President’s Message

Time to Take Advantage of the Opportunity Ahead

As 2022 begins, I am honored to take over as UCANE President and would like to thank the membership for their support. It has been a privilege for me to serve on the Board of Directors, and then move up the ladder these past few years, and I now look forward to continuing the progress made by our former Presidents. I would like to take a moment to thank our Immediate Past President, Marcella Albanese, for her service, dedication, and commitment to UCANE over the years.

The pandemic made it a challenging time for Marcella to serve as UCANE President, and although we had to cancel most in-person events, she continued to lead the advocacy effort to ensure that members continued to work safely throughout the last two years. She always put the interests of our industry first and continued to get our message out to our elected officials and others that infrastructure starts below the ground.

The New Year also presents our industry with a oncein-a-generation opportunity. After years of lobbying by UCANE, our elected officials in Washington and Massachusetts have appropriated much-needed additional funding for water, sewer, and underground utility infrastructure work, through the Federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the American Rescue Plan Act. These two measures will make billions of dollars available to be invested into the Commonwealth’s infrastructure in the coming years, and will provide a much-needed upgrade to our outdated and failing infrastructure. You can read more about the impact these bills will have on our industry in this issue of our magazine, beginning on page 23.

However, there is still much work to be done. While additional funding has always been a top priority, it is of no use if municipalities and awarding authorities cannot access the funds and ultimately get jobs out to bid and completed. We know the immediate need is there, as 2022 applications to the MassDEP exceeded $2 billion to be approved for the Intended Use Plan (IUP), well over twice the amount received in previous years for water infrastructure projects. Communication between government agencies and municipalities is crucial so that none of these additional funds are left on the table. Continue to keep an eye out for our ongoing #InvestInWaterMA Campaign, which is highlighting the need to prioritize water infrastructure and building relationships with additional elected officials, municipal leaders, and other stakeholders to make these projects come to fruition.

As UCANE President, I will also make workforce development issues a top priority. The pandemic has only exacerbated the industry-wide problem of hiring and retaining qualified workers. We need to continue to be proactive in our efforts to recruit the next generation of diverse workers for these good-paying jobs. We also need to continue to be in contact with our elected officials about these ongoing issues and have state workforce policies reflect the current situation. We need to partner with all stakeholders to find solutions that work so that we can achieve the common goal of a vibrant and diverse workforce for many years to come.

Like my father before me, as a member of UCANE I have enjoyed its benefits and the opportunity to give back to our industry. While our membership continues to thrive and grow, I believe there are many other prospective members out there performing our work who should be joining our ranks. I would encourage our members to identify other businesses that you work with every day, both contractors and suppliers, and encourage them to become a proud fellow member of UCANE.

Lastly, I would like to wish you and your families a healthy and happy New Year. I am excited to work with our Officers, Board of Directors, the UCANE staff, and the entire membership to make 2022 a productive and suc-

cessful year. n