PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE
PILE DRIVING CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION
ISSUE 2 2021 | Volume 18, No. 2
Published for
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Phone: 904-215-4771
Fax: 904-215-2977
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Email: info@piledrivers.org
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© 2021 Pile Driving Contractors Association.
All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not
be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of PDCA.
PileDriver magazine is published six times per year.
Visit the PDCA website at www.piledrivers.org for more
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Individual articles can be provided upon request to the PDCA
office. Requests should be submitted to PDCA via email at
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Please contact us by mail at:
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Phone: 904-215-4771 | Fax: 904-215-2977
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Opportunity,
Involvement
and Knowledge
By Kevin Gourgues, President, PDCA
It’s time to tell an honest story: back
when I was a young manager, I was
always pushed by my supervisors and
owners to be active in industry organizations,
such as PDCA, ABC, AGC, ADSC,
DFI… and the list goes on. And as a young
manager, I was unenthusiastic about participating.
I reluctantly went to some chapter
meetings within these organizations
and – this is the “honest” part of my story
– I felt that it was a waste of my time. I
was always too busy to travel; being away
caused me to miss out on other things, like
my kids’ ball games and outdoor trips, or
any other reason I could come up with as
an excuse not to go.
But, boy, was I wrong.
As I grew older and (hopefully) wiser, I
began to see the benefit of not only attending
but getting involved in these organizations. I
started to view them not only as an opportunity
for personal growth but also for growth
in the company I was working for.
Active membership allowed for exposure
in several different ways. The first
one – and the one I value most of all – was
networking. And these opportunities for
networking were proved to be unlimited.
Unlimited, however, is a relative term.
They can be unlimited in the sense that
what I put into them, I would get out of
them. I have personally experienced the
results I was looking for by being active in
PDCA. First, I participated in local chapter
meetings, met some new people and
the next thing I knew, I was being nominated
to the board, and the next year I
was president of the local chapter. The following
year, I was approached by former
executive director Steve Hall to gauge my
interest in serving on the national board.
I was meeting new people, other contractors,
engineers and suppliers, which provided
an avenue for friendships, business
relationships and opportunities that I
would otherwise not know.
The same is true for so many of the
members who are involved. I was recently
told a story by another active contractor
member who met another active contractor
member through PDCA. The relationship
provided an opportunity that otherwise
would have never existed. One contractor
ended up working as a subcontractor
for the other on a major project that
was valued in the tens of millions of dollars
of work. I would not attempt to put a price
tag on the value of a membership and being
active when something like this happens –
and it does happen.
If we take the same position that I took
as a young manager and are reluctant to
go to the meetings, participate on the
calls and get involved on the committees,
we will receive nothing. The challenge
exists for leaders of companies to be
accountable to get ourselves and the next
generation involved in trade associations,
especially PDCA. Once we, or a designee
from our company, go to the meeting or
event, or get on the call or webinar and
actually participate, we will see the return
on our investment.
Education, education, education
We are so fortunate to have so many intelligent
members who devote their time and
efforts to our committees. The committees
provide a constant flow of educational
opportunities to the PDCA membership. The
web series that was initiated last year due to
COVID was an excellent place to gain knowledge
and I am happy to report that this will
continue in 2021 and began on Feb. 2 (For a
list of future dates, visit www.piledrivers.org/
events). The Education Committee also provides
the content for annual conferences,
DICEP and DFDTA programs.
The technical library (www.piledrivers.org/
pdca-technical-library) also has key
documents available at no cost to our
members. Please check out the newly
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