It's Back! Registration Is Open for the PDCA Driven Pile Academy

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PDCA Associate Member Council Co-Chairs, Pollyanna Cunningham, Diane Fischer conduct a meeting
 
Final preparations are underway for what will become the second-ever, PDCA Driven Pile Academy, a unique learning program designed exclusively for pile drivers. The PDCA Associate Member Council is shoring up details surrounding the highly anticipated event that includes professional instruction and hands-on field training. Many PDCA Associate members are intimately involved with the curriculum that will be delivered to attendees November 10-14 at a Hancock County Port Authority site at Port Bienville, MS. Equipment manufacturers will be on hand with cranes, rigs, presses, hammers and other ancillary tools. Material suppliers are bringing PSC, steel, timber, and composite piling. The event will feature up to 19 unique stations where attendees will be able to see, touch and participate in real-time, driven pile installation on a mock-jobsite.

The PDCA Driven Pile Academy is the brainchild of Associate Member Council Co-Chairs, Pollyanna Cunningham and Diane Fischer, who introduced the idea to the PDCA Board of Directors in May 2021. That following April, the first event took place on the sprawling grounds of Patriot Construction & Industrial in Duson, LA. The training far-exceeded industry expectations, and capacity limits had to be increased three times before the program began. Since the first run of the PDCA Driven Pile Academy, both attendees of the original event, as well as those who missed it, have anxiously advocated for another event. PDCA has answered by scheduling the upcoming, 2025 version. Based on the amount of time, expense and preparation behind building the PDCA Driven Pile Academy, the organization determined that it is only feasible to offer the program every third year.

In a note to the PDCA Associate Member Council, Co-Chair Fischer extended kind words of encouragement to the manufacturer and supplier members who are participating in the 2025 program; "We are incredibly grateful for all your time and help getting prepared for this amazing educational opportunity."

And to those of you on social media, perhaps you already saw the short "hype video" that PDCA released on LinkedIn to promote the event. If not, check it out at this link: PDCA Driven Pile Academy promo.

Registration to attend the 2025 PDCA Driven Pile Academy is now open, so make sure to reserve space quickly for you and your staff that will attend. If you have any questions about the forthcoming event, please contact Kathy Harper at PDCA at (904) 215-4771 or kathy@piledrivers.org.
 
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New, 2025 logo for PDCA Driven Pile Academy
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Group photo of 2022 (first-ever) PDCA Driven Pile Academy

Board Names Heck to Chair Communications Committee

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Brian Heck addresses attendees at a 2023 industry reception in Baltimore
 
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(L-R) Jason Moore awarded by Heck at 2024 PDCA ceremony
Following an unprecedented, three consecutive, one-year terms as PDCA President, and one-year terms as the organization's VP and Secretary before that, Brian Heck has demonstrated an undeniable commitment to advocacy for pile driving. Recognizing his unique credentials, the PDCA Board of Directors unanimously voted to appoint him to serve as the new Communications Committee Chair, a position that was recently vacated by Jason Moore, another past president who chose to extend his time in service to PDCA in communication work.

The Communications Committee is a body of PDCA member volunteers who convene monthly to assist in content development for PDCA publications like PileDriver magazine, as well as coordinate the annual, Project of the Year Awards program. For many professionals in the deep foundations industry, the products of the Communications Committee serve as their first experience with the now 30-year-old organization.
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Heck gets recognized at 2025 PDCA AnnualConference
"For any organization to thrive in today's world, a purposeful strategy and consistent deliverables through communications channels are imperative," said Heck. "PDCA has been a leader in the deep foundation industry with respect to producing content that meets the demands of our members, and I am excited to play a part in continuing that tradition."  

