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ISSUE 1 / 2021 THE POWER LINE LEARN ABOUT OUR WOMEN IN CONSTRUCTION WEEK CELEBRATIONS SEE OUR EXCITING NEW MECHANICAL PROJECTS IN ACTION WOMEN AT WORK ADVOCATING FOR APPRENTICES MAKING MECHANICAL MOVES HOW PDI IS TACKLING THE CONSTRUCTION LABOR CHALLENGE PAGE 12 PAGE 6 PAGE 5Welcome to the first edition of the year for the Power Line newsletter! We already have so many exciting updates to share with you. But before we begin to look forward, we wanted to take a step back to recognize some of the amazing things you all accomplished last year. Throughout 2020, we saw our teams overcome incredible challenges in inspiring ways – coming together to support each other, finding practical solutions to work safely, continuing to grow and train one another, and showing the true meaning of resilience in a less-than-ordinary year. And even with everything we faced, together, we had a record-breaking year closing our highest number of CRUSHED IT projects ever! You can read more about one of those projects on page 10. But we didn’t stop there: we installed 130,000,000 feet of wire, sent 4,000,000 messages through Microsoft Teams, donated $1,000,000 to charities and relief efforts, and broke ground on our new 208,000 square foot distribution center and prefabrication facility (check out the pic on the next page!). We also completed 20,000 units across the country, distributed more than 2,500 sanitation kits to our field teams, and welcomed over 400 new #PDIFamily members. Those accomplishments have helped fuel the next chapter of Power Design, as we expand into a fully-integrated mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and systems design-build firm. We are so excited for this next step in our journey and encourage you to check out page 12 for just a few of the projects we have coming up under these scopes! At the end of the day, these exciting developments would not be possible without you. That’s why in 2021, we’re focusing on how we can continue to support you through initiatives surrounding training, Apprenticeships, scholarships, wellness, diversity and inclusion, and more, which you’ll hear more about throughout this year. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this first edition of the Power Line – and can’t wait to see what we will accomplish this year – together! Your Executive Team HELLO #PDIFAMILY, During Women in Construction Week, we hosted "Leading the Way" – a webinar with a few badass PDI leading ladies who discussed how women are changing the face of a male-dominated industry! Read more on page six. 204 05 06 08 10 12 14 15 16 18 20 21 22 23 24 Apprentice All-Stars Revving Up Careers Behind the Scenes Cheers to the Buccaneers How Sweet It Is to Work with You One Year of SURGE-vice Fill Your Fuel Box In the Community New #PDIFamily Members Sorin for Safety Advocating for Apprentices Women at Work The Next Chapter 1900 Half Street SW CRUSHED IT Making Mechanical Moves IN THIS EDITION We're breaking ground and relocating our PDR distribution and prefabrication facility to right here in the Tampa Bay area! This move will help our teams foster innovation and improve collaboration. Scan this QR code to learn more about the new facility! 3APPRENTICE ALL-STARS At Power Design, we consider all of our Apprentices to be the best of the best. But there are some that truly knock it out of the park. While we've been mentoring Apprentices for years, we wanted to come up with a new way to recognize and reward our top-notch performers. That’s why we launched the Apprentice All-Star program! To make our All-Star roster, Apprentices must hit a grand slam with near perfect grades, attendance, and work performance. Earlier this year, we announced our Apprentice All-Star lineup – congratulations to the 74 Apprentices who made the list. For achieving this status, each of our inaugural class members were gifted a swag bag with exclusive All-Star shirts, hats, backpacks, and more. Read on to learn more about two of our most valuable players. Congrats to our newest PDI recruits! This semester, we happily welcomed 38 new Apprentices into our PowerU program. We also expanded PowerU to a new state – Tennessee. Here we grow again, #PDIFamily! Apprentice, Mountain “I really love my job! Everyone at Power Design does such a great job mentoring me as an Apprentice. I am grateful for everything that my team members have taught me so far and am thankful for the opportunity to continue growing.” Jorge Guzman Angel Apprentice, Southwest “Becoming an Apprentice All-Star is the biggest accomplishment of my Apprenticeship! I don’t think I’ve ever been recognized for schoolwork before enrolling in this program. I’m proud that I’ve been able to show PDI that I can be at the top of my game whenever they need me to be!” Ashley Mills 4If you ask Chris Riley what he does at Power Design, he’ll give you a lot of responses: Project Executive, workforce developer, Apprentice mentor. But one of his favorite answers? The Electrician’s helper. Long before he began advocating for labor development in the construction industry, Chris spent many childhood weekends with his godfather, who worked as the Chief Electrician at the Bronx Zoo. “I used to shadow my godfather at the zoo because I loved nature and animals. I would get to watch him work and learn,” Chris said. “Through that time, I got to build things and watch what I built work. I fell in love with the trade.” Eventually, Chris entered an Apprenticeship program – splitting his days between high school and trade school, while earning his hours on the jobsite during summer breaks. Now, he spends his time helping create similar opportunities for others. As Power Design continues to tackle the labor shortage challenge in construction, Chris is at the heart of those efforts. Today, Chris serves as a Project Executive, focused on developing the future workforce of the industry. “Apprenticeships help businesses develop highly skilled employees, increase productivity, create a safer workplace, reduce the cost of recruitment, minimize turnover rates, and provide a reliable pipeline of qualified workers – they benefit everyone,” Chris said. Today, Power Design has more than 230 Apprentices participating in programs across the country – at no cost to the individual! Each year, PDI provides over $500,000 in scholarships throughout the rolling four-year program, to cover tuition, fees, and book costs – on top of participants earning an hourly rate for their work on our jobsites. In 2019, PDI developed and launched its own accredited Apprenticeship program: PowerU. Earlier this year, we welcomed our next class of recruits – bringing our total PowerU program to 57 Apprentices across four states! And for the Electrician’s helper – seeing those Apprentices grow is the biggest reward he could receive. “Some people can reach a certain level on their own, but they may dream of doing more and just don’t know how to get there,” Chris said. “Through the efforts we’re making at Power Design, we get to help them do that – dream bigger, do more. We have a front row seat to watch them grow and excel in the industry – and it's incredibly rewarding.” ADVOCATING FOR APPRENTICES Project Executive Chris Riley with Apprentices Jennyfer Bonilla Benitez and Adrian Prado. 5WOMEN AT WORK Who is your female role model and why? Rosie the Riveter! Even though she's just an illustration, she is the most iconic image of working women in the United States. Rosie is the embodiment of the era when women stepped up and took on roles in the workforce that were typically held by men. I'm a huge fan of what she stands for. Of Power Design’s five core values, which one is your favorite and why? Growth! I wanted to come work at PDI because there was room to grow. PDI allowed me to truly advance further than I ever thought I would and created the space to allow me to move up into a leadership role that wasn’t possible for me in the past. What advice would you give to other women entering the construction industry? Don’t be intimidated and don’t be afraid to ask questions! The more you learn, the more opportunities you’ll have to grow in our industry. Power Design is proud to amplify, support, and celebrate the incredible women of the construction industry, especially our #PDIWomenAtWork! In honor of Women in Construction week, we partnered with the National Association for Women in Construction, hosted an inspiring webinar with the badass ladies of our leadership teams, launched a new series of Women in Leadership eLearning courses, raised funds for the Habitat for Humanity Hammers & Heels group, and more. Meet some of the amazing ladies we spotlighted this year as part of our celebrations! Kaley Bishop Electrical Apprentice Suzy Albert Foreman SOT Caren Cayon Sr. Project Manager 6What is your biggest work accomplishment? Every job has challenges from day one. But creating solutions to those day-to-day challenges will always be a huge accomplishment for me. Finding a solution that is fast and suitable for everybody on the team is a great feeling. What’s the best part of your job? Developing our team of Estimating Coordinators! Joining the construction world can feel like learning a new language. After starting there myself, helping the team grow their confidence and achieve those lightbulb moments is so rewarding. What is your most memorable moment working in the construction industry? The first time I saw a project I worked on completely finished... was the moment that hooked me. It's such an incredible journey: you start out with these drawings, lists, costs, and quantities all to get this beautiful, intricate finished project. That moment of "I did that, my team did that" makes it all worth it. What led you to Power Design? One of the reasons I was attracted to PDI was the number of women they had in executive leadership roles. After seeing how this company promoted and valued its female leadership, I thought working here would be a great opportunity. What advice do you have for women entering the industry? This industry isn’t male or female dominated, you either can do it or you can’t! You have the opportunity and chance to learn the trade and move up the ladder. If you try your hardest, do your best, and see it through, you’ll have a good career! Nelzay Rivas Pulgar Project Executive Megan Blizard Sr. Estimating Coordinator Taylor Evans Regional Credit Manager Kim Prather Sr. Lighting Associate Katrina Blunt Electrician 7A (SUPER) SWEET SEND-OFF To help say thank you for his dedication and service to Power Design after all these years, we surprised Prattferd in Miami, Florida with a socially distanced retirement party! And in true PDI fashion, we also brought him some epic gifts – new golf gear, including clubs and a bag, a gift card to La-Z-Boy for extra retirement relaxation, and we helped him pay off his truck. Congrats, Pratt! 8When Prattferd Smith first started out as an Electrical Apprentice in the Windy City over 20 years ago, he had no idea that his journey would lead him to warm, sunny south Florida. After hearing about Power Design from a friend, Prattferd first made the move to PDI back in 2000. Little did he know how high his career was about to go! Within six months of joining the #PDIFamily, Prattferd went from a Foreman to a Superintendent, beginning his work on multi-family high-rise buildings. He was nervous to take on the responsibility at first, but it was the words of one man who gave Prattferd the encouragement he needed to be successful: Power Design founder Mitch Permuy. “When I started, I never knew I could work on high-rise buildings,” Prattferd said. “But Mitch just told me ‘You can do it,’ and sure enough, I did. I completed a 16-story high-rise – The Edge in West Palm Beach – and it was one of the greatest accomplishments of my career.” Over the years, Prattferd has paid the same encouragement forward to his fellow team members, mentoring and helping those around him grow. “You can always grow, and you can always do whatever you set your mind to,” he said. In fact, some of Prattferd’s proudest moments have been to serve as the first PDI Superintendent that a few members of our leadership team ever worked with when they joined Power Design – including his own future Regional Vice President, Sandra Alfieri- DellaRocco, when she started as a Project Engineer 15 years ago. “Pratt and I worked on the Gables Aventura project together and several others thereafter. He has taught me so much and has always remained very patient,” Sandra said. “Over the years, I’ve seen him work with multiple team members and was able to witness tremendous growth from each member because of it. He really takes the time to mentor, which is very important for the growth of our industry.” If you were lucky enough to know or work with Pratt, Sandra continued, you know that he was a fan favorite for many of our clients – and PDI – due to his hard work, dedication, and charming wit. He embodied everything it is to be a Power Design team member – and his impact (and advice!) will continue on for many years. “Trust the plan that Power Design puts in place for you, but don’t forget to make your own suggestions and have an input… because they listen to you,” Prattferd said. “Everything they said they were going to do for me, they did. Anything they could to do make things easier on me, they did. I could never imagine being anywhere else.” THE NEXT CHAPTER HAPPY RETIREMENT, PRATTFERD SMITH 9Next >