2002 was, without a doubt, the most challenging year that UNDERGROUND has gone through in my 35-year tenure. The absolute collapse of the communications construction sector coupled with our airline customers' financial difficulties as a result of the 9-11 tragedy combined in a sort of "perfect storm" to create havoc in the industries we serve. The good news is that we have weathered the storm in great shape. We have added more multi-utility work on university campuses as well as public works joint trench projects to our workload. We are more active with Shell Oil and other industrial customers and are working for electric utilities and public bodies all across our business spectrum. We also submitted proposals on several U.S. Government fueling projects, the results of which are still pending. |
In December, we were awarded significant multi-million dollar aircraft fueling projects in Cincinnati and Miami. We also have a large job to start in Las Vegas with our sister company, PAR. We are actively seeking work throughout the country. I am particularly proud of the way Undergrounders embraced the realities of the market place and made the changes necessary to keep us in a competitive position. They kept their heads about them and, when the going got tough, so did they. Many of the changes were painful and some unpleasant, but they enabled the Company to come out of the storm with a positive financial report. I think it was a magnificent performance and I congratulate our employees, supervisors, engineers, and managers. Even though 2002 was filled with challenges, Undergrounders still found time to participate in our community. We raised funds for the Boy Scouts, supported Oakland Technical High School's Engineering Academy, partnered with Shell to build facilities at Antioch Learner School, and supported the United Way. My personal thanks to all who worked on these projects. We don't exactly know what 2003 holds, but the consensus is that things are getting better. The communications business may be very slow to recover but we are well on our way to getting back to our former traditional market places. We may have to travel and we may have to get muddy, but we have proven without a doubt, that "WE CAN DO IT." TGIO means, "Thank Goodness Its Over" |
by Lynn Barr