The Minnesota Utility Contractors Association
Utility Contractor’s Salute to a NUCA Chapter
By Jason Morgan
 Though the National Utility Contractors Association (NUCA) headquarters is strategically placed in Arlington, Va., a mere stone’s throw away from Capitol Hill, its heart is pumping across the country. Like any association, NUCA gains its strength from its 24 chapters. Each year.
Utility Contractor takes a moment to salute a NUCA chapter. This year, the excellent work and its support of NUCA have earned the Minnesota Utility Contractor Association (MUCA) the UC salute.
Like every other state across the country, Minnesota has its infrastructure problems. Luckily, MUCA crusades for the interests of all utility contractors on both the state and federal legislative levels. The association staff has over 40 years of combined legislative and association policy experience. MUCA’s Lobbyist is Mike Robertson, a former Deputy Commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and with the help of MUCA’s effective and experienced team at the Capitol, they know how to make things happen. But before MUCA was a bustling utility contractor community, it was a small, dedicated group of individuals who wanted to make a difference.
MUCA was formed in the summer of 1978 when a group of contractors came together to work on bridging communication with the engineering community. There were only around 20 companies in the early days of the chapter. They met at the offices of the different members and did not have a permanent staff person — members donated their time to keep notes and logs of their meetings.
There were five original Board Members that were elected by ballot at the first session. Stan Hemphill, C. S. McCrossan, was elected the first President of MUCA and Tom Schany, Northdale Construction, was elected Vice President. Larry Gordon, DGB Inc., was voted Secretary/Treasurer and the other Board Members were K.O. Hafner, Johnson Brothers, Tom Montgomery, Thomas Montgomery Construction, and Wayne Brown, Brown and Chris Inc.
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| MUCA members Steve and Jeanette Hentges (left), MUCA Vice President Gary Zajac and MUCA Executive Director DeAnn Stish (right) meet in Washington, D.C., with
Representative (D—Minn.) Jim Oberstar (center), Chairman of House Transporation
and Infrastructure Committeee. |
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“The early days of the chapter were consumed with discussing objectives and laying out principles for the organization,” says DeAnn Stish, MUCA Executive Director. “There were five areas of focus that committees were established to work on: membership; finance; policy and planning; nominating; and specifications. One of the main areas of focus beyond establishing the organization and its inner-workings was helping to standardize underground specifications in Minnesota. The next area of focus was the amount of money the EPA was allocating to Minnesota for underground projects. This has always been a core focus for Minnesota and as early as the winter of 1978, MUCA’s leadership was meeting with the EPA regional office to lobby for more investment in clean water and drinking water projects.”
Early on, one of the main struggles for the organization was time. The individuals who were working to start the organization were full-time employees in their companies and had multiple responsibilities. What is clear through the impeccable notes kept from these early meetings is that these 25 companies involved in the early days of MUCA saw the organization as an extremely valuable tool to accomplish a great deal for the industry. Most of the meetings would
start as late as 7:30 in the evening after a full day of work. These companies gave a lot of their time and effort to start what has been a strong 30-plus year tradition in Minnesota.
Today, MUCA’s 170 members are just as dedicated as those founding members. Its members drive as much as three to four hours, one way, to attend a meeting for MUCA, carrying on that early sentiment of sacrifice for the industry. Housing its operations in Woodbury, Minn., just minutes from the Capitol, allows MUCA quick access to the legislature while in session. MUCA also hosts board meetings in alternative locations to accommodate its regionally diverse Board of Directors.
While member support is strong, these strange economic times have certainly hit MUCA.
“Our goal is to continue growing the membership, but in this economy, we have to show our value in a short-term way to our existing membership,” says Stish. “Those who are in the industry will see the value of belonging to our association if we simply focus on what is best for our existing membership. We have set very lofty goals to be able to provide more free training to our membership and offer key programming that they cannot access through any other organization.”
In terms of membership, MUCA has value in spades. To its members, MUCA offers a variety of incentives including advertising and free or low-cost training. MUCA has also established itself as a premier training source for the utility industry — it’s acknowledged by both the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry and Minnesota’s Department of Transportation and Pollution Control Agency to certify for safety and environmental programs. MUCA is one of a few groups in the state with this distinction.
The association publishes an award-winning magazine twice a year, as well as a membership directory. It also sends out electronic weekly updates that provide membership with timely updates on legislative, regulatory and membership related issues. Additionally, MUCA hosts plenty of activities and meetings to keep its members involved, while having some fun.
“We host an annual membership meeting each year along with a vendor fair and membership meetings,” says Stish. “We also host the largest construction golf tournament in the State with a sellout crowd that fills both morning and afternoon sessions with capacity sponsorship tents on each hole. But the Jeff Hanson Memorial Last Ditch Open is by far our most successful and well-known event that brings member and non-member interest from the construction industry. We are headed into our 30th anniversary of this massive scholarship event.”
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| MUCA outgoing President Phil Lesnar of Northdale Construction passes the gavel to the incoming President Jeff Fye of Dahn Construction at MUCA’s Annual Meeting last November. |
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As the economy has continued to put pressure on the industry, MUCA has had to cut back on family-oriented events this year. However, it has continued to host an Association Day at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, which offers families and member company staff the opportunity to purchase discounted tickets to a Minnesota Twins baseball game each year.
“We encourage companies to join MUCA as we are their trade association — not just an organization to join for social reasons, but business reasons,” Stish says. “Our Association is their single voice on issues facing the industry on everything from project funding to regulatory issues and environmental compliance. Without an organization to monitor and communicate on these issues, there is no way one company could afford to have a team in house working on all of these issues. By joining together, everyone benefits from a common goal of a strong and productive industry.”
Though times are tough, there no doubt that MUCA will weather the economic storm. MUCA stands out in the Minnesota economy because of its long history of serving the industry. It focuses on everything that is important to its membership.
“This level of service is not common any more,” says Stish. “Adhering to the principles that the organization was founded upon has benefited this industry and our organization as a whole. MUCA will continue to grow in both numbers and in how we service our members.
“Too often associations can become comfortable in what they do and cease to change how they serve their members. We have been through a number of changes in the past several years and that has shifted our focus to keep pace with the economic pressures we are under.”
Construction is cyclical and MUCA knows that it needs to change how it serves its members through these ups and downs in order to be successful. For the past 30 years, MUCA has served the industry well and will continue to do so into the next 30 years and beyond.
Jason Morgan is Associate Editor of Utility Contractor.
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