Irby Receives Entergy Premier Vendor Award

Irby Receives Entergy Premier Vendor Award

Irby Receives Entergy Premier Vendor Award

On May 8 at a ceremony in New Orleans, Irby was honored by Entergy with a Premier Vendor Award in the area of Innovation and Continuous Improvement for significantly improving processes in the area of safety excellence with its Lineman Calculator.

The Lineman Calculator is an iOS application that takes the most commonly used equations by linemen and simplifies the inputs required thereby increasing reliability and reducing the chance for errors.

“It is no secret that linework calculations can be tricky, and when performed manually, like they have been for many years, a seemingly minor mistake can have serious ramifications,” said Jason Stewart, Irby’s Director of Safety. “With the app, our linemen can quickly and confidently fill in equation data points for the most complex calculations, all while continuing to work safely and efficiently.”

Per Entergy, the Premier Vendor Program recognizes and promotes extraordinary vendor performance. In seeking and sharing best practices, award winners have a profound and direct impact on improving the safety and reliability of the utility industry.

“We are honored to have been chosen and recognized once again by Entergy as a premier vendor,” said Jason Clayton, President of Irby. “Entergy has been an Irby customer for more than 30 years. Being aligned with our customer’s business objectives, bringing continued value, meeting expectations, and providing services safely are imperative. This award is testament of that. I am extremely proud of our technology, safety, and operations teams for creating the calculator app, and for their commitment to safety and continuous drive for improvement.

Click HERE to watch a video that highlights the Lineman Calculator and Entergy Premier Vendor Award.

From left to right: Jason Stewart, VP of Safety and Training; Mike Kelley, Regional Safety Director; and Brad Davis, VP of Operations.

Brad Davis (right) receiving the award.

Brad Davis Promoted to Vice President of Operations

Brad Davis Promoted to Vice President of Operations

Brad Davis Promoted to Vice President of Operations

Irby is pleased to announce Brad Davis’ recent promotion to Vice President of Operations!

Brad joined Irby’s Equipment Department in 2000. He left to finish college and returned to Irby in the Bidding Department as a Scheduler/Estimator. In 2011, he was promoted to Operations Manager. In 2017, Brad was promoted to Project Manager & Managing Director of Bidding. His next promotion took him to Senior Project Manager in 2020, and then to Operations Director in 2022.

Please join me in congratulating Brad Davis on his promotion to Vice President of Operations for Irby, effective immediately,” said Irby President Jason Clayton. “I am confident that Brad will continue to represent Irby with the utmost professionalism and will assist our continuing journey to be the best in the industry.”

 

Jared Lemoine Named Irby’s Director of Fleet

Jared Lemoine Named Irby’s Director of Fleet

Jared Lemoine Named Irby’s Director of Fleet

Please join us in congratulating Jared Lemoine on his promotion to Irby’s Director of Fleet!

“Jared has done a great job working with Legend Foundation Services and continuing to improve our equipment operations,” said Irby President Jason Clayton. “I am confident that he will continue representing Irby with the utmost professionalism and will continue our journey to be the best in the industry.”

With a passion for Irby and the equipment industry, Jared’s mission is to work with a team of dedicated employees to keep Irby Construction at the forefront of the ever-changing power line industry by providing operations with the safe and reliable equipment needed to get the job done.

“In fleet management, a continuous strive for improvement is essential,” said Jared. “Minimizing downtime with a focus on preventative maintenance, maximum utilization, and improved regional asset sharing along with working together with operations and safety will keep us on track for future growth. We have an amazing team at Irby, and I’m looking forward to working with everyone toward continued success.”

Irby Construction Company Year in Review: 2022

Irby Construction Company Year in Review: 2022

Irby Construction Company Year in Review: 2022

As we enter into a new year filled with possibilities, here is a glimpse of some of the bright spots from 2022.

Jason Clayton Named President
In January, Jason Clayton was promoted from Vice President of Operations to President of Irby Construction Company. Jason started working for Irby in 2013 as Director of Risk Management and Corporate Counsel. In 2018, he moved into Operations where he led distribution, transmission, and Legend Foundation Services. It has been a great year for Irby under Jason’s leadership, and we are excited for another successful year. 

Irby Ranked #16 in Mississippi 100 List
In February, the Mississippi Business Journal named Irby Construction #16 among the top 100 Mississippi companies based on total sales revenue. Irby has been steadily moving up the ranks in recent years. We are honored to be recognized! 

Irby Expanded into Battery Energy Storage in Texas and Florida
Irby is proud to diversify its service offerings, and in 2022, we took a major interest in Battery Energy Storage Solutions (BESS). As the utility construction industry is heading toward more sustainable sources of energy, Irby began and completed construction on multiple BESS projects in both Texas and Florida last year. We are looking forward to expanding this line of service. 

