Kansas City, Mo., September 17, 2002 -- Black & Veatch announced recently that Black & Veatch/Barton Malow (BVBM) and the Central Pennsylvania Building & Construction Trades Council were presented with the Governor's Award for Labor-Management Cooperation by Gov. Mark Schweiker of Pennsylvania.
The award is presented to Pennsylvania businesses, labor unions or other organizations that are focused on achieving successful labor-management relationships and promoting economic success through a partnership with the workers of Pennsylvania. BVBM and the Central Pennsylvania Building & Construction Trades Council were one of only nine groups that were recognized.
BVBM and the Central Pennsylvania Building & Construction Trades Council are this year's sole recipients of this award in the entire Building & Construction Trades sector within the state of Pennsylvania.
The award was received by Tom McDermott, Black & Veatch project site manager; Bob Byrom, Barton Malow project executive; Frank Sirianni, State of Pennsylvania Building & Construction Trades Council President and Bill Dorward, Central Pennsylvania Building & Construction Trades Council President, during the award ceremony on September 12, 2002, at the Governor's residence.
The Governor's Award, now in its eighth year, was presented in recognition of the positive working relationship between BVBM and the Central Pennsylvania Building & Construction Trades Council during their work on the Reliant Energy Hunterstown, LLC Power Project, located outside Hunterstown, Pa., by June 2003.
BVBM was nominated for this award for diligently working as a team with the Central Pennsylvania Building & Construction Trades Council on safety, work planning, future labor needs and to address and resolve, in a timely manner, any labor issues that arise.
A monthly meeting was held on the jobsite with all of the business agents to discuss safety, work progress and labor- management needs. Prior to the award, Jay Lantzy, Director of the Office of Labor Management Cooperation, Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, visited the jobsite to interview craft labor and to see first hand BVBM's commitment to provide a safe and productive work place.
"This award reflects Black & Veatch's commitment to build a world of difference through enhanced relationships that we have built with other contractors, businesses and labor unions," said McDermott. "These relationships not only promote overall economic success, but increase communication and understanding for a more positive work environment."
Enhanced relationships between businesses, organizations and labor unions have created some potent benefits. "One example of the positive results of labor-management cooperation is the fact that the Commonwealth now boasts more than 4,900 state-certified, workplace safety committees covering nearly 700,000 Pennsylvania workers," said Gov. Mark Schweiker. "We are working together to ensure that every worker returns home safely at the end of the day."
About Black & Veatch
Black & Veatch Corporation is a global engineering, construction and consulting company specializing in infrastructure development in the fields of energy, water and information. Founded in 1915, Black & Veatch serves its clients with conceptual and preliminary engineering services, engineering design, procurement, construction, financial management, asset management, information technology, environmental, security design and consulting, and management consulting services.
Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., the employee-owned company has more than 90 offices worldwide. Black & Veatch is ranked 80th on the Forbes "500 Largest Private Companies in the U.S." listing for 2001. The company's Web site address is www.bv.com.
