| Reminder: Change to Creating Microsoft Teams Microsoft Teams is a powerful tool, bringing together virtual meeting, chat, collaboration, and file management solutions plus so much more. As you’ve been added to the TeamUES Microsoft environment, you’ve had the opportunity to create your own Teams, but some are overlapping, many are idle, and many may have been set up just for chat or quick file sharing purposes, leading to potential confusion. We’re here to help! |
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| Request a Team in Microsoft Teams Moving forward, to help refine UES’ collection of Microsoft Teams, any UES team member who would like a new Team created will need to submit a quick form in the Service Desk portal. To access the portal, select "Sign in with Microsoft" and enter your TeamUES credentials. Then, under Submit a Ticket, choose IT Request > MS Teams Creation. When you do, someone in the UES IT Team will reach out to you to help you set it up and help you learn to make the most of it. Director of Field Services and IT Operations, Micah Johnson, recently held trainings to explain the change and give a high-level overview of Microsoft Teams and SharePoint. See the recording here. Want to learn more? Check out these great videos from Microsoft on some of the features and benefits of working in Teams: |
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| Reminder: Submit Your STRIVE Award Nominations!
Don’t forget that nominations will close soon for the next round of STRIVE Awards. The last day to submit nominations is this coming Tuesday, April 30! If you previously nominated someone for the first round, and you want to nominate them again, please feel free! For this round, we’re asking you to tell us about specific times you’ve seen these STRIVE heroes in action. |
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UES Swag in the Company Store If you haven’t checked out the company store in a while, visit https://ues.aiacompanystore.com. You can order UES branded merch for your team or clients, from polos and hard hats to notebooks, umbrellas, golf balls and more! |
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401(k) UPDATE: New hires can now contribute to the 401(k) right away! Contributing to a 401(k) program and making annual contributions is one of the most important things you can do to protect your financial future. All UES employees may now enroll and begin personally contributing immediately upon hire (including all new team members hired anytime in 2023)! The month after your one-year anniversary (and 1,000 hours of service with UES and affiliated companies), the company will begin matching your personal 401(k) contributions at 100% up to 3%, plus 50% on the 4th and 5th percent. That’s a net employer match of 4% on your contributions! Better still, these matching contributions are immediately 100% vested. Get the Most Out of Your Plan Take advantage of features available in your plan designed to help you get closer to your retirement goals. · Easy payroll deductions so you can save with every paycheck. · Pretax contributions that reduce your current taxable income. · Any earnings on Roth contributions may be tax-free at the time of withdrawal.** · Ability to save up to $23,000 in 2024, plus an extra $7,500 if you’re age 50 or older. · Additional plan details are available in the plan's Summary Plan Description and/or plan documents on the website. **Subject to requirements: Roth contributions must be in your account for at least five years and the money withdrawn after age 59½, death or disability. If there are any discrepancies between this Enrollment Guide and the Plan Document, the Plan Document will govern. Begin Your Journey Now! Log on to: empowermyretirement.com For first-time access: · Log on and select Register. · Choose the I do not have a PIN tab. · Follow the prompts to create your username and password. Questions? Visit www.empower.com or contact the Empower Service Center by calling (800) 338-4015. Empower Representatives are available Monday – Friday between 8:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. EST and Saturday between 9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. EST. |
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New Hire Onboarding Curriculum Launches April 1 in UES University Our STRIVE company values begin with Safety for a reason. Without it, nothing else matters. Starting Monday, April 1, 2024, UES will be implementing an onboarding training requirement for all new hires across all branches of the company. The safety of our employees is our number one priority, and this new curriculum will play a crucial role in maintaining a safe and secure work environment for everyone. All new hires joining on or after April 1st will be required to complete the assigned curriculum in UES University within their first week of employment. The curriculum is designed to ensure that all new team members receive comprehensive and consistent training on safety protocols and procedures specific to our industry and workplace environment, aligning with our company values, particularly emphasizing safety as our number one priority. Existing team members can access the onboarding curriculum and hundreds of other UES University courses at any time to refresh their knowledge and stay updated on safety protocols. Get to UES University by visiting lms.teamues.com and log in with your company email address and password. |
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| Reminder: Submit Your STRIVE Award Nominations!
Don’t forget that nominations are open now for the next round of STRIVE Awards. If you previously nominated someone for the first round, and you want to nominate them again, please feel free! For this round, we’re asking you to tell us about specific times you’ve seen these STRIVE heroes in action.