Lineman Appreciation Day Celebrated
April 18 is a special day in the construction industry: It’s National Lineman Appreciation Day. This nationally recognized day honors linemen all over America for their hard work, bravery, and commitment to safety. Last year, Irby encouraged everyone to #lookuptolinemen not only as they work on towering power lines, but also as individuals. We distributed gifts to all linemen in the field, featured them on social media throughout the day, and thanked them on our online guestbook here.

Irby Leaders Gathered for Annual Superintendent’s Meeting
Irby hosted its annual Superintendents’ Meeting on August 12-13 in Biloxi, MS, where more than 120 leaders from across the organization attended. The theme for the meeting was “Leading Change. Reaching New Heights.” Project management and safety were big topics at the meeting and are significant focus areas for the new year. Click here to read more.

Irby Oklahoma Crews Receive Recognition from AEP
Irby Oklahoma crews on Jobs 2806, 2833, and 3075 received recognition, an award, and qualification into the Zero Harm Safety Club from our customer, American Electric Power (AEP). To earn this recognition, Irby crews completed more than 69,000 consecutive hours without an OSHA recordable incident. We are proud of our crews for keeping safety top of mind in all they do. 

Irby Completed River Crossing Restoration Project
Entergy New Orleans contracted with Irby to manage the emergency storm restoration project after Hurricane Ida damaged a 475-foot lattice transmission tower in the Harahan-Avondale area of Louisiana. With the fallen tower’s conductor lines landing in the Mississippi River, removal was a national priority. Irby is proud to have been a part of this project. Read more and watch related videos here

Entergy Recognized Irby as Premier Vendor
Entergy, a longtime customer of Irby, recognized Irby as its Premier Vendor in Customer Centricity. Our strong safety culture and quality construction along with our management and coordinated efforts on the Harahan-Avondale river crossing project earned us this prestigious award. We look forward to many more successful projects with Entergy for years to come. Watch the Premier Vendor Award video here

Hurricane Ian Storm Response
Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwest Florida as a category 4 hurricane on Wednesday, September 28, 2022. Irby crews began to assemble well before the storm and initially assigned more than 600 linemen across the state of Florida to join in assisting power restoration efforts. Irby’s efforts were featured in ADSC Magazine in an article titled “The Power to Make a Difference.” Read the article here.

Irby Chosen as a Finalist for Quanta Services Innovation Award
Quanta recently selected Irby as one of four finalists for its annual CEO Innovation & Entrepreneurial Award which showcases the brightest ideas and business innovations/systems throughout its organization. Two winners will be chosen at Quanta’s Presidents Meeting in late January. Irby was selected for its development of a Lineman Calculator, which is a collaborative effort between Irby’s technology, safety, and operations teams. Read more here.

Community Spirit throughout the Year
In true Irby fashion, employees gave back to the communities in which they live and work throughout the year. In 2022, we participated in the Richland Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast, Pink Day for breast cancer awareness, blood drives, high school career fairs, youth safety events, and more. We donated coats and toys for kids, Christmas stockings for seniors, and food and water after Hurricane Ian. These are just a few of the ways employees served their communities last year.

 We’re looking forward to another year filled with many successes. Happy 2023!

Irby Wins Quanta Innovation Award

Irby Wins Quanta Innovation Award

Irby Wins Quanta Innovation Award

Quanta Services, Irby’s parent company, recently selected Irby as a winner for its annual CEO Innovation & Entrepreneurial Award, which showcases the brightest ideas and business innovations/systems throughout its organization.

Irby was selected for its development of a Lineman Calculator, which is a collaborative effort between Irby’s technology, safety, and operations teams. The calculator is an iOS application that takes the most commonly used equations by our linemen and simplifies them.

By simply inputting the requested data, Irby’s linemen can quickly compute the answer to complex calculations at their fingertips. It’s as easy as answering the questions and filling in the blanks.

In addition to the calculator, training materials have been updated by Irby’s safety team to explain the calculator inputs. Irby is currently working to determine the order of implementation in the field and future development of the tool.

Congratulations to the Irby team for this significant recognition and on this huge accomplishment and innovation that will benefit Irby for years to come!

Irby Attends FMEA Energy Connections Conference & Trade Show

Irby Attends FMEA Energy Connections Conference & Trade Show

Irby Attends FMEA Energy Connections Conference & Trade Show

In early November, Irby Construction attended the Florida Municipal Electric Association (FMEA) Energy Connections Conference and Trade Show. Every year, electric utility, safety, and utility construction companies from across the U.S. meet in Orlando to network, present, and learn from energy industry professionals. 

Emma Workman, Project Manager; TJ Ridgeway, Distribution Design Manager; and John Thompson, Customer Outreach Specialist Supervisor, from Irby’s Tampa office represented Irby at the FMEA conference. Specifically, the team talked about Irby’s new turnkey storm hardening solution. This offering packages customer outreach with construction services to replace overhead neighborhood power lines with resilient underground infrastructure. 

Irby is proud to offer this new service and has been working with Florida Power and Light on various hardening projects all over Florida. 

Learn more about Irby’s Distribution Services HERE.

Read an industry article about Florida’s Grid Hardening Investments HERE.