President's Farewell Message |
At last! I'm retiring. Chris Ronco will be assuming the presidency of Underground effective August 5th. This will be my last CONNECTION column and I have many people to thank for the great time I've had working at UNDERGROUND. My 36-year tenure has been filled with great people and great experiences. When I started in June of 1967, Underground had just secured two multi- utility relocation jobs for BART in San Francisco. Dan Shillinger talked me into giving up a steady job with Marin Municipal Water District to join the wild world of contracting. Dan and I were friends from Boy Scout days and he was a Civil Engineer. I was still in college and he encouraged my completion and registration as a Civil Engineer. I will be eternally thankful for that. What a wonderful experience. Our boss, Richard E. Hall, then Vice President of the company, was also a civil engineer. Dick went out of his way to make a positive impact on our work in the City and elsewhere. Dick's long tenure as President, then Chairman of Underground, made an indelible impact on the company's highly ethical conduct. He was always there with good advice and counsel. When I made mistakes, he always could find something helpful to say to save the day and my feelings. He's still the same today. What a great mentor, Thanks, Dick! Dick made sure that SAFETY was our first priority and that legacy continues
today. Art Seymour, (Guy's dad) was our first full time Safety Manager,
followed by Tom Over the years I have had a chance to work with the best Superintendents
in the construction game. Bob Medaris, our General Superintendent in San
Francisco and Washington D.C., Bob Smith in San Francisco, Houston and D.C.,
Joe Kovacich in Atlanta, Dallas and everywhere else, Boyd Dresser and Ed
Bovee in Indianapolis and Curt Gilmore in Colorado and Utah. |
Our Managers and Engineers transform our customers' ideas from a set of plans into reality through their careful estimating, purchasing, scheduling, design work and logistical support of work in the field. I've had the pleasure of working with the best, on jobsites and in the office. Neil Parrish, Harry Robinson, Phil Smith, Ron Perue, Jim Curry and Joe Woodruff, our faithful office manager. This group is all retired now but they have made great contributions and personal sacrifices to make Underground the great company that it is today. It was a pleasure working with them. The company is in good hands with our current senior management group:
George Bradshaw, Errol Bisutti, Rick Shone, Pat Darnell, Chris Ronco and
Dale McCourt. Thanks for your loyal support. I'd like to especially thank
Tim Richards who has worked on Underground jobs all over the country and
has always been there in the field supporting the work. No construction company can be successful without an exact picture of their financial health. Ann-Marie Talbot has worked long and tirelessly to assure that the Executives, Managers, Engineers and Superintendents knew precisely where they stood financially on their jobs. Beverly Patton handles other financial and administrative details that we couldn't do without. Betty Lee-Zenn has been with us since she was a kid. I thank them and their staff for keeping Underground on track. I had the pleasure of working with Jim Siler for over 30 years. I followed Jim as president of Underground and I learned a great deal about business and business decisions while working for Jim. His pragmatic and practical approach has always been helpful in making our enterprise strong. I'd like to thank Jim for his friendship, confidence and generosity. |
Many of our customers have been with us from the beginning of Underground in 1936. They provide the work that makes us a living. Thank you to men and women at SBC (formerly Pac Bell), Surewest (formerly Roseville Telephone Co.), PG&E, Shell Oil, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Burns & McDonnell and all of our public customers too. "I have every confidence in Chris
and his management team. They are all well seasoned professionals that will
uphold the ethical principles that have made Underground Construction Co.,
Inc. the CADILLAC of the construction industry." Finally, I need to thank my wife Linda and our two children for coming along on this journey that I thought would only last for a year or two while I got through college. We planned to live the quiet life of an engineer for a Water District in Marin County, where I would come home every night and we'd be close to our families and friends. Instead, they moved when we needed to, usually alone, since I was already on the next job. Linda tended to all of the million and one details of family life that allowed me to concentrate on Underground's business. When they weren't on jobsites, I was usually out of town. We had several years of 130 nights on the road. It has been a long and winding road. Thank you Linda, Edwin and Natalie; I love you. I have every confidence in Chris and his management team. They are all well seasoned professionals that will uphold the ethical principles that have made Underground Construction Co., Inc. the CADILLAC of the construction industry. ...Lynn
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