Eric Carbino helps guide fiber optic cable during a pull on E. Kinney Rd. north of Reese.

One of the nine crews working on the Air Advantage fiber optic network job work along E. Kinney Road plowing in a 5,000 ft run.

“For far too long, large portions of fertile Michigan territory have been neglected of ultra high-speed Internet capabilities, making it harder for commerce to grow and thrive in a fast-moving national and global economy,” Scott Zimmer president of Air Advantage said in a statement on the company’s website.

Two hundred miles of cable are scheduled to be installed by the summer’s end and when the second phase is complete in 2013 communities from St. Clair to Midland will be added to the National Broadband map. The network will connect 23 schools and three intermediate school districts to other Michigan institutions.

By the end of the week about a quarter of the first phase should be complete. “Crews have been averaging nine miles a day,” J. Ranck Electric Project Manager Steve Potocki estimated. A total of four plow crews and nine directional bore crews are keeping pace with the schedule that Potocki and Foreman Bob Hemminger have set. “Everything is starting to flow really good and crews are working well together,” Potocki said. “It takes an effort from everyone, from Air Advantage working to get the proper permitting, the engineering from Convergent Technologies and the material coordination, utility location and installation by J. Ranck Electric. Everyone has a stake in the project as a whole so everyone is working together towards that end goal.”

Eric Carbeno guides the warning tape as Roy Hall guides the cable during a plow down E. Kinney Rd. near Reese.

It was a beautiful morning on the river for five JRE employees and three guests, as they boarded a 29-foot voyageur canoe for a four mile trip on the Chippewa and Tittabawassee Rivers. Director of Interpretation Dennis Pilaske and Educator Adam Schmidt from the Chippewa Nature Center pushed off the fiberglass replica of a birch bark canoe and its ten passengers into the swollen river Saturday. (Note, the flooded dock pictured above)

“They told us because of the large amounts of rainfall, we may be in for a workout on the last leg of the trip,” Angie Wood said. After traveling on the gently flowing Chippewa River for the majority of the morning, the group had to return 1/2 mile upriver to the landing site on the Tittabawassee. With large amounts of rain in Northern Michigan earlier in the week and the dam at Sanford Lake open, the river was high and flowing quickly. That was a little alarming to Carrie Vonberg, Jim Vonberg’s wife, as she was under the impression she was along for a leisurely, motorized nature trip. However, she, along with the others, worked together to navigate the current to make it safely back to the dock.

Along the Chippewa, Pilaske pointed out features of the rivers that are part of the network of 7,000 miles of rivers and streams that make up the Saginaw Bay Watershed. Paddles were pointing in every directions as participants soaked up the views of nature. Map turtles, Baltimore orioles and a muskrat were among the topics of the day along with the natural history of the area including a group of archaeologists from the University of Michigan that were working as the canoe passed. “It was a wonderful way to see parts of nature that you don’t see every day, and it was an energizing way to start the day with fresh air and lots of laughs,” Angie continued.

Riders included Gale Kaufman and son Kaleb, Jim and Carrie Vonberg, Ken Badour and his girlfriend Brenda Fleming, and Angie and Ryan Wood.

Everyone feels stress from time to time but when does it become dangerous, leading to life-threatening illnesses?

April is Stress Awareness Month! JRE employees are welcome to join us for our two-part bWell stress awareness lunch lecture series.

The two-part serie: will be held on Thursday, April 12 and Tuesday, 17 from
11:30 to 12:30

Ann Ellis, a health coach with McLaren Central Michigan will uncover the warning signs and health implications and explain ways to cope with stress.

Don’t let stress run your life! Invest in yourself by taking two hours over two days to make a change in your life!

Please RSVP! Lunch will be provided for those who attend the live presentation at JRE’s Mt. Pleasant office or by video conference from JRE’s Flint and Sault Ste. Marie conference rooms (via GoToMeeting). RSVP to bwell@jranck.com by Tuesday, April 10 so lunch arrangements can be made.

Last week’s foreman’s meeting held at the Mt. Pleasant office did not lack interesting and emotional topics. During the roundtable portion of the meeting, Michael Hottinger, JRE Corporate Safety & Security Director (pictured above) announced his plan to retire from J. Ranck Electric, Inc. His expected retirement date will be June 29, 2012. “We sure do appreciate all you have done for us Michael, your shoes will be tough to fill,” Jim Ranck said to Michael after the room gave him a round of applause. In an email response after the meeting Angie Wood, JRE Human Resources Director, elaborated on the announcement, “While we will genuinely miss Michael, we are excited for him as he begins this new adventure in his life with his wife, Jeanne. We would like to thank him for his years of service with JRE and the passion that he brought to this company for his craft and everyone who worked here. It will be very difficult to fill his shoes, as he is one of a kind! We are currently interviewing applicants for Michael’s position and hope for the transition to be as smooth and seamless as possible.”

Starting off the morning, Rob Coppersmith with MITA (pictured left) discussed his work on the MI Damage Prevention Board which is working on Best Practices for Utility Locating. He explained that partially due to the board’s work, damages have been down yearly by 10 to 20 percent for the last seven years. Coppersmith shared some tips and best practices while navigating the MISS DIG program and discussed possible law changes in the upcoming year. Other topics discussed were MDOT spec changes, inventory, payroll and travel accommodation updates, as well as a presentation from Warehouse Manager Loren Wilcox on JRE’s GPS policy. He explained that most JRE road vehicles are now equipped with GPS devices that monitor idle time, speed, off hours use and average miles driven per day. Management will monitor the information in an effort to ensure safety of employees and surrounding populace, as well as help save on fuel and improve fleet efficiency.

Safety was touched on multiple times throughout the meeting. Michael highlighted the increasing trend of distracted driving-related crashes and presented a video highlighting the dangers of texting while driving and summarized the new DOT restrictions on mobile phone use:

FMCSA and PHMSA issued a final rule that restricts the use of hand-held devices by interstate commercial motor vehicle drivers (CMV) and intrastate hazmat drivers. The rule does not restrict or prohibit the use of hands-free devices. The final rule was published in the Federal Register on December 2, 2011 and took effect on January 3, 2012.

The meeting concluded with a presentation by Angie Wood on JRE’s zero-tolerance harassment policy. A video titled “In This Together” reinforced that policy by encouraging respect in the workplace and empowering every employee to have the courage to speak out against disrespect and harassment.

Here’s another example of JRE employees doing what it takes to get the job done. Darren Cameron (pictured above right) and Jon Morrow, with the help of Jeremy Rowley (pictured above left), recently spent six consecutive days hydro vacuuming trenches up to eight feet wide and three feet deep. Because of safety measures, the customer’s preference was not to use mechanical excavation during the project and to excavate the site entirely with vacuum trucks. The majority of the excavation was done during this latest cold snap so the guys have worked long hours in frozen mud soaked FR clothing. “You have to stop every five minutes to get a rag and wipe off your safety glasses to keep working,” Rowley said. “You get a mud shower all day.” The upcoming stage of this project will be cleaner but not much easier, as crews will be pulling three inch diameter direct burial cable, weighing over 7 pounds a foot, through the trenches they just excavated.