Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 <inaudible>
Speaker 1 00:00:11 Good morning, everyone. It is our extreme pleasure to bring you today's episode. We have now hit double digits, which is an exciting milestone before we get into intros. I just want to give you a fun insight about these two gentlemen that are joining us today. Imagine this Fort worth Texas motor Speedway. It's our EWN biannual event. Uh, I am about to go 165 miles an hour in a race car around the track. And I'm not sure if it was these gentlemen here, but I saw a beacon in the audience. And I, I remember these words being said to me, Jimmy. All right. A couple of words of advice. Keep your seatbelt on, hold on, stay in the car and stay safe. And that kind of emulates with these gentlemen bring to us as always my partner in crime, the Starsky to my Hutch, the cabinets, my Lacey, Mr. James Cross is with us today. James, how are you today, sir?
Speaker 2 00:01:06 I'm doing well and I still have no clue about any of that. Um, I wasn't born, you know, 15 years ago. That's all right. That's all right. Well, let me tell you something. These two guys that we have joining us today are some of my favorite people in the industry. And I don't say that just cause their clients, uh, I mean, uh, joining us today is, uh, Jeff Craig from Eagle infrastructure and Dustin Flanagan from applied consultants. And don't let these guys fool you. They might technically work for two different companies, but I've been there and I know they office out of the same bill, so don't let them live too. I think it might be like some Ozark stuff going on where they'd like some kind of corporate shell game where they're just money laundering or something. But I know, I know they have three or four more companies and uh, so I kid that's not what's going on guys, how y'all doing this morning, doing well, doing great, sir.
Speaker 2 00:02:06 We're glad you're here. Dusty. I don't know if you remember, but uh, you and I in February or in, I think it was the end of February. It feels like 17 years ago, but you and I were in Galveston along with a couple of other guys from apply at the damage prevention summit, right before all this stuff started in October. And I'm, I'm not sure about you, but that was the last conference I attended. And I can't believe that was three months ago. Yeah, just exactly. It doesn't seem like it's been that long ago, like you said, but, uh, but unfortunately, uh, it has been the last one and we had other events lined up, but uh, like you said, that was the last event that we ever attended. Yeah. I can't believe it. Wow.
Speaker 1 00:02:51 No, and we're all in, we're all going through that, you know, it's a, it's a crazy thing, but it's great to have you both here. I, that this, yeah. In the show that we started as a great Avenue for us to get back out and all the things that we love at the conferences, it's a great way to see people, to talk to them, to have some interaction and make an impact. And again, we haven't seen each other, uh, since it was the, uh, Fort worth motor Speedway event, that event. And again, the great wisdom. And I'll say it again, you know, I know you guys, I know you, well, your organization and the word safety first emulates all throughout your organization from, you know, moment you wake up in the morning till the time you go to bed at night and probably during the middle of the night too.
Speaker 1 00:03:32 So that's off always do gentlemen for that. Um, if we get into it, you know, really, you know, and we just brought it up. COVID, COVID, COVID, I mean, we're living in, you know, a much different time right now. Um, and that's okay. You know, there's, it's been a nightmare, but there also been some great things have come about of it. And really I, uh, at this time of life, I'd like to focus on some of the good things that come about again, you know, we can't do anything with the negative stuff, but, um, anyways, uh, some of the blessings that we have, and if you want to share some of the things that you folks have all seen with COVID, you know, bouncing back a downturn in the oil market, all these things that have been stacked up against us, you know, what's, what's some of the good stuff you folks have seen.
Speaker 3 00:04:20 So, so yeah, I'll, I'll, uh, I'll enter that. Um, you know, uh, like you said, unfortunately, um, with, with the COVID hitting and also with, uh, the whole process and everything kind of falling at the same time, it's from a negative standpoint, it has really affected us. It's affected our employees. Um, and, and we have felt that personally, because we know these guys personally, well, we have to make those phone calls and say, Hey, look, due to these issues. Uh, things are slowing down. So, you know, we've got to let you go or whatever the case may be. Um, it's, it's a hard decision to do. It's, it's, it's hard on us partially again, you know, I know it's hard on them. Uh, but from the positive, uh, standpoint that we see is, is we all know that this, this happens, uh, this industry stuff has happened in the past and we know it always comes back so, and preparedness for that and getting ready for it to come back.
