Staying in the Game

Who would have thought 2008 would turn out to be such a traumatic year in our financial markets? While the road ahead might continue to be bumpy for some time, I am happy to have put behind me the year that brought home mortgage foreclosures, residential developers dropping like flies, banks calling in loans and lines of credit, a severely depressed work market and rising unemployment.

As we move into a new year, I strongly advise you to attend Utility Construction EXPO ’09 The Big Show in Phoenix on March 4-6. NUCA has made a special effort to provide you with the up-to-date information you need to navigate the current economic minefield. Business-building expert George Hedley will be on hand to provide “18 Shots You Must Take Now” to deal with a slower economy, and a number of the education sessions are designed to help you make informed purchasing and financing decisions — e.g., Saving on Fuel and Lubricants, Economic Outlook Forum, Equipment Financing Options, The Business of Political Involvement and more. And don’t forget the exhibit hall, where you can get the straight scoop from the major equipment manufacturers and other providers of goods and services to the underground utility construction industry.

The education session about the “business” of political involvement leads me to a potential ray of hope in the form of a national stimulus package that includes infrastructure funding. If ever there was a time for you to get involved, it is now. We must continue to send a message to Congress that explains how investing in underground environmental infrastructure not only enables us to maintain what we have, repair what is broken and replace what is old, but also creates the work and therefore the jobs that will help us escape the economic downturn. All that might seem like a no-brainer to you, but it isn’t necessarily so to those responsible for distributing federal funds.

Along those lines, I can do no better than quote our Vice President of Government Relations Eben Wyman, who wrote the following in conclusion to last month’s 2008 Legislative Wrap-up: “NUCA is here to advance the issues that benefit the underground utility construction industry and to oppose the harmful ones. All we ask is that you continue to help us out. Associations are only as strong as the grassroots constituencies they represent. Now is not the time to stand on the sidelines. Your industry needs you in the game.”

Regards,


     Terry Dillon