You have until April 30 to submit nominations for the next STRIVE Awards which will take place during a special Summer Town Hall dedicated only to the STRIVE Awards and an extended Q&A with senior leadership. |
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STRIVE to Drive Safely A Message from John Sullivan, Director of Operations Optimization As Dave highlighted in his message this month, we are pleased to honor our safest drivers of 2023, those with six or more months of 100% on their driver scorecards, drove at least 1,000 miles per month, and had zero at-fault accidents and seatbelt violations throughout the year. At the top of the list you’ll see Construction Services Department Manager Christopher Butkiewicz, from the Daytona Beach branch, North Florida region, who achieved an amazing 100% every single month of 2023! Just below him is Field Representative I Marja Roberts from the Lexington branch, Midwest region, the only person who achieved 100% for 11 months. While they are in a class of their own for 2023, we’d love to see many more of you achieve these scores this year. To help encourage safe driving habits, company vehicle drivers can be eligible for the Safe Driving Bonus of $250 per three-month period, for an annual potential total of $1,000. Earn it by driving a company vehicle and achieving 96.5% or higher on your driver scorecard, not speeding, wearing your seatbelt, completing your monthly vehicle inspection, and your home branch must be free of at-fault accidents. Thank you to the regional safety directors and our HR partners for their hard work throughout last year supporting the continued rollout of Geotab and the Safe Driving Bonus. We want to pay more and more of these bonuses, we want you to be safe, and in turn, you help bolster UES’ reputation for safety. John Sullivan, Director of Operations Optimization |
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| Reminder: Submit Your STRIVE Award Nominations!
Don’t forget that nominations are open now for the next round of STRIVE Awards. If you previously nominated someone for the first round, and you want to nominate them again, please feel free! For this round, we’re asking you to tell us about specific times you’ve seen these STRIVE heroes in action.
You have until April 30 to submit nominations for the next STRIVE Awards which will take place during a special Summer Town Hall dedicated only to the STRIVE Awards and an extended Q&A with senior leadership. |
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Give Yourself a $7,000 Raise
Put extra money in your pocket by taking advantage of ALL of the ways you can earn more at UES! As you STRIVE to do great work each day, we also STRIVE to reward you for being safe, healthy and encouraging others to join Team UES! Combined, these opportunities mean an extra $7,095 per year. And that's with just ONE successful employee referral! Talk to your local HR representative for more information.
Learn more and keep this info handy with our printable flyer. |
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Important UES 401(k) Eligibility Update! Contributing to a 401(k) program and making annual contributions is one of the most important things you can do to protect your financial future. We're excited to bring you an important update on the UES 401(k) Plan eligibility:
You may now enroll and begin personally contributing after your first paycheck upon hire (including all new team members hired anytime in 2023). After your one-year anniversary (and 1,000 hours of service) with UES and affiliated companies, the company begins matching your personal 401(k) contributions at 100% up to 3%, plus 50% on the 4th and 5th percent. That’s a net employer match of 4% on your contributions! Better still, these matching contributions are immediately 100% vested. Get the Most Out of Your Plan Take advantage of features available in your plan designed to help you get closer to your retirement goals. · Easy payroll deductions so you can save with every paycheck. · Pretax contributions that reduce your current taxable income. · Any earnings on Roth contributions may be tax-free at the time of withdrawal.** · Ability to save up to $23,000 in 2024, plus an extra $7,500 if you’re age 50 or older. · Additional plan details are available in the plan's Summary Plan Description and/or plan documents on the website. **Subject to requirements: Roth contributions must be in your account for at least five years and the money withdrawn after age 59½, death or disability. If there are any discrepancies between this Enrollment Guide and the Plan Document, the Plan Document will govern. Begin Your Journey! Log on to: empowermyretirement.com For first-time access: · Log on and select Register. · Choose the I do not have a PIN tab. · Follow the prompts to create your username and password. Questions? Visit www.empower.com or contact the Empower Service Center by calling (800) 338-4015. Empower Representatives are available Monday – Friday between 8:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. EST and Saturday between 9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. EST. |
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Tax Withholding Reminder Now that we have stepped into the new year, it is a good time to make sure your tax information is correct. Life changes such as marriage, birth of a child, or changes in financial circumstances may impact your tax situation, and it is important to reflect these changes in your records. You can make changes within the payroll system. If you are unsure which payroll system to access, or need help doing so, please reach out to your local HR representative. Thanks! |
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Safety Moment: Avoiding Slips and Falls Slips and falls account for millions of work-related injuries every year. Spot unsafe conditions that could lead to slips and falls and report them immediately. Read more about preventing them. |
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| Reminder: Submit Your STRIVE Award Nominations!
