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Committed Sponsors Help Make the First Ohio Summit a Success
One of the primary goals of the 2011 Ohio Damage Prevention Summit was to create an opportunity for the stakeholders to network in an environment that allowed for building relationships rather than the more common adversarial roles. The purpose of the event was to bring people together to create meaningful dialogue in a serious effort to find answers to tough questions.
Accomplishing this mission at the inaugural Damage Prevention Summit would not have been a success without the support of the event sponsors and exhibitors.
Eleven companies and affiliates of the damage prevention industry stepped up to help promote and support the event as its first sponsors. Sponsors received recognition in the Summit program and at events, logo placement on event materials and on the web-site and first choice of high-traffic booth space.
Rockies Express Pipeline (REX) was the first company to sign on the dotted line for a silver sponsorship. “We wanted to support damage prevention and raise awareness of pipeline safety in Ohio,” said Travis Korth, line patroller and damage prevention representative for REX.
“Kinder Morgan/Rockies Express Pipeline believes in supporting events like the Ohio Damage Prevention Summit and spreading the word of pipeline safety in the field on a daily basis.”
REX is one of the largest pipelines ever constructed in the United States. REX became fully operational in 2009. The 1,679-mile pipeline stretches from northwestern Colorado to eastern Ohio and boasts 1.8 billion cubic feet of capacity per day.
The Ohio Utilities Protection Service (O.U.P.S.) was the platinum sponsor. Gold sponsors included Blood Hound Underground Utility Locators and ACTS Now, Inc.
Blood Hound, a subsurface utility locating firm founded in 1999 in Brownsburg, Indiana, is a private electromagnetic locating company. Over the past 12 years, Blood Hound has grown to provide nationwide service.
Among the silver sponsors were Pitney Bowes Business Insight, USIC Locating Services, Inc., and Vectren.
Vectren became a sponsor because it is dedicated to having a public awareness program that is continuously improving, said Tracey Bryant, Public Safety Specialist at Vectren.
“This event provided the opportunity to reach out to new stakeholders and bring everyone together for the shared message and concerns,” Bryant said. Throughout the year, Vectren works with O.U.P.S. to support local regional partnership and safety councils and to ensure those meetings foster two-way communication and relationship building at the local level with all stakeholders, according to Bryant, who also serves as the Common Ground Alliance Regional Partner Committee Co-Chair and Video Task Team Co-Chair.
Vectren Corporation is an energy holding company headquartered in Evansville, Indiana, and operates subsidiaries including Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio (VEDO). VEDO provides energy delivery services to approximately 314,000 natural gas customers located in west central Ohio.
For 90 years, Pitney Bowes has provided software, hardware and services that integrate physical and digital communications channels. They employ 33,000 individuals worldwide.
A leader in the underground utilities locating and marking services industry, USIC Locating Services is the combination of SM&P Utility Resources and Central Locating Services (CLS). USIC has a national presence with a 40 percent market share in the outsourced locating services market.
Marathon Pipe Line (MPL), Ohio Oil and Gas Producers Underground Protection Service (OGPUPS), Paradigm and Tennessee Gas Pipeline joined the event as bronze sponsors.
Marathon Pipe Line operates more than 5,000 miles of underground pipeline in 15 states. MPL transports crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas to and from terminals, refineries and other pipelines.
OGPUPS is a membership service administered by the Ohio Oil and Gas Association that allows its members to participate in a convenient and cost effective underground protection service. This liability insurance service allows the association members to be in compliance with Ohio Revised Code Chapter 3781, requiring them to participate in an “underground protection service.”
Well-versed in RP 1162 requirements, Paradigm provides turn-key public awareness solutions to pipeline, transmission, gathering and distribution operators nationwide.
Tennessee Gas Pipeline is one of the several interstate pipelines that makes up El Paso Corporation’s Pipeline Group. It is comprised of approximately 14,000 miles of pipeline that stretches from the Mexican border to Canada.
Other companies were able to meet with damage prevention stakeholders as exhibitors at the inaugural Ohio Damage Prevention Summit. Exhibitors and sponsors were highlighted during the welcome reception on the day prior to the sessions and highlighted during special times throughout the event. In addition to the sponsors, exhibitors included Precision Laser & Instrument, Inc.; Rhino Marking & Protection Systems, Inc.; TransLore; Utility Sales Associates; Utility Training Academy; and Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., L.P.A.
The event would not have been possible without the support of these companies and partners.