Speaker 3 00:05:16 This has allowed us to, um, from a safety standpoint for pet applied, I guess has allowed us to really do a deep dive with our, um, uh, you know, safety protocols. And we have our safety requirements that we require all of our guys to have. I mean, we require our guys to have a, um, three safety courses a month. So this has been able for us to, to really get in there to make sure that they're staying on top of it for us to refresh our courses, check with our class, because we're not able to go out and see them, but we're able to, to contact them via phone or email and talk to them that way to make sure that we're staying up to date, uh, with our class and, you know, safety. Our, of course, it's funny, our, our motto is, uh, you know, um, safety is, um, safety works when safety is applied. So that's kind of what our motto is. And, um, and, and without that, we, we can't function. Uh, we feel like a safer worker today provides for a safer tomorrow. Uh, so, uh, but in this doubt from the positive things is, has, like I said, enabled us to really be able to sharpen our tools and, and hone in on our, on our safety training, speak more or less one-on-one with our clients and, uh, making sure that we are providing them exactly what they're needing.
Speaker 2 00:06:40 Awesome. And, um, you know, you, you touched on a little bit of obviously having to have those tough conversations and, you know, I think all of us know that that's never easy. I think I, you know, I've been on both sides of that. You know, I've been the one being, let go. And unfortunately, somebody has had to have those tough conversations with people, you know, in our, our industry is different. Uh, I know probably every industry says that, but, but, uh, unless you've been in the industry in the industry, our industry, it's, you know, we joke around all the time that it's a good old boy network. Uh, you know, it's almost, you know, that's how you get into the network kind of deal, but, but I'm going to dump it on its head a little bit and say, you know, we are a bunch of good old boys and we're a pretty tight knit group.
Speaker 2 00:07:31 And so when you have to let one of, I'll say at one of our friends go, uh, because, uh, you know, the way the industry works, I think we're all a big, tight knit group of friends. Um, you know, that's a, that's a, that's a tough one. Um, but, um, I like how you spun that dusty on, on, you know, using this time as a chance to really jump on the training and safety side of it. Because as most of us know, uh, some of that is some of the first things that get cut, you know, when times are tough, when budgets are, are, you know, uh, something that we're even more conscious of, a lot of times training and, and travel gets cut. Jeff, what have you seen on, on, you know, overall when we're talking about, you know, cutting some of that stuff, is that something that you guys have been affected by?
Speaker 4 00:08:29 Well, I have to say that, uh, you know, speaking from the Eagle perspective and also applied, which, uh, it's, you know, applied to very technically astute company, they're a very early adopter on some of that stuff. So, uh, the thing I'd probably focus on based on the COVID response is just the positive attitude, the whole operations, and really applied since I work here, I see it every day, the positive attitude that all employees took from being told, you're going to have to go home and work from home and how we Marshall around that challenge and get them set up and empower them to take that stuff. Right. So the leadership at both Eagle and applied to build a positive safety culture from the beginning and, and in looking at the positive upon the rebound, when that happens as well. So getting that, uh, getting your field and, and your, your crops ready for the rain when it does come top of the right.
Speaker 4 00:09:24 So to have a continually, uh, look at pods of all things. And in this case, it enabled, applied to review and update its exposure. Response plans is dusty, opt them out and, um, take it a rethink the training opportunities. Uh, uh, some people tell me that, you know, taking an Excel formula classes a lot sexier than actually doing safety training again and again. So, you know, we just kinda think outside that box. So we did invest in a software skills library, and we made that available to the inspector Poole and all of our employees. So for those that didn't want to take a safety course, then they have 29 courses from Excel word, outlook, OneNote from beginner to expert level. And they can take those courses as well to kind of keep that, to keep that skill set up. So when they do rebound, you know, they're, you know, it's just one of those things.