Don’t forget that nominations are open now for the next round of STRIVE Awards. If you previously nominated someone for the first round, and you want to nominate them again, please feel free! For this round, we’re asking you to tell us about specific times you’ve seen these STRIVE heroes in action. The date of the next STRIVE Awards is yet to be announced, but it will take place during a special Summer Town Hall dedicated only to the STRIVE Awards and an extended Q&A with senior leadership. |
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STRIVING to Make UES a Best Place to Work An Update from CHRO Sheila Norden As Dave shared in this month’s message, we are proud and excited to have conducted our first-ever organization-wide employee engagement survey as we STRIVE to make UES the best place to work in our industry. I’d like to share with you even more about what we’ve learned from the 1,800 responses we received. As a reminder, the survey was confidential, no individual results were provided to UES from the third-party administrator. The summary of data we do receive is aggregated by certain factors, such as a specific location. And then, that summary is provided to us only when five or more individuals in that location respond to the survey. This allows us to know how a particular group is responding without ever compromising your individual feedback or comments. While 18 factors were measured on the survey, engagement is a key way to measure overall employee feedback. As Dave highlighted, we are pleased to share that for UES as a company, our engagement is 68% favorable, meaning that 68% of those that responded rated the following questions as either “agree” or “strongly agree”: 1. I would recommend UES as a great place to work 2. UES motivates me to go beyond what I would in a similar role elsewhere 3. I am proud to work for UES 4. I rarely think about looking for a job at another company 5. I see myself still working at UES in two years' time We also learned that of those not responding favorably, many (23%) are neutral. This is important! That means many individuals are looking for progress in the future before they can rate these questions. Given that we are still on our journey of coming together as one team, this sentiment makes good sense. You said that Safety, Values, and Company Management (defined in the survey as your manager) were highly favorable factors of working at UES. Of the utmost importance, 86% of you agree that Safety is the top priority at UES and know that we all feel the same. 81% of you were well aware of our STRIVE values, and 71% believe that the values do match our culture. No one has a larger impact on your day-to-day experience than your manager, and we’re glad to hear that many of you responded favorably to: 1. My manager genuinely cares about my wellbeing 2. My manager demonstrates their commitment to health and safety by leading by example 3. My manager is a great role model to employees 4. My manager gives me useful feedback on how well I am performing and; 5. My manager keeps me informed about what is happening at UES You also told us that there is opportunity ahead when it comes to: 1. Taking Action: You’re looking to see the actions that will be taken based on survey feedback 2. Feedback and Recognition: Employees want more feedback about their work and also want to be recognized for their achievements. 3. Social Connection: Team UES takes a lot of pride that we work in an industry which can have a meaningful impact on our communities. Our employees want to continue growing this impact even more. As was made clear by the survey results, we know that words don’t matter unless they are followed by action. Our first commitment is to provide this summary of your feedback and to share what we heard collectively from you. At the same time, our leadership team is working to identify key actions that will be most impactful based on your feedback. More information about these actions will be shared as they’re developed. Thank you again for the gift of your feedback and for continuing with us on this journey to be the best UES we can be. Sheila Norden CHRO |
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Health Advocate Webinar January 18: Hitting the Reset Button: Goal Setting
As we kick off a new year, now is an opportunity to refresh our mindset and set realistic goals for the year ahead. Available through our Health Advocate partners, join us for this powerful webinar to discuss how to proactively create goals and routines that can strengthen our mental health and well-being as we move forward into 2024. Register now for either the 10:00 a.m. ET or 4:00 p.m. ET session. |
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| Stay Safe as the Weather Turns Cold: Using Temporary Heating Devices Safely Colder weather is sweeping the nation, and many of us are using temporary heaters like space heaters to warm our areas. Please take a moment to ensure you’re using them safely. |
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Dave Witsken Interview with Zweig Letter Dave recently sat down with the Zweig Letter, Zweig Group’s weekly publication subscribed to by top AEC firm leaders across the country. He reflected on his time in his role and shared insights on our remarkable collective success. Check it out! |
