Gaines and Company Receives Dig Smart Award for Second Consecutive Year
On November 18, 2020, Miss Utility awarded Gaines and Company the Maryland 2019/2020 Dig Smart Award for their dedication to damage prevention and safe digging practices. This is the second year that the site excavation experts at Gaines and Company won the Dig Smart Award. The organization also won the Dig Smart Honorable Mention Award for the 2017/2018 award period.
Organizations can be considered for the award after first submitting a detailed application of specific damage prevention efforts and results in regards to the state’s rigorous excavation protocols, known as 811. The Miss Utility Dig Smart Awards Committee chooses awardees after careful evaluation of this information.
“Every year we receive a multitude of entries for this prestigious award. We have a lot of criteria that we go over to choose the company. We pick the best of the best in the state of Maryland and Washington, D.C.,” said Dora Parks, manager of client relations for Miss Utility of Maryland. “We then look at what they do as an organization. I can share with you that Gaines is one of the top. They participate in safety at every single level of damage prevention.”
811 is the national call-before-you-dig number. Calling this number before performing any digging or exaction activities ensures safety of onsite workers and community members. It also ensures the integrity and reliability of utilities by protecting damage to underground lines and cables, including underground electric lines, natural gas pipelines, communication cables, water lines, and sewer lines.
Dora added, “We also look at contractors who truly participate fully in damage prevention, not only with the ticket and safety on the site, but who give back by joining associations, participating in associations, and who support the efforts and awareness of damage prevention across the state. Gaines also does that.”
For the last 12 years, the Maryland/Washington D.C. Dig Smart Award has been awarded at the Greater Chesapeake Damage Prevention Training Conference.
However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the honor was instead awarded to the Gaines and Company organization at their headquarters in Reisterstown, Maryland. The organization will be formally awarded the honor at next year’s Greater Chesapeake Damage Prevention Training Conference.
If Gaines and Company wins the Dig Smart Award next year for the third consecutive year, they would be considered an elite Miss Utility contractor. This status would make them eligible for consideration for the esteemed Dig Smart Excellence Contractor Award.
Upon acceptance of the award, President Lee Gaines Jr. credited Safety Director, Dominic Pope, for the safety and damage prevention success of the organization.
“We’ve always wanted to be a contractor that did no damage in the field,” Lee said. “Dominic has taught us how to be a better contractor. We are going to try to repeat again next year.”
Gaines and Company Site Development is a full-service site development company specializing in underground utilities, grading, excavating, erosion controls, and road work. With over 60 years of experience, the organization serves home builders and developers, general contractors, and military installations, as well as state, federal and municipal authorities, throughout Maryland, North Carolina, Washington D.C., and Delaware.
