Page 8 - Arkansas 811 Magazine 2021 Issue 1

New Locating Company
Digging in Arkansas? You
are apt to see a new name
on the side of a vehicle near your jobsite. Vannguard Utility Partners, Inc. is the name,
and they are not new as the company began operation in 1999... just new
to Arkansas. Currently, Vannguard
has a presence in nine (9) states and
a company that specializes primarily
in locating gas and electric although they do have some fiber projects scattered around the country. They have roughly 650 employees throughout their organization and expect to have around 40 full time damage prevention specialists (DPS) working in addition to their support staff.
Vannguard will be locating CenterPoint Energy’s gas lines across the state and they began that role effective Monday, February 1, 2021.
Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with Dan Davis, Vannguard’s District Director for Arkansas. Dan has been with the company for about six (6) years and has seen remarkable growth within the company. When asked about his biggest challenge in Arkansas to
date, he replied, “I don’t think there were any surprises when coming to Arkansas. We were already familiar with CenterPoint Energy as we also locate for them in Minnesota. As far
as putting together a workforce, it has been a fairly straight-forward process. We had more applications than we
had openings, so that’s always a good thing. The trick is always to try to hire good quality people who are willing to do things the Vannguard way. I’m not saying the way they may have been taught is wrong, it’s just not the way we do it and we want it done our way. It’s easier to measure.”
He continued, “We’ve found that typically attitudes are more important than experience. We’ve learned for the most part the DPS can be as good as they want to be, and we want folks who want to be the best they can be. That makes for a winning combination.”
Dan said, “All of our DPS’s have business cards and we encourage open communication especially with the excavators they work with. There needs to be an exchange of phone numbers
because nothing is more frustrating to either group than to need an answer and get no response. If you are unable to get a response from one of our
DPS, contact Vannguard Dispatch
at 608-223-2020 and we’ll get back
with you shortly. Another thing the excavators can look out for is when we locate a high-profile line as defined by CenterPoint, we place special yellow and white striped flags. They’ll be very unique and easily spotted. We’ll contact the excavator and CenterPoint will then contact the excavator to see how close they’ll be digging near the marked line. If someone is digging within 10 feet of the line, CenterPoint will have someone on site.”
Dan concluded, “We want to be seen as a good resource for damage prevention and a team player. We’re accustomed to working with several different locating companies in other states and we believe we’re all on the same team... protecting our client’s underground infrastructure. We look forward to exceeding expectations in Arkansas.”
Welcome to Arkansas, Vannguard. We wish you the best!
in Arkansas
6 • Arkansas 811 Magazine 2021, Issue 1