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NUCA’s former president on congressional testimony, the stimulus, and Atlas Excavating, his thriving utilities business

It was a great day to talk about the state of the underground utility industry. The very day the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 wound its way through the House of Representatives, we sat down with Atlas Excavating's Terry Dillon to solicit reasoned advice on rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. While we were at it, we also discussed tactics on championing clean and safe drinking water and settling -- once and for all -- who had a hit with the 1974 power ballad "Stealin'."

In 1981, Terry and Tina Dillon founded Atlas Excavating Inc. after discovering their knack for building the underground infrastructure that makes wholesome drinking water for the masses possible. Never shy about travel, the Dillons put the show on the road, expanding their business far outside their base operations in West Lafayette, Indiana. As the business grew from two to 150-plus employees, so did its fleet of equipment that includes John Deere excavators and loaders.

It would be difficult to describe Dillon's success without discussing his association with the National Utility Contractors Association (NUCA), the underground utility construction industry's loud, clear, and strong voice on Capitol Hill.

Mr. Dillon goes to Washington
"Chairman Oberstar, Ranking Member Mica, and Honorable Members of the Committee -- I appreciate this opportunity to participate in this hearing on behalf of the National Utility Contractors Association, which supports the inclusion of water infrastructure investment as part of congressional efforts to advance economic recovery legislation." So began Dillon's October 29, 2008, testimony before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. He was there to represent NUCA and request a hefty slice of stimulus pie.

"NUCA is a family of nearly 1,700 companies across the nation that builds, repairs, and maintains underground water, wastewater, gas, electric, and telecommunications systems -- We encourage you to include $10 billion toward water and wastewater infrastructure projects as part of the committee's economic recovery proposal."

According to epa.gov, the American Recovery and Investment Act that was passed just four months after this testimony included funds for the "Clean Water State Revolving Fund Programs and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Programs in the amount of $4 billion and $2 billion, respectively, to create jobs and provide affordable funding for wastewater and drinking-water projects." Does anybody believe these substantial funds would have been allocated without Mr. Dillon's testimony and NUCA's involvement? Squeaky wheel, meet the grease.

All told, the economic stimulus package of 2009 funnels $20.1 billion for "Water and Environment Projects," including $6 billion for Department of Energy cleanup, $1.2 billion for Superfund cleanup, $4.6 billion for Army Corps of Engineer's civil works projects, and the aforementioned $6 billion for Environmental Protection Agency wastewater and drinking-water projects.

Utility contractors, NUCA has your back
As the former president of the largest trade association for the utilities industry, Dillon is a true believer that in a representative democracy, you better have some representation in Washington, D.C. And that's just what NUCA has done every day since 1964.

"NUCA's your advocate," he explains. "They're your voice in Washington. They deal with all the infrastructure issues with OSHA, legislative laws, making sure we get funding, clean water reauthorization, and the votes to improve rural water quality. We also run interference on government regulations -- there are tons of OSHA regulations that we have stopped that would have been a burden to our member contractors. Our legislative branch needs to hear from people in the industry and hear our side of the story. How else would they know how to vote?

"So you've got to step up to the plate, you've got to go to Washington, you've got to hold them accountable. Politicians are very good at looking you in the eye and saying they support clean water. And NUCA often counters by saying, 'If you're for it, why did you vote against funding for it?' They will often rethink their position after they hear from a guy who has been in the trench." And with that, we were off to the trenches with our knowledgeable host.

Dillon goes electric
"Running', hidin', losin', cryin' -- nothin' left to save but my life," exclaims Dillon's truck radio. "'Stealin'! My band kills with this song every time we do it," says part-time-bassist Terry of his popular classic rock cover band, "but I can never remember who did it -- wait, was it -- Uriah Heap?" That settled, it became obvious that this is a man of many talents -- owner of a major utilities firm, Utility Contractor magazine's "Ditch Digger of the Year," former president of one of the largest trade associations in all of contractor-dom, licensed helicopter pilot, and, now, we discover his side gig as a bass player for a Hoosier bar band.

Upon learning that he's also the proud owner of a pair of John Deere 850D LC Excavators, we quickly add devilishly handsome, nimble dancer, and scratch golfer to his list of accomplishments. "One of our 850s has been leased out to another company, but you can see the other at work on an underground utilities site in Columbus, Indiana. They're great machines, and the productivity of our crews soars when they have these excavators on a site."

So, is the stimulus sufficient?
If you polled folks in the utilities industry, your answer would be a resounding "no." But they'd also say $6 billion is a heckuva good start. Meanwhile, NUCA will keep the pressure on government to ensure safe and clean water for this new century. If you're in the industry and not yet a member of NUCA, you owe your company and employees a visit to www.nuca.com. And tell 'em a Hoosier ditch-digging bass player sent you.

Atlas Excavating, Inc. is serviced by Holt Equipment Co., Lafayette, Indiana.

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