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Compass: Your True North for Thousands of Resources As a reminder, all team members in the UES family of companies have access to ASTM's Compass portal, which contains thousands of ASTM's and AASHTO's published standards. You can access Compass at compass.teamues.com using your TeamUES username and password. If you’re not sure what your TeamUES username or password is, or you have trouble with your access, please reach out to the UES Service Desk at ServiceDesk@teamues.com or 877-UES-SDGO (877-837-7346). As part of our company-wide ASTM membership, we have made more than 60 of ASTM's eLearning courses available in the UES LMS. For those with access to the UES LMS, to view the ASTM eLearning courses, you can search for ASTM or click on Training > Courses and then view the ASTM category on the righthand side. |
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| ‘Tis the Season to be Saving
With open enrollment behind us, we’d like to remind you about one of the other most important benefits available to you as a member of Team UES: our 401(k) retirement savings program. If you’re not yet enrolled, we encourage you to take a moment to check out the full information available here and consider making this important investment in your future. |
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| Total Rewards Hit the Road Senior Director, Total Rewards, Whitney Dickens journeyed from the FAST office in Orlando to multiple locations throughout UES to share information on the comprehensive package of benefits available to UES team members. Stops on Whitney’s Benefits Roadshow included Wallace Kuhl, Grubbs, Faulkner, and UES (McGinley) Reno. Whitney shared that “It was a great pleasure and honor to meet so many more members of Team UES across the country and help them better understand our benefits, which is, of course, especially important during open enrollment. UES invests in the wellbeing of our team members in so many ways, and I love being able to share that message.” Thank you, Whitney, and thank you to the many dedicated HR team members across UES who hit the road, shared information, and fielded questions to help their regions through open enrollment as well! |
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From left: Payroll Manager Jason Bastian, Sr. Total Rewards Administrator Ashlee Powers, and Sr. Director, Total Rewards, Whitney Dickens. |
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STRIVE Award Nominations Open Now We were so honored to hold the first STRIVE Awards during the September Town Hall, and we’re happy to share that nominations are open now for the next round of STRIVE Awards. If you previously nominated someone for the first round, and you want to nominate them again, please feel free! For this round, we’re asking you to tell us about specific times you’ve seen these STRIVE heroes in action. The date of the next STRIVE Awards is yet to be announced, but we look forward to sharing more info on that soon! |
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| Stay Safe on the Roads and at Home During the busy holiday season, the roads are jammed, and there’s so much activity at home as well. Check out these two toolbox talks for tips on staying safe on the road, and at home. |
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| Phishing Awareness By UES IT Analyst Foxx Conner-Bailey
This time of year, phishing becomes more prevalent. There are many different types of phishing, and they don't all show up in your Outlook inbox! Whether it be phishing over a phone call (vishing), over text message (smishing), or just the classic email with suspicious or unexpected contents, they all have the same goal: Financial gain or compromise of your work or personal credentials. Please carefully evaluate all emails that seem even remotely suspicious. Protecting the security of our networks is in the hands of every employee.
Signs of Phishing: Phishing attacks targeting organizations usually try to go for an employee's credentials with convincing-looking Office/Microsoft sign-in pages, though they may also be trying to get you to buy gift cards "for clients." These emails or texts may appear to come from a trusted client, government agency, a coworker, or appear to impersonate the CEO directly. This is an extremely common tactic because it instills a sense of urgency via authority. Your boss will never ask you to buy gift cards for clients, and neither will Dave Witsken.
Check for misspellings in the subject lines, misspelled email addresses, bad grammar, malformed sentences, etc. These have been tell-tale signs of phishing for a long time but are starting to be less common as easy indicators of whether an attack is being attempted as hackers become more sophisticated, careful, and patient. How do I report emails that seem suspicious? It's very easy! In Outlook, we have a Report Phish button in the upper right toolbar of the Home tab (see below). This will generate a ticket that goes straight to our security team for evaluation. |
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Open Enrollment is Just Around the Corner, Mark Your Calendars! This year, open enrollment will be from November 6-17, 2023, with coverage effective January 1, 2024. Beginning next week, October 30-November 3, details will be sent out regarding 2024 Health & Welfare benefits, including the Benefits Guide and enrollment instructions. We are excited to offer a new opportunity to enroll in Pet Insurance. This is an ACTIVE enrollment – you MUST log on and enroll in your choice of plans. We are partnering with iBenefits again this year, who will provide individual on-call assistance during enrollment. We will also be scheduling enrollment sessions to make sure questions are answered for you. This is your opportunity to make the most of your UES benefits plans. Stay tuned for more specific information to arrive in your inboxes next week!
