Something My Dad Used to Say

I have many good memories of going to work with my dad and seeing what was happening within the company he built from scratch.

In addition to playing on the tractors and riding on the low boy trailer, I observed firsthand his unique way of dealing with people in the industry.

It definitely involved some colorful sayings that as a young boy I did not fully understand — sayings like “put a pencil to it,” which equates to “do the math,” or calling a salesman a “peddler.” My favorite was “I’ll let my mouth do the talking for me”— most likely a throwback to the hardboiled detectives and crooks played on the screen by the likes of Bogart, Cagney, Robinson and Raft. “Mouth” is, of course, short for “mouthpiece,” which is old-fashioned slang for one’s lawyer. It later came to mean a person who speaks on behalf of another.

In that sense of the word, the National Utility Contractors Association (NUCA) is the mouth of anyone with a stake in the legislative and regulatory issues and interests in the utility construction industry. The association is most fortunate in having two full-time lobbyists — Vice President of Government Relations Eben Wyman and Government Relations Coordinator Ben Gann — who do a wonderful job of watching our backs and speaking up for our interests on a daily basis. For a detailed list of their accomplishments thus far this year, visit the NUCA Web site at www.nuca.com, click Membership Benefits on the navigation bar and then on What Has NUCA Done for You Lately?

Backing up our lobbyists are the NUCA leaders and members who: 1) go to Washington, D.C., every spring to help their lawmakers understand our issues and persuade them to advance them and 2) respond to NUCA legislative alerts with calls, e-mails and faxes to those same lawmakers. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the NUCA chapters across the country. They are doing the same kind of work at the state and local levels. In short, we have quite a team speaking on our behalf when it comes to the laws and regulations that affect our livelihoods.

There is certainly no way I would have the time to research or the resources to deal with all the legislation and regulations that affect my company. So, the way I see it, that kind of comprehensive, aggressive advocacy is, by itself, worth the price of my dues. As my dad would say — I’ll let my mouth do the talking for me.

Who’s talking for you? If it isn’t NUCA, it should be.

Regards,
   James King