Page 3 - Arkansas 811 Magazine 2018 Issue 2

from the desk of
Damage Prevention and Partnership ‘
he snceeso ui any buslness/ endeavor can be botled down to
I its relationships. lpersonally reel that [or the rnisston of Alzsll
"the proteehon of the publlc and the preventron ui damage

resulting from acetdents mvolvtng underground iacllitlcs” to be

surcessnrl, a TRUE PARTNERSHIP needs to be developed, cultrvated ~— — g ,
and valued among rts rnernbershtp here in Arkansas. Arkansas has ,

over 1000 uttlttres operatrng in tlus state and every one or them has a ‘- —
vested rnterest In the goal of damage preventton and publre saretyl

For a partnerslnp to be successful each member needs to feel a sense of support and opttmtsm
about the rollahoratron. when partnershrps are supporuve they are rnrused wtth hope. what
sustatns monvatron is the belles that vnth partnershtp thrngs can only get better when people
feel supported In a partnershrp they become msprred to more clearly vrsualrze the process of
arhrevtng the goal.1hererore,ltts essentral that the parmershtp be grounded rn an unwavenng
bellef In the rntegnty of the goals and values of the desrred purpose ..damage prevention and
puhlrr salety.

Arkansas lual held tts maugural Damage Ereventron Summll rn Lrttle Rork. As rnaugural
events go, we zxcncded our expectations in regard to attendanee wtth around 200 partrcrpants.
we completely booked our exlubltnr spare and the sessrons were very lniormatlvnz. I want to
personally thank all who worked on rnakrng Ihl~ happen l also want to thank those utrlrtres,
nxcavatun and vendors who supported the event wrth both sponsorshtps and attendees. But
let's look at thrs fmm another perspectrve. I noted earlrer that Arkansas has over 1000 utrlrtres
operatrng in thrs statel There are thousands of exravators, contractors and vendors dorng
busrness |n thts statel Folks, the potentral we have to CROW our level of arrive parttcrpants |n
thts arena of damage preventron and publlc satety l~ stagger-rngl

Arkansas 811 rs not just a call centerl ll ts so much morel Arkansas 811 also works hard to
pre—ernptrvely slune the spot lrght on these needed pannI:r~lup~ and help iacllllalt: and bulld
the many relattonslnps that wlll hopefully spark a passron/focus on damage preventron and
puhllr satety BEFORE a tragedy ocrursl PLEASE, don't let your utrhty or excavation rompany
suffer through the tragtc "wake up call” far too many endure Let's all get toeused on damage
preventron and publlc/Employee saretyl

Darrell Buggs
CEO
Al'kl1tl5n5 all
ears Issue 2 Arkansas all Magazlne - 1