*Please Note: These dates are not applicable to Speedie and GEO Solutions team members. |
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Have You Heard About the NEW Employee Referral Bonus Program? Last month, we introduced UES's new Employee Referral Bonus Program. This program is a great way for all of us to contribute to the company's growth, directly supporting the success of UES, making us stronger together. It helps us bring in top talent, supports our growth, and rewards our team members for their valuable contributions. We encourage you to participate in this program and help us bring in the best talent. You can earn $2,000 for each successful referral! Share your positive experiences at UES with potential candidates and let them know about the rewarding opportunities here! Please click here to download a flyer with complete program details and terms and conditions. If you have any questions, please reach out to the HR Leader for your region. |
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| Have You Completed the “U Matter” Survey? Tomorrow is Your Last Chance!
If you haven’t already completed your U Matter employee engagement survey, you still have a little time to submit your responses! The survey will close tomorrow Friday, September 29, at midnight ET. If you have completed the survey, thank you so much for your feedback, no further action is required! If you were hired at UES before August 1, 2023, you should have received an email from Culture Amp on Monday (9/18) with a direct link to take the survey. You can also take it using the QR code below or by clinking on this link: U Matter. If you use this link or the QR code, you will need to input a “Kiosk Code”. Please input the first four letters of your last name and the month and day of your birthday. Example: John Smith born on December 15 = SMIT1215. If your last name is 3 letters, you will use the first three of your last name and the first letter of your first name. Example: John Day born on December 15 = DAYJ1215 |
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| While participation is not required, we highly encourage it! This is your opportunity to provide confidential feedback to UES leadership on topics such as management, communications, career opportunities, and more. Your collective feedback helps us better understand what matters most to you, helping us to make UES a great place to work and grow! Questions? If you encounter any issues with logging in or have questions about the survey, please contact your regional HR Director or email UMatter@teamues.com. |
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Hit Us with Your Best Shot! Submit Photos to Include in Team UES Calendar As the year draws to a close, we are gearing up for an exciting initiative that spotlights our talented team members and the remarkable projects we’ve been a part of throughout the year. We are creating a 2024 calendar that can be ordered for offices and to give out as new year’s gifts to clients to showcase our people and the work we do. We invite you to send us photos highlighting your achievements and work! We Need You to Send Us Photos! 1. Project Pride:* Submit captivating photos that epitomize your adventures in the field. Whether it's a snapshot of a groundbreaking excavation or a team huddle on a jobsite, we want to see it all. Please share photos that capture your team's journey, from project milestones to the behind-the-scenes collaboration that goes into everything we do. 2. Picture-Perfect Quality:* Please ensure your submissions are high-resolution and tell a story, illustrating the essence and success of your projects. 3. Permissions Matter:* Please make sure you have secured permission from the client and people featured in the photos. By submitting, you grant us the right to share your images in our calendar. 4. Send your photos and a brief description to communications@teamues.com by Friday, October 20. Include your name, team or project name, and contact details. Don't miss this chance to celebrate your Team UES achievements with us! Your story is our story. Submit your photos today and let's make the upcoming year a memorable one, together. |
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Cyber Safety at Home By UES IT Analyst Foxx Conner-Bailey At the Town Hall earlier this month, we received a great question along the lines of: I understand that our network in the office is monitored for cyber threats, but what can I do to keep the company safe from cybercrime at home? What can I do to keep *myself* and my family safe from cybercrime at home? There are many different things you could be doing right now to protect yourself and UES from cybercrime. 1. Social media Imagine for a moment that you are trying to break into UES. You need to impersonate a new hire, or contractor to get in the front door during daylight hours. What is the best source of info you could use to find building layouts, pictures of employee badges or desks, or names of employees you could drop that might make you seem trusted? Social media! All these items can be easy to find if publicly posted by employees. This makes the job of a bad actor far easier. Please be mindful of what you're posting on social media, not only for the sake of UES, but for yourself. It can help to make sure your posts are not set to public. Here’s how to do so on Facebook and on LinkedIn.
2. Passwords Recent breaches/hacks against prolific targets like the US Government, SolarWinds, and the public in-mass have one thing in common: Default/weak passwords! Here’s a few tips: Don’t be so obvious: Think for a moment about the following: What is your password for your UES/social media account/bank account? Does it include your birthday, car, kid's name, kid's birthday, spouse’s name, spouse’s birthday, wedding anniversary, dog's name, favorite band, or favorite album? Statistically, it probably does! The rise of generative Artificial Intelligence like ChatGPT means that anybody can generate a custom list of passwords to try against their target with a bit of personal information. How much of that information could a bad actor retrieve by going to your Facebook page? Probably most of it! Once again, be sure your posts are set to friends only, and not public. Change the default password on your router: The default password on home routers is something that threat actors (hackers) have been exploiting in the wild recently, and absolutely must be changed. It is separate from your Wi-Fi password but can be used to compromise your home network! Your router’s default credentials are probably likely admin/admin, admin/password, or maybe admin/.
