THANK YOU FOR 40 YEARS OF SERVICE!

Central Indiana Associate Area Manager Blaine Walters celebrated his 40^th service anniversary February 21! He began his career as a locate technician with SM&P Utility Resources, which merged with Central Locating Services in 2008 to form USIC. Over the years as the company grew, he took on new responsibilities but says his “best days are when I talk to a supervisor or technician and can hear the excitement and pride in their voice because of what they do for a living. I can relate to that feeling - it's good stuff.”

In addition to the transition from paper locate tickets and prints, some of the changes he has experienced as the industry has evolved include the introduction of the directional bore machine, which increased the speed of excavation, and the monumental rise in the use of buried fiber. “When we started in 1985, there was one 12 -strand fiber that fed the tower at the Indianapolis airport and that was it. If it had been hit, no airplanes could have landed. Compare that to the amount of fiber today, and it's wild to think how fast the fiber builds developed.”

From his first day on the job, Blaine knew he was going to stay. “There was something very cool being built. and I wanted to be a part of it. You build relationships that are important to you within the company and the industry that give you a purpose and make you feel valued and appreciated. There are so many people at USIC whom I consider part of my family.”

Thank you, Blaine, for four decades of putting USIC’s core values of safety, pride, integrity, respect, and excellence into action!