Speaker 4 00:10:14 So, um, and then the internal employees working from home, uh, you know, you get a little bit of that feedback. And then as we did come back in the office, all of our offices have, uh, some of the office offices, we built a couple of apps for their daily check-in. And so I really applaud the HR and the legal teams and the executive teams were applied to make sure that self checking happens every day. And, uh, just the positive attitude that HR and legal took during the whole thing. One day, CDC says this the next day, it's something different, the legal, they participate in webinars and the conflicting stuff. So I really applaud them from standing up and leaning into that problem. It's a daily challenge. So it sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Speaker 1 00:10:59 I, I, I, yeah. And I got to tell you, you know, listening to the gents here and one common theme, positive attitude, you know, I mean, no matter what we're dealt with any day, personally, professionally family church, wherever we're at, you know, we, we, you know, have that positive attitude and that can do attitude and we can do it together. Attitude is, you know, the vibe that really is going to help continue this momentum going again. Uh, life is full of many different road bumps, right? So I think that to hear that and for other people to hear that, and again, that we can do it with a positive attitude, a can-do attitude. Um, I like it. Any other, any other positive takeaways, anything I, I heard the app, I liked that idea. I really liked that, you know, utilizing technology, uh, you know, the, the skills training, you know, uh, dusty mentioned
Speaker 3 00:11:54 Doing three trainings a month. Uh, any other things, have you increased the training during this downtime? Uh, any other positives that we can share with our guests?
Speaker 4 00:12:03 Well, I think that you did see an initial, uh, course the users are taking a lot more courses. Uh, but what I did see is they're, they're going beyond just a standard three courses. So they'll go out, we've got 307 courses in our LMS library. And so they range from the software skills to do other things that weren't just assigned. So, and I liked that. It's just, I don't know if it's a matter of boredom or whatever, but I think that they're looking at it as when they finally get rebound and start working for a different client. We have some people taking the OSHA 30 and OCTM startup certification courses to have some taken has Whopper. So those are some, some new materials we put in there. No, I think it's a, from the beginning when we started doing our LMS platform about a year ago, uh, it's three or 400% increase in participation. So from a corporate level, we love that. Yes, sir.
Speaker 3 00:12:58 Dusty you, uh, other than having to be on the zoom calls every day. I'm sure. Uh, what else you think maybe you guys have learned, or what do you think might translate in all of this, uh, as a company, either from a safety standpoint or just in general? So, you know, it's, it's, um, this whole zoom deal, uh, uh, may partially coming from, uh, from an inspection standpoint of being a field guide and being in the office last couple of years, Jeff is kind of our computer guru guy that I always have to go to him and sometimes even have to ask him, Jeff, how do I even turn on my computer? So now it will stay in that box. I know it. So, you know, with all this technology that, that we've had to adapt and we've, we've had to learn, and especially me, um, I've taken some good positive stuff out of it.
Speaker 3 00:13:55 And due to the fact that I've learned a lot more, uh, we've learned to communicate to our inspectors in the field, instead of being in a one-on-one setting. Now we're having to use, uh, this zoom meetings. Like we are the video meetings like we are now. So, um, even, even in our office internally, uh, we do, uh, two meetings, operations daily, uh, in the morning and evening. And, um, we've had to, when all this happened, you know, w we had a skeleton crew here at the office. So we worked from home a lot and we're limited to being in the building. But, um, so the new technology, the ability to learn, how to do that, the ability to be able to, uh, to be able to have these meetings and be able to, uh, acquire information, things like that. And even as far as, uh, we do a, um, uh, safety meeting with all of our safety inspectors in the field and with all of our are chief inspectors.