Click here to learn how to change the default password of your router.. 3. Use VPN for private internet browsing Keeping safe at home includes browsing the web safely! A VPN (virtual private network) is an easy way keep your browsing data and information you’re providing to sensitive websites private. For personal use, NordVPN would be my recommendation for an affordable and easy-to-use VPN, which also includes a 30-day free trial! Most VPNs can be turned on and off by a single button, once installed. Using open/no-password free Wi-Fi at the airport or Starbucks with your work computer? Please use Cisco Anyconnect/Secure Client to secure your connection. Open Wi-Fi isn’t secured by a password, and network traffic, including your passwords, may be sent to any service you’re using in cleartext, meaning unencrypted and easily readable. |
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| Your Safety Update: Preventing Hand Injuries
We all know that safety doesn’t happen by accident. Leading in the area of safety takes a disciplined approach and lot of careful thought, diligent actions, constancy of purpose, and everyone working together. Preventing work-related injuries is UES’s number one priority. On average 125,000 American workers receive hand injuries varying from small cuts to major lacerations. Upon investigations, almost all these injuries were preventable with the proper PPE. |
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| Working with your hands is an essential part of your daily tasks. UES provides all the necessary PPE required to conduct your work activities in a safe manner. It is company policy to have work gloves when handling, installing and maneuvering materials that possess a hazard. Today we are sharing our “Preventing Hand Injuries” Tool Box Talk to reinforce the importance of vigilance on job sites and the proper use of PPE. You can also find it and many others on Huddle here.
We want to thank all of you who are changing behaviors that are driving improved safety performance at UES. We have more work to do, but your actions are driving meaningful improvement. Please take the time to do everything in your power to ensure that every person is safe! |
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We Want to Hear from You! Employee Engagement Survey Coming September 18th! We are excited to announce we have partnered with Culture Amp to conduct our employee engagement survey, U Matter, which will launch for all UES team members, on Monday, September 18th. Culture Amp was selected for many reasons, including the ability to keep your responses 100% confidential, strong benchmarking capabilities, and the ability to help us develop key action plans based on your feedback. Why are we conducting an engagement survey? Our people are the most important part of UES, and the survey lets us hear directly from you. Your feedback is a critical source of information to help us make UES a great place to work and grow careers. What happens next? You’ll receive an email notification from Culture Amp on September 18th to take the survey. Don't worry—it’s not spam. This is a legitimate survey that we encourage you to take. The survey will remain open through September 29th and should take you about 10–15 minutes to complete. Please take the time to provide your confidential feedback. We want to hear from you! |
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UES Needs U! Help Us Fill More than 400 Open Roles! As we continue to grow at a rapid rate, we're always looking for top talent to join our team. While you’ll have ample opportunities at UES to grow into new roles, we also need you, our best advocates, to help us find the best people to fill our more than 400 open positions across the country. Whether you know people just starting out in their career or seasoned veterans, we have openings in roles ranging from entry level technicians to leaders to drillers to senior engineers. Our team of recruiters can't wait to speak with them! Each week, you should receive a “Hot Jobs” email from our communications team, which highlights some of these great opportunities. Check out the full list on our website and learn more about how you can help build our team and fill important roles through our employee referral program, which we highlighted in our July Issue. Please feel free to share these opportunities with your professional and personal connections. You can be our most important voice! |
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| Wellness Corner: Annual Physical Deadline Approaching September 30 For those of you who participate in UES’ health plans, please note the deadline to have your annual physical in order to receive a $30/pay period discount on your health insurance premiums in 2024 is September 30. If you don’t get an annual physical in time and your discount ends, you can still get a physical at any time and begin the discount again, but it will begin 1–2 pay periods from the date the notification is received by UES. Find more info here. If you have any further questions, please reach out to your local HR representative. |
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| Safety Update: Safety Review: Heat Stress Please Complete Your Training!
