Through an organizational desire to represent the driven pile community across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, the PDCA Gulf Coast Chapter returned to Biloxi where it hosts an annual, member dinner meeting at one of the city's popular waterfront destinations, the Golden Nugget Biloxi Casino & Hotel. One 'nugget' that came out of the August 28th meeting was a proclamation from Chapter leadership that the PDCA Gulf Coast Chapter will aim to become the largest of the six existing PDCA Chapters. The latest check of PDCA records indicates that they are currently just three members short of achieving this goal - if you are interested in helping the group surpass the PDCA Texas Chapter in membership size, you can enroll as a new member when you click JOIN PDCA GULF COAST CHAPTER.

Following a networking reception, attendees made their way to the dinner buffet, and the Chapter business meeting began in Biloxi. Chapter President Scott Williams called the assembly to order and passed the microphone to allow for all attendees to introduce themselves. This exercise was enhanced with good-natured catcalls from Chad Palen from Nucor, who showed enthusiasm for each attendee. President Williams continued the business meeting with an overview which he called the Health of the Chapter. This was a positive report noting that 2025 events to date have had robust participation, the finances are in good shape, the annual clay shoot is expected to take place shortly after Thanksgiving, and planning for the 2026 Engineers Conference is on track to ensure another success for Chapter educational initiatives. He also noted that the membership has grown significantly throughout the year, prompting his public challenge to fellow members to grow the group into the largest of the PDCA Chapters.

Once the Chapter business meeting completed, Pres. Williams introduced PDCA Executive Director Frank Peters and events manager Kathy Harper who updated attendees on several initiatives underway at PDCA, including the upcoming Driven Pile Academy which is in its late planning stages before opening on November 10th at Port Bienville, MS. They explained how this unique event is the only available, hands-on field training event for pile drivers. It involves an expansive network of industry suppliers of piling equipment and materials who will be arranged into several stations for attendees to visit and learn about operations and advantages of various types of pile driving. The presenters indicated that the participating suppliers are graciously incurring great expense to make this event available, however all involved share the common desire to provide contractors and other attendees with the latest advancements in equipment and materials in the industry. The Driven Pile Academy is approaching its second run; the first was in 2022 in Duson, LA and created widespread demand for the event becoming a recurring opportunity; it is slated to run every third year. Local piling supplier Heath Stevens from Gulf Coast Prestress Partners, Ltd. is intricately involved with planning the 2025 Driven Pile Academy and provided further industry context to Frank and Kathy's presentation. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE DRIVEN PILE ACADEMY.

When the presentation from PDCA concluded, Pres. Williams called Trevor Edwards to the podium. He is a PDCA member from composite piling supplier CMI Limited Co., which will be among the participants in field training at the Driven Pile Academy. Edwards introduced the product line and specialized competencies available through the company. He also previewed what attendees at the Driven Pile Academy can expect when they visit the field station where his colleagues will join with representatives from PVE Equipment USA to demonstrate pile installation with their respective products and equipment. 

The August meeting of the PDCA Gulf Coast Chapter attracted nearly 50 attendees. The event was generously supported by the following sponsors: APE-American PileDriving Equipment, DeSoto Treated Materials, Inc. ICE-International Construction Equipment, Inc., and Pile Solution. Pres. Williams and Secretary Scott Gros thank all who attended the event and encourage you to watch for forthcoming announcements about the Chapter clay shoot which will take place soon after Thanksgiving.

(PDCA extends special thanks to Matthew Knight from Aggregate Technologies, Inc. for contributing photography from the dinner meeting and enhance this event coverage.) 
See who was SPOTTED at the August dinner meeting: