About a year ago someone decided that it would be a good idea to go ice-skating.  Now I’m pretty competitive when it comes to any type of athletic endeavor, but no one has ever asked me to play hockey.  Truth be known, I have a difficult time just getting the skates on.  Come to think of it I’m equally pathetic at bowling. (I’m thinking of giving curling a try.)  Anyway, while we were standing in line to rent our ice skates I overheard a father and his 2 young sons. The father said, “Son, you just have to wait another minute.”  To which the son replied, “But Dad, we’re waiting as fast as we can.”

Many of us are waiting for the economy to turn around and like the little boy we are getting pretty anxious.  Will 2010 be different, business wise, than 2009?  Is anyone out there getting a clear reading from your crystal ball?  Like you, I listen carefully to the news, read the papers, bounce around on the internet and listen to all the talking heads on the radio.  This is what I’m hearing “the unemployment calculator indexes for the 3^rd quarter commodities market dropped .032 points for the 4^th Tuesday in a row amidst a rapid gain in the yen which sparked a rally on the NASDAQ preferred futures….”  What does it all mean?   I’m pretty sure we are all in the same boat, waiting to hear some good news.  My non-audited, unscientific poll results are coming in and people are telling me that things are a “little” better.  A little better sounds pretty good right now.  In some circles, patience is seen as a virtue.  I tend to think of patience as a way of life.

Well, I wish I could say that 2009 was a year of records and good times, but that would be lying, and I don’t want my mom to wash my mouth out with soap.  So I will just write exactly what 2009 was.  2009 will go down as one of the toughest years in the history of Pro-Tec Equipment.

We could mostly likely classify 2009 as the  year of extremes.  We have gone from being extremely slow, to extremely busy, back to extremely slow.   President Obama calls for hope, and that is really what the underground construction industry has boiled down to, hope.

However, 2009 hasn’t be a lost year, good things have happened for Pro-Tec Equipment this year.   Through our innovation program,  we have released the 7.5’ tall Aluminum Trench Shield line, saving, in some cases more that $500 in trucking.   2009 also will go down as the year that Pro-Tec Equipment went social, networking that is.  With the launch of a Facebook and twitter page, Pro-Tec Equipment has set itself up to have the most open communication in the industry.

So what does 2010 hold for us?  Well, there is the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. BC (Russia vs.  Canada in hockey, what a match that will be), the World Cup in Brazil (could the USA Team make it to the semi’s) and probably the most important item, the release of the bulk of the “Stimulus” money from the U.S. government.  Here’s to putting 2009 in the books and starting 2010 with a bang!

As a manufacturer and a rental house, Pro-Tec Equipment has the luxury of sometimes instantly adding new equipment to our rental fleet.  We are able to solve problems quickly that a normal shoring rental operation may not.  Of course with this blessing comes a curse.  There will come a time when we don’t have most of our eighteen 28’ or longer trench shields rented.  When that happens, there will be a hungry, smelly, 800 lb gorilla in the controller’s office wondering how such a thing happened.

In Michigan, we have faced the struggles that the rest of the nation is now experiencing for the better part of this decade.   Read the rest of this entry »

As the days get shorter and the phones ring less often, I am frequently thinking about the next few months at work.  Usually I am an optimist.  I always think that the beer glass is half full – I know, the top half is all foam, don’t stretch the analogy too far.  However, I am having visions of the Pro-Tec team, huddled under a blanket, in the dark, around a burning desk trying to keep warm.  The wolves, literally, are scratching at the door thinking about their dinner (that would be us.)

Business wise, these next few months could be tough, the winter of our discontent.  I’m not talking about the book by John Steinbeck, and don’t try and tell me you’ve read it.  Most of us had to read “Of Mice and Men” and probably a few of us read “The Grapes of Wrath”.  Talk about depressing times, wow!  But I digress. Read the rest of this entry »

“If you never do what you never did, you’ll never get what you never got.”  That is my paraphrase of an old saying.  In today’s business climate, we are trying hard to get the market share we used to, and also trying to get the new sales we never got.

We have had an “Innovation” program at Pro-Tec Equipment for almost 2 years, giving monthly incentives to employees for coming up with ideas.  So far we have had hundreds of suggestions, some better than others, to help improve either our product line or manufacturing processes.  This program has really helped keep everyone thinking about how we can be better at our product offering and fabricating procedures. Read the rest of this entry »

Public owners are demanding that contractors keep their roads and storm sewers free of job site mud and debris.  To help contractors with this important and growing issue, Pro-Tec developed the Rumble Grid tire cleaning system.

“We had planned on using the traditional crushed rock for the project’s entrance until Pro-Tec approached us with the Rumble Grids.  Instead, we used a combination of the crushed rock and the Rumble Grid system.  It made a major difference in the cleanliness of the stone before entering the road” said project manager Paul Powell of Clark’s Construction, of Detroit which was awarded the new MDOT facility in Taylor where the system was used.  “This system would be effective on a high profile intersection like this or any site work project,” Powell added. Read the rest of this entry »

One challenge stands out beyond the everyday challenges faced by crews building the new, $412 million, 40,000 capacity stadium for the Minnesota Twins. Located just a few blocks west of downtown Minneapolis, the construction site is hemmed in on all sides by bridges, roads and buildings; making for tight working conditions and a logistical challenge for moving hundreds of workers and trucks in and out of it daily. Read the rest of this entry »

A new green corn receiving pit was recently completed at the Monsanto Site in Constantine, MI by James Ware Construction Inc of Sturgis, along with Morris Excavating of White Pigeon and Davis Contracting of Grand Rapids. The receiving pit was over 100′ in length, 14′ wide and started at 8′ deep and gradually went to 11′ deep by the end of the run.

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A 50,000-square foot Tendercare Health Center, which will be an adult assisted living center, is being construction on 6 acres off of Marsh Road in Meridian Township, MI.  The $12-million project began in October 207 and is scheduled for completion in June.

L.D. Clark Excavating Company’s scope of work included clearing and grubbing; excavating and filling 8 feet deep across the project site; placing 1,500 feet of water main with two roadway bore and jacks; placing 3,000 feet of storm sewer and 670 feet of sanitary sewer by directional drill and open cut; site excavating and grading; parking lot construction and asphalt paving.

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