Page 3 - Tennessee 811 Magazine 2020 Issue 2

B ° 11 T
appy spring and Happy sale Digging lvlonlbl As i wrile lbis [April 71h) i would have
Hnever dreained lbai we would experienee such a pandemir, bui by ibe lime lbis issue
' comzs oul we will have been sbellering in plane for several weeks. we have been

doing our due diligenee lo inlorm our members and ruslomers eoneerning lbe operalion

ol Tennessee Eu Ihmugh email, soeial media and verbally by plnone. i would like Io uiilize

lbis column lo illusiraie everylliing ilnal our siall has done lo eonlinue serving ilie dainage

prevenlion induslry and proleeling underground raeiliiies and rbose wbo ereavale around

lbein.

Prior lo covlD—io, Tennessee Sn bad approximalely zu ol our Loeale Request Agenls uomsl

who worked lrom borne. Ml:-sl ol ibese LEA: live in Tennessee, bul we bave olbers wbo reside

in Georgia‘ Texas, Michigan‘ oregon and New York. Our ieleeoininuler program has been

in plane sinee .995 and il has always served us well by ofieiing [lzxihilily wilb alierliours

eoverage wbile playing an imporlani role in our disasler reeovery plan.

covlD—io's spread in line uniled slaies lined up wilb lbis year's Damage Prevenlion summil

in Franklin (lvlarrb iris) and we siruggled lo gaiber inlonnalion aboul how widespread llne
virus would be wbile beginning lo evaluaie wbai ils iinpaei muld be on our organizalion and lbe broader ulilily and excavation
indusiries. we beard aboul wbai was happening in California and wasbinglon slale, bui linen New York was being affecled in an
even more significanIway.AsI1me eoronavirus spread lbrougboul New York, lbe expens slaned encouraging eaulion and soeial
dislaneing. l rernernber wben ibe reeommendalion was lo lirnil evenls lo 50 people or less, bul we see how quickly il ebanged.
Tbe nexl week, lbings gol real. Meelings and eonlerenee were being eaneelled. warning noliees were published by publie omeials
and even ibe Tennessee slaie Legislalure bad a plan lo close. The week of March is, aoao, Tennessee so undersiood lbai we
needed Io prepare ourselves lo quitkly lake sleps Io minimize lbe possibilily of COVID19infetling our omee and ernployees.
our leaderslnip immediaiely siarled mordinaling ibe lransilion ol all rall eenier slafi lo remole work as lelerommulers. By llne
beginning of die nzxl week, all LEA: lbal bad lbe eapabilily lo ieleeoinlnule were working from borne. The remaining agenis
were evenlually eonvened as we buill eompuiers or eslablisbed inlernel serviee lor ibeir eonneelion. All adminisiraiive siall
ineluding aeeounling, GIS and member servitesy HR, and our liaison leam were able Io leleeommuie immediaiely.
l a.n proud Io say llnai our leadersliip bad all of lbis eompleled and in place belore lbe srsl "saler al bome" orders were
eslablisbed al lbe loeal or siale level. There were questions aboui essenlial versus non—essenlial slalusy bul Tennessee Sn and our
board delermined ibal line service we provide lo exeavaiors and operalors of underground uiiliiies was even more erilieal during
lbis erisis. we provided noliee lo ibe governor's omse of our eapabililies and our inlenl Io eonlinue operaiions wbile adbering Io
saler al lnome/slneller in place orders and lollowing social dislaneing guidelines. we ve eoniinued ouireaeb lo ilne general publie
lbrougb our soeial rnedia ebannels and a sialewide radio adverlising campaign Io promole Nalional sale Digging Monlh wbile
eonlinning lbai we're slill available [or ibeir ealls.
As inosl of you know lliere is new inlorlnalion eoming oul daily from slaie, local and lederal governmenl. our HR deparlmenl
wilb llie assislanee ol our leadership lnas done a greal job or eommuniealing lbis inlorlnalion wilb our employees. we have
erealed a library or doeumenlaiion on an easily aeeessible Shar2Point siie (or all employees. in addiiion, we bare open ebannels
ol eommuniraiion wiib all einployees wbieli ineludes ealls, emails‘ lexl and even video updales.
i am so proud of our leaderslnip learn — lbey bare done an oulsianding job of proleeiing our ernployees, proleeling our business‘
and serving our ruslolners lo prevenl dainage lo underground facililizs. To my Ieamy lbank you for your dedieaiion and loyally.
To ibe ulilily operalors and exeavalors risking ilneir lieallb Io provide essenlial serviees, lbank you for your invaluable work.
Thank you for making Tennessee a sarer plane and rernember to Call or cliek Eu Belore You Dig.

laespeeilully
william “Bill' Tunier
rresideni
Tennessee8u
Mission sialeineni
To Provide lbe
laesl Communication‘ lzduealion and Nolifiraiion serviee
ln Faeililale Damage rreveniion Io underground uiiliiies.
2020 issue 2 Yennesseeall . 1