Assistant Project Manager position in their CSD Department. He earned their office a great profit by preparing and winning project proposals to provide preconstruction surveys and vibration monitoring on FDOT projects. Gilian’s wife Nickisia "Nicki" also joined the Miami office where she advanced from Administrative Assistant to Dispatcher and then Operations Coordinator.
They decided in early 2021 that they wanted to relocate to the Orlando area. Nicki joined the Orlando FAST office as a Recruiter, and the first transfer from a branch to our Corporate office, and Gilian had the opportunity to transfer to Orlando CSD in May.
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| Trade Show | Location | Date | Website | | ACI (American Concrete Institute) Concrete Convention | Dallas, TX | Oct 23–27, 2022 | https://www.concrete.org/events/conventions/currentconvention | | ASCE Convention 2022 (American Society of Civil Engineers) | Anaheim, CA | Oct 23–26, 2022 | https://convention.asce.org/ | | World of Concrete Expo | Las Vegas, NV | Jan. 17–19, 2023 | https://www.worldofconcrete.com/en/attendee.html | | AGC Convention & Trade Show (Associated General Contractors of America) | Las Vegas, NV | March 13–16, 2022 | https://convention.agc.org/ | | ABC Convention (Associated Builders & Contractors) | Kissimmee, FL (Gaylord Palms) | March 15–17, 2022 | https://abcconvention.abc.org/ | | |
How do you feel about our first issue of Huddle Up? | | |
This information is for internal use only. Please do not share externally. |
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