Giving Back to Our Community
As an electrical contractor, we work hard to build a complex and reliable infrastructure that millions of Americans use every day. Because much of the work we do is behind the scenes, people might not see our impact as easily. So when we were given the opportunity to help an Eagle Scout accomplish a project that would benefit his community in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, we gave it 110%.
James Greene, the Eagle Scout to be, saw a need to help his high school band. Playing in the marching band, himself, at Reynoldsburg High School, located about a 20-minute drive from our office in Westerville, Ohio, James noticed that it was hard for his band director to effectively view the band’s formations.
“Our band director uses a scissor lift to view the marching band’s formations from above,” said James. “It’s not safe, and he has actually gotten stuck in the scissor lift before. So I thought it would be a good project to build a permanent platform for the band director to use instead of the scissor lift.”
It was a worthy cause and one that New River Electrical is specially equipped to handle. “When James contacted us, it seemed like the perfect project for us to help with,” said Joshua McWilliams, a Project Manager of the Overhead Division. “Our Overhead Division works every day to install large wooden poles for electrical lines to be dispersed all across the country.”
New River Electrical decided to not only donate the poles themselves, but also the labor and concrete for installing the poles, valued at around $15,000.
From Plan A to Plan B
“We worked with James to execute the plans that he had drawn up with a local engineering firm,” said McWilliams. “Unfortunately, we started digging and hit solid rock only three feet down. In order for the poles to be installed properly and securely, we had to drill down through six feet of solid rock.”
Not only did the installation become much more complicated than they first thought, the team also worked through lots of rain. “We certainly had a lot going against us,” said McWilliams.
But through it all, James and the New River team stuck with it. “We worked together to figure out a plan B,” said McWilliams. “Through the entire project, James was out there managing everything. He contacted the engineering firm to come up with an alternative plan and worked with us to keep everything on track.”
The project is currently in its final stages of completion. We are proud to be a part of this project and can’t wait to see how it impacts the students and band at Reynoldsburg High School.