Through his years in PDCA leadership which began when he won election to the Board of Directors in 2019, Brian Heck has been uniquely positioned to both observe and impact significant growth in the organization, as well as its reach into the industry. While uncertainties related to the COVID-19 pandemic crippled business-as-usual in North America and other parts of the world in 2020, trade associations like PDCA became especially vulnerable. However, by mid-2021, the return to normal quickly began for the construction sector and PDCA, and Brian joined its leadership team to ensure pile driving would maintain a strong position in the deep foundation construction marketplace, as other industries pursued a full recovery.  Among the accomplishment the organization has realized under Brian Heck's watch, are:
  • Membership growth in all categories
  • A record level of fiscal health
  • Formation of two new PDCA Chapters
  • Record-breaking participation in Project of the Year Awards
  • Expanded reach into underserved regions of pile driving concentration
  • The launch and expansion of a first-of-its-kind industry Vibrations Study
  • Impactful new programming such as PDCA Professors Driven Pile Institute and PDCA Contractors Foundation Institute
During all these notable developments, Brian Heck has been an active participant. Not only has he assisted in leading new initiatives, he has also visited with members attending Chapter and other regional events, educational programs and PDCA conferences, providing him opportunities to develop new relationships throughout the industry. With his experiences in all facets of the organization's growth, he has established an acute understanding to help shape PDCA visibility and messaging into the future, much of which begin in the Communications Committee.
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(R-L) Richard Goettle, Inc. CEO Doug Keller, Heck, at PDCA BOD meeting
"When you advocate for an industry such as PDCA, you can clearly see how your efforts can elevate that industry for everyone involved," said Heck. "I firmly believe that by volunteering my time to improve PDCA, all parties in the industry, members or not, experience improvements in their own businesses," noted Heck. "Contractors are better informed, manufacturers and suppliers are better recognized, and engineers gain better perspectives. I look forward to working with PDCA's Communications Committee to continue driving an understanding of those realities."

The new Communications Committee Chair invites you to consider joining the group which meets monthly through a video call. He notes that all you need to bring are your ideas for stories to run in PDCA publications. Please contact PDCA at matt@piledrivers.org, if you are interested in learning more.

Brian Heck entered the driven pile industry in 1999 when he took a job at Cincinnati-based Richard Goettle, Inc., he previously had spent 11 years with an excavating company. The Kentucky native shoulders a big responsibility as Vice President at Goettle, which has substantially grown during his tenure there. And as detailed above, he also contributes immeasurable amounts of time to PDCA. But he somehow finds the opportunity to follow sports to an extent that would rival ESPN's most senior producer, especially when it involves any competitive team from his beloved alma mater, The University of Kentucky. And do we even need to mention that horse racing is also a fierce passion of his?

Brian and his wife Kristina are the proud parents of three boys, Owen (20), Tyler (18), and Zach (14). PDCA sincerely thanks the Heck family for sharing Brian and all of his talents with the driven pile industry.      
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(L-R) Heck, PileDriver publisher Jill Harris, PDCA E.D. Frank Peters
at 2024 PDCA Minneapolis reception
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(L-R) PDCA 2025 Pres. Buck Darling, FL Chapter Pres. Lina Martin, Heck. Behind them are Gulf Coast Chapter Pres. Scott Williams, TX Chapter Pres. Condon Verble

Welcome New Members, 2nd Quarter, 2025

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(L-R): Sonny Green from Vecellio & Grogan, Vincent Hock from USACE, David Pingry from Stab Cat
 

Welcome!  PDCA enrolled new members during the second quarter of 2025.

A significant change to PDCA membership took place through a unanimous vote of the PDCA Board of Directors in 2023, when it adopted language to offer membership to the government sector and academia for no cost dues. One of 2025's newest member in the Government Employee category, Vincent Hock with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is a beneficiary of the 2023 Board action. He shares his sentiments upon joining the organization this Spring: "PDCA is a great repository of knowledge regarding the service life of Steel Piles and the ability to send questions to the members  who are experienced in pile technology." 

Thank you, Mr. Hock, and to the following organizations and individuals who pledged support to the driven pile industry in Spring 2025:

  • Contractors:Beaver Excavating Company, Canton, OH; Vecellio & Grogan, Inc., Beckley, WV; and Waff Contracting, Inc., Edenton, NC
  • Associates:Browning Enterprise Inc., Attalla, AL; Reeve Trucking Company, Stockton, CA; Stab Cat, Inc. Anahuac, TX; RKW Pipe, Uvalde, TX
  • Engineering Affiliate:CNT Geotechnical, North Charleston, SC
  • Affiliated Services:Bateman Gordon and Sands, Inc., Ft. Lauderdale, FL
  • Government Employee:Vincent Hock of USACE, Mahomet, IL
  • Academic Employee:Revanthnaidu Vasireddy of University of Alabama
  • Retired:Marty Goff (USACE), Lewes, DE

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