Underground Construction - July 2017 - 33

ly inspect and clean systems so
repairs can be made before they
become disasters.
Dean Monk, Pro-Pipe's current director of operations, was
our very first camera operator.
Pro-Pipe is a division of Hoffman
Southwest Corp. which is also the
franchisee of the largest network
of Roto-Rooter franchises in the
country. Thanks to Dean's hard
work and commitment, ProPipe has gone from a one-truck
operation to a national leader in
CCTV inspection, including the
identification of cross bores in lateral lines. I retired from Hoffman
Southwest Corp. last year as their
vice president of operations for
all divisions, but continue to stay
deeply involved with our industry, including my commitment to
NASSCO.
I first turned to NASSCO when
I became aware of an equipment
manufacturer that was making unfounded claims about its product.

In fact, the company was using
fear tactics to sell their product
and ultimately affect policy. Many
of us knew we had to take action
and NASSCO seemed to be the
best place to bring together industry professionals to make a stand
for what's right. I worked diligently with many different groups in
the industry on this issue including manufacturers, engineering
firms, cities and even other contractors that were considered my
competition.
This experience was my first
introduction to the power behind
NASSCO's ability to bring together
all players to make a huge impact
on what's right and what's best for
our communities. Prior to this, I
had mistakenly believed NASSCO
was just for East Coast member organizations, but when I saw industry professionals converging from
all over the country to address
this issue, I quickly learned it was
a highly influential organization
designed to set standards and as-

sure the continued acceptance and
growth of trenchless technologies.

Feet first
In 2005, I became a NASSCO
member and jumped in feet first.
Dave Fletcher from Applied Felts
told me it was a lot of fun, but
more importantly that NASSCO
membership would open doors
to meet industry professionals
that I really needed to know and
work with. He was right. Through
NASSCO I have been able to network and work with all kinds of
people for one common cause: to
help cities work with standards
that are fair, reasonable and not
exclusionary.
Over the years, my involvement with NASSCO has grown
and I was honored to serve as the
president of the board of directors
in 2015. My continued hope for
our industry is that we continue to
speak up when we see something
is not right. We must continue to

advance standards as our industry
changes through technological
advances and find that delicate
balance between embracing new
products while ensuring reasonable standards are met. My caution
would be to pay special attention
to new products or services that
claim to be the only solution or
the best solution. Standards must
be based on performance, not a
particular process, and we all need
to be accountable and take action
when we hear these claims.
Even though I have retired from
Hoffman Southwest Corp., I don't
plan to ever stop. This industry
gets into your blood and it's hard
to let go. In the short term, I will
be doing some consulting work,
and my fee structure will include
contributions to the Special Olympics and NASSCO's Scholarship
Funds because whether it's setting
standards, helping others or attracting young talent to our industry, we need to always do what's
right.

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July 2017 Underground Construction

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Underground Construction - July 2017

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