Last month we shared the importance of being prepared and staying safe while working (and playing) outdoors, whether outdoor work is a major component of your job here at UES, or you are more of a weekend warrior spending time outdoors doing yardwork or engaging in family activities. We are now in the official summer season, and record high temperatures are already impacting weather and conditions across the country. As an additional resource, the Safety and Learning and Development teams have assigned team members the module “Safety Review: Heat Stress” learning through the LMS for those most impacted in their work by extreme weather conditions. Your safety is our top priority. Please complete this important review by the end of the month and reach out to your supervisor if you need additional time. Thank you for your diligence and commitment to your own safety and the safety of others. |
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Urgent: Cyber Security Awareness - Protecting Our Company from Cyber Threats Throughout 2023, cyber ransomware attacks have surged by 37%, with a concerning shift towards targeting the construction industry. Ransomware is a type of malicious attack designed to block access to files or a computer system until a sum of money is paid. 95% of ransomware attacks begin with users revealing their login information, so we need your help to protect our systems and your personal information. Click here to read how – we promise it’s a safe link ? 1. Exercise Extreme Caution: Pay close attention to emails and links received. If you receive an unexpected link (in email or an attachment), don’t click on it, even if it appears to be from a known sender. Always verify with the sender directly via phone, not email, to ensure authenticity. 2. Watch for Impersonations: You should never ever log into a website with UES passwords that is not explicitly Microsoft.com or another site that you have set up a UES login for in advance. Look at the website address carefully. 3. Protect Your Login Credentials: Never share your usernames or passwords. Legitimate sources will never ask for such information. 4. Report Suspicious Activity: When in doubt, use the 'Report Phish' button to notify our security team. This is available to many throughout the company and appears in the upper right corner of your email. If you don’t see this button, and have any doubt or questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Helpdesk for immediate assistance and guidance. Or simply delete the email. Together, we can strengthen our cyber defenses and avoid potential threats. Let's stay proactive and prioritize cyber security in all our interactions online. Thank you! |
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Help Recruit New Team Members, Receive a Referral Bonus!
We’re always looking for talented individuals to join the UES family! With job openings around the country, the opportunities are endless. Check out the full list on our website and look out for our weekly email Hot Jobs that lists open positions across the regions. At UES, there’s room to grow! You can help us continue to grow our talented pipeline by referring qualified candidates through our employee referral program. Employee referral programs are a great way to bring talented people to UES. As we grow, we need your help finding and referring individuals with the same passion for our STRIVE values of teamwork and excellence. As you refer potential candidates to UES, you are helping to build a strong, cohesive team and our future! This is a big win for everyone. Share our job openings with your connections and friends and you may be eligible to receive a referral bonus. Have a great candidate in mind? Please contact your regional recruiting/HR partners listed below for details on the referral bonus program. |
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Wellness Corner: HSA Cards and Annual Physical Deadline Optum Health Savings Account Payment Cards Issued For those of you who participate in UES health plans, and take advantage of a health savings account (HSA), please be aware that Optum Financial is issuing a new HSA payment card to you. This is just a note to be on the lookout for it and activate it when it arrives. Annual Physical Deadline Reminder Also for those of you who participate in UES’ health plans, a reminder that the deadline to have your annual physical in order to receive a $30/pay period discount on your health insurance premiums in 2024 is September 30. If you don’t get an annual physical in time and your discount ends, you can still get a physical at any time and begin the discount again, but it will begin 1–2 pay periods from the date the notification is received by UES. Learn more. |
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Master Service Agreements Available on Huddle The Commercial Sales Group (CSG) has added a National Master Service Agreements Summary file to their Huddle page. Included is an overall description of the MSAs for the following organizations who have executed national agreements for use anywhere in the US. - Lithko Contracting - Brookfield Properties - Kimley-Horn - B&T Group - Kiewit - Engineering - Kiewit - Power - Walmart - Texas Instruments - McDonald’s To view these national agreements, log onto Huddle and click on the blue “Sales Tools” button at the top of the homepage. You can also access the page directly here. To learn more about our national MSAs, scroll down to read the article “UES Grows Organically Through National MSAs” in the April edition of Huddle Up. If you need help accessing Huddle, please contact the IT Help Desk at HelpDesk@teamues.com. |
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| Register for the Next Virtual Town Hall Join Us for a Virtual Town Hall Meeting! You’re invited to attend our next virtual town hall meeting with UES leadership and team members from across the country. This very special broadcast will include the announcement of our first ever STRIVE Award winners!
- Wednesday, September 13, 2023
- 3:30 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. ET
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| The town hall will end with a Q&A session. Please submit your anonymous questions in advance. There will also be the opportunity to submit questions during the event. If you can't make it, we understand and appreciate your hard work to provide excellent service to our clients. A recording will be shared after the event. |
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Safety Update: Heat Safety and Avoiding Heat Illness Working in warmer weather is a welcome break from the colder months, but it brings along some unique challenges, like the risk of sunburn, heat stroke, and dehydration.
