(L-R) Doug Keller, Mary Keller, Inger Darling, Buck Darling at a 2024 PDCA awards ceremony

New leadership at the Pile Driving Contractors Association will be seated on January 1, 2025. Voting members of PDCA cast ballots in November for the five executive office seats and all nine members of the board of directors. Now, the results are in. The executive team reflects changes from 2024. The new president is Buck Darling who most recently served as secretary (2022-24) and previously held the top spot in 2011. His incoming vice president is Chris Normand, the current chair of the PDCA Safety & Environmental Committee. Doug Keller, a longtime member of the board of directors enters the executive team as secretary. Returning to leadership in the organization following a term on the board that ended in 2021 is Rich Anderson who was elected treasurer. Finally, the past president is Brian Heck who served an unprecedented three, consecutive terms as president. Mr. Heck's tenure as president brought significant growth in PDCA, through both reach and membership. He enthusiastically welcomes the opportunity to maintain an executive role.

Chris Normand

Rich Anderson

Brian Heck

Many of the directors at PDCA opted to pursue another year on the board, however there is one member who is new to leadership for 2025. Condon Verble, current president of the Texas Chapter, joins returning board members Harold Baur, Greg Canivan, Jim Dempsey, Diane Fischer, Mike Juneau, Randy Kelly, David Price, and Brad Roberts. 



The new leadership team will gather in early January for its annual Strategic Planning Meeting, at which time it will consider a budget and chart the course of PDCA business for the new year. It will meet in Clearwater, Florida (near Tampa), and will open with an evening, PDCA networking reception, available to members and others in the region who work in the deep foundations industry. Consider attending the reception scheduled for January 8th at the Hilton Clearwater Resort, from 5:30-7:30 PM. Watch your inbox for an invitation to Board & Brews, and register for the FREE event.

First Place Team: Sealevel Construction

Second Place: Orion	Third Place: Aggregate Technologies
Also awarded were prizes for the Best and Worst Shooters: Best Shooter Brandon Bollinger (No Photo Available) Worst Shooter Scott Richardson from Boh Bros. Construction (Pictured, standing on the right, next to Pres. Williams, Treas. Roberts)

• President Scott Williams, Sealevel Construction
• Vice President Beau Haydel, Patriot Construction
• Secretary Scott Gros, Orion Marine
• Treasurer Tyler Roberts, Premier Geotech and Testing

• Alfred Miller Companies
• Nucor
• PVE Equipment USA
• Premier Geotech and Testing
• Sealevel Construction

PDCA Safety & Environmental Committee Members (L-R) Mark Benaquisto of UBC Pile Drivers and Divers, 
Lance Bradley of Cajun Industries, Pollyanna Cunningham of International Construction Equipment.

Under the chairmanship of Chris Normand, the PDCA Safety & Environmental Committee has been steadily growing a library of Toolbox Talks, a safety resource from PDCA available through a series of one-page, single subject guides to safely manage a specific jobsite component. Each document is available for download and can easily be obtained by a safety professional or other interested party, to distribute and discuss with a field crew. The one-page guide is prepared using bullet points of some of the most important considerations on a single subject. The guides are carefully prepared by PDCA Safety & Environmental Committee members who are deep foundations construction professionals, many of whom have decades of experience in driven pile installation. 

Safety Committee member Bradley (L) and Chairman Normand (R) attend 2024 PDCA Awards with colleagues from Cajun Industries

Examples of Toolbox Talks that are currently available to you when you visit the online PDCA Technical Library - Safety Toolbox Talks page, include: Hand Safety in Pile Driving  Welding and Cutting Rigging It Right Collective Crane Coaching There are several other subjects covered in the library. But be sure to check back often because the PDCA Safety & Environmental Committee regularly meets to develop Toolbox Talks on different subjects that are important to the safety of your field crews. PileDriver magazine also publishes Toolbox Talks when they become available.