Utility Strategy Podcast

On the Twenty-Eighth episode of the 4M Utility Strategy Podcast, we discuss with Colleen Martindale the opportunity behind activating an entirely new workforce to solve the industry’s labor shortage. We dive into the subject matter of how utility data and infrastructure projects connect with providing broadband internet access to rural communities across the country.

Colleen leads the civil engineering department, where work is priced and procured in the transportation and heavy civil markets. Colleen has a strong background in civil estimating with 10 years of experience with McCarthy and more than 14 years of experience in the industry.

In addition, Colleen manages the McCarthy Partnership for Women in the Southern Region, an employee resource group, focused on removing barriers to success for women in the construction industry.

It is an honor to have her with us today!

Host: David Horesh (Director of Marketing)

On the Twenty- Seventh episode of the 4M Utility Strategy Podcast, we discuss with Shirley Bloomfield the issues of bringing together service providers and creating standards across the nation. We dive deeper into the subject matter of how utility data and infrastructure projects connect with providing broadband internet access to rural communities across the country.

Shirley is an expert in her field, spending time in Washington as VP of federal relations for various companies such as Verizon. She has managed to develop a deep understanding of where the problem lies in getting internet to these communities while keeping federal and private interests in mind.

Today Shirley is the CEO of the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association designed to represent the small rural communities across the country.

It is an honor to have her with us today!

Host: David Horesh (Director of Marketing)

On the twenty-sixth episode of the 4M Utility Strategy Podcast, we sit down with Raymond Sonnier to talk about damage prevention and asset management from a specialist’s perspective. We discuss the past, present, and future of this important aspect of the project’s life cycle. He also explains the importance of auditing projects, the issues with a labor shortage in America, and educating stakeholders who are boots on the ground in the field.

Raymond is an expert in Utility with 20 years of experience in the field. Slowly through educating himself on the problems and solutions of the industry he’s worked his way to becoming a specialist in damage prevention. Today Raymond is a coordinator for Atmos Energy Corporation located in Louisiana. He oversees all sorts of projects ranging from transportation to Oil & Gas

It is an honor to have him with us today!

Host: David Horesh (Director of Marketing)

On the twenty-fifth episode of the 4M Utility Strategy Podcast, we sit down with Mary Susan Knauss to talk about utility asset management from an insider’s perspective. How can we better maintain, house, and utilize reliable data in the field of asset management? What are the main various data sources/ Why is it important to house utility data in one centralized system? She also explains why progress has been slow in updating the way asset managers house and share utility data with each other in order to have accurate data in real-time.

Mary has over thirty years of expertise in the field since she began her professional career at AT&T in 1981 where she managed their systems operations center for seven years. Currently, Mary is serving as a board member of the Hudson Development Corporation and as president-elect of the NYS GIS Association. From 2006 until 2019 Mary was a Senior Transportation Analyst for the New York State Department of Transportation. She developed GIS/ mobile GPS Solutions for Departmental inventory and asset management. She also managed their Geospatial analysis to support contract & construction planning.

Host: David Horesh (Director of Marketing)

On the twenty-fourth episode of the 4M Utility Strategy Podcast, we sit down with Peter Bergamini to talk about the energy grid from an industry insider's perspective. How can we better plan the management, maintenance, expansion, and long-term engineering of diverse energy systems to keep our grid strong and resilient? What tactics should be used for large-scale, centralized infrastructure, and how can distributed energy resources add flexibility and redundancy to the system?

Peter Bergamini is an electrical engineer with a focus on power systems. He has worked on power plant design (including UPS system, SCR upgrades, backup/generation systems & system protection), substation/switching station design (including breaker coordination, communication upgrades, DG, autotransformer & relaying protection), and switchboard design (including multi section lineups, USS, system coordination, integrated relaying).

Host: David Horesh (Director of Marketing)

On the twenty-third episode of the Utility Strategy Podcast, we talked to Jerry Aliberti, a real New Yorker who knows the ins and outs of one of the world's most complex utility environments. Jerry covered an amazing breadth of topics in just half an hour, from stories of legendary construction projects to advice on field v. office skills, adopting new technology, and how to build a career in the industry.

Jerry Aliberti brings almost two decades of experience managing civil construction projects, as well as training and managing individuals and teams on some of the largest infrastructure construction projects in New York State and surrounding areas. Jerry is trained and fluent in both field and office operations.

Host: David Horesh (Director of Marketing)

On the twenty-second episode of the Utility Strategy Podcast, we learn about what SUE (Subsurface Utility Engineering) can do for project planning and construction—and what's at risk when SUE isn't used early in the process. And there's no better person to tell that story than Rusty Wolff, a SUE director who's passionate about educating clients, policymakers, and the wider public about the importance of investigating and documenting subsurface utilities.

Rusty Wolff is Director of Subsurface Utility Engineering at Criado & Associates, bringing 30 years of construction experience including 11 years in SUE and 17 years in QA/QC.

Host: David Horesh (Director of Marketing)

On the twenty-first episode of the Utility Strategy Podcast, we learn from researcher Amit Kumar about the vast scope of infrastructural changes across India, as well as the challenges and opportunities for utility coordination in a country with more than 8,000 urban centers.

Amit Kumar is a registered architect, urban and rural planner, and currently a scholar at the Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Programme, Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi. His research focuses on public utility coordination in right-of-way management, including technologies such as GIS and BIM and approaches such as agent-based modelling (ABM) to identify critical pain points of the industry and increase safety in the public ROW.

Host: David Horesh (Director of Marketing)

Just for Testing

On our twentieth episode, Glenn Fox takes us on a deep dive into the real world of SUE—and the utility insights you can ONLY learn with boots on the ground.

Glenn Fox is a Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) and utility mapping expert with 36 years of industry experience, from designating and digging test holes in the field to managing and directing SUE departments. He has provided SUE services across 14 states, working with DOTs, private utilities, industrial facilities, as well as military and national security infrastructure. He also takes an active role in the advancement of SUE and damage prevention through professional membership in the ASCE Utility Engineering and Surveying Institute (UESI) committees for SUE & Investigations and Designator Certification, as well as other national, state, and local bodies promoting best practices in utility locating and documentation.

Host: David Horesh (Director of Marketing)