Speaker 3 00:14:52 So this has been a great tool, a positive tool for us to be able to learn how to use, because all these guys out in the field, we can talk on the steel, we can see their faces or hear their voices in the, they can carry our message, our safety message out the manner of our guys in the field, because we kind of lean on our, on our safety guys that are in our chiefs, our lead inspectors to have to be the front runners, I guess, per se, and then go out and spread the word to the remaining, the remaining of the guys, because we can't be there right now. So it's been, um, it's, it's, it's been a positive thing to be able to learn a new technology and new ways to communicate safety, uh, training or just safety in general.
Speaker 2 00:15:39 That's awesome. Uh, I wanna to bring up one thing, um, and, uh, you know, I'm sure everybody knows we do a little pre-game on these calls too, to make sure we're all on the same page, but I want to bring up one point. And that was when this all started. Uh, one of the first people that reached out to me was Dustin. And, uh, just, just to check on each other. And funny thing was, was I was about to do the same thing, uh, the very same day because Jim and I, right when this started, um, we said, man, we got to check on our, our friends and check on our industry folks, see how they're doing, how they're dealing with everything and what, what can each of us do to help. So, um, to say, say our companies are aligned on our vision, I think is an understatement. Uh, dusty, you, you, you talked about safety and technology and training. Yeah. You pretty much described our, our mission, right? So, uh, guys, it's, it's been a blast. I think, uh, if you've got any other final thoughts, feel free to throw them in, but man, I think you guys are doing what I hope a lot of people are doing, and that is getting ready and, and not waiting, but building that comeback story now right now.
Speaker 3 00:17:03 Yeah. And, and just something I'd like to say, and kind of Jim touched on and you as well, James earlier about, um, the good old boys and us being a tight knit, uh, and, and to me, and, and, and I know you guys all feel the same. It's, it's not just about being tight knit community. It's about, to me, it's about being a family. Um, amen. We're all in this together. And it takes every one of us, um, together we're doing now to come up with these new ideas and ways of thinking to when it does come back, we're above and beyond and, and just, and shout it. And, and I know we greatly appreciate you guys doing what you do cause it's really helped us out tremendously. And Jeff and I talked about talking about you guys all
Speaker 2 00:17:50 The time and, and, uh, so it's, it's all good, James, it's all good. We're a little, we're a little jealous of genome at the beach every week. He's at the beach. But other than that, I know it. I know it. So, but anyway, I just want to say it is, we are a tight knit group, but we are a family as well. And it definitely takes all of us to get through this. And you had a perfect opportunity there. It takes a village, it takes a village. I didn't want to steal your land. Well, guys, it's been a blast. Jim, any final thoughts?
Speaker 1 00:18:30 Nah, just to emulate what, uh, Jeff and dusty said, you know, we are family and you know me, I have family industry, family from sea to shining sea. I mean, from coast to coast, I've talked to them daily and everybody is really rallied around the full idea of getting out of this, getting out of this better than we were before. Uh, getting out of this safer than we were before, you know, all those things in place. And I have to tell you two gentlemen emulate that, and it's a absolute pleasure to have you on the show today. Um, again, all of our blessings to you and your family and the crews and everybody to stay safe, we wish nothing but the best until we can see each other again and have a barbecue sandwich. I'll fly from Florida over, I'll buy lunch next time. So also do that.
Speaker 1 00:19:16 And uh, for all of us, you know, viewing us today in the audience, if you want to learn more, we have links below for the gentlemen, for their organizations, for our, all of us. Get it. If you want to reach out to James and I, and I have a question, please feel free to ask if you want to be on the show, let us know that too. We would love to have beyond with that. I think we will wrap it up and say, everybody have a blessed day, be safe, do the right thing, stay positive, keep that possible. Mentum going. And when we get out of this thing, we're going to be a better industry than we were when we started this. And with that, I will hand it over to James James. Any final thoughts? So you ready to sign off,
Speaker 2 00:19:57 Sir? We're good. Thank you guys again. God bless God bless you all. And God bless and send ministry. Amen. Thank you guys.
Speaker 5 00:20:09 <inaudible>.