We are now in the official summer season, and record high temperatures are already impacting weather and conditions across the country. Whether outdoor work is a major component of your job here at UES, or you are more of a weekend warrior spending time outdoors doing yardwork or engaging in family activities, it is important to be prepared and stay safe while working (and playing) outdoors. |
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| Ways to Protect Yourself and Others
Be aware of weather conditions when you will be working outside so that you can be prepared with appropriate clothing and beverages. If you are working outside and start to feel any adverse symptoms, inform your supervisor and take a break. Please review our Avoid Heat Illness toolbox talk found on the Safety page of Huddle or available for download here to learn how to stay cool when the weather heats up. Read more here about how the right PPE can minimize your risks of heat related illness or injury. Thank you for taking the time to review this important safety information. Our commitment to safety is a promise to ourselves, our teammates and our communities, who rely and count on us. Please take the time to do everything in your power to ensure that every person is safe! |
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| Wellness Corner: Focusing on Brain Health
In this month’s Wellness Corner, we are providing some great resources for making the most out of summer as well as some simple steps you can take to improve your brain health today and into the future.
Have you ever looked back at the end of summer wondering where all of your time went? It can get easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of activities from barbecues, gatherings of families or friends, vacations, summer sports, etc. Squeeze in a bit more fun this summer with the help of these tips. And for some more summer reading, and brain training, check out these simple steps you can take to improve your brain health today and into the future. |
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Congratulations on 30 Years, Rick! North Florida Region President, Rick Kushner, PE, celebrated his 30th anniversary with UES on May 10th, 2023. During Florida’s joint North Florida & South Florida leadership meeting, Rick was presented with an award as well as a card signed by many UES teammates. Rick, thank you for all you have done for UES these past 30 years, and for all you continue to do! |
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| STRIVE Banners Now Available for Order!
Did you know you can order pull-up/retractable banners and frameable posters of our STRIVE values for your location? |
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May is Mental Health Awareness Month! Take Advantage of Free Counseling Sessions Available Through EAP May is Mental Health Awareness Month! We wanted to take the time this month to remind all our team members that the Employee Assistance Program offers up to five face-to-face sessions with a mental health professional, per person/per household/per year? UES is proud to offer an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to all employees and their families at no extra cost to aid with mental health challenges them and their loved ones might be facing. The EAP includes 24/7 over-the-phone counseling support through master’s-level counselors. Additionally, the EAP also includes up to five face-to-face sessions with a mental health professional (per person/household, per year). Again, at no extra cost to the employee. Though these services are short term, employees that would benefit from speaking with a mental health counselor on a more on-going basis can be provided referrals by the EAP professionals to additional resources for support and mental health care.
With more employees discussing mental health at work now than ever before, mental health support in the workplace has moved from a nice-to-have to an essential part of ensuring a healthy workplace for both employees and employers alike. UES has placed a strong emphasis on committing to the overall health and wellness of employees, with mental health support being top of mind. Click to read the PDF above for more mental health tips to live by. As UES continues to bring on more talent to our already expansive team, we strive to ensure that each team member has the resources needed to be successful both at work, and at home by building and maintaining an inclusive culture where each individual feels valued and supported. While culture certainly helps, we know that when it comes to mental health, it’s not enough.
We are grateful for the hard work and dedication of our employees and understand that factors both at work and at home can contribute to the decline of our team members’ mental health. We will continue to actively work on providing not only an environment where employees feel safe and understood, but also provide them with the resources needed to thrive. |
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Safety is Everyone’s Responsibility As Dave mentioned in this month’s opening message, safety is the responsibility of ALL team members at UES, not just a select few. Safety is so important that it’s the first of our STRIVE values. Next week we will be celebrating Construction Safety Week, a time when our industry focuses on the importance of safety, but also the importance of creating a culture that empowers every person on the job site to recognize and act on any potential risk. Construction Safety Week is just one opportunity to recognize and celebrate our promise to do whatever it takes to send everyone home safely every day. In the next issue of Huddle Up we will be spotlighting the various events, presentations, and safety topics promoted by our team members across the regions during the week. We also look forward to seeing your Construction Safety Week photos on social media! Safety Updates
- The safety team continues to emphasize the importance of maintaining and improving vehicle safety. Driver Scorecards continue to improve with overall scores continuing at or around 96% and above. Our goal is 96.5%. Each of you, our UES team members, deserve credit and congratulations for the efforts to get here. Let’s ensure we continue this trend beyond Construction Safety Week.
- We also want to highlight situational awareness to all of our team members completing assigned tasks at various jobsites, as well as our offices. The majority of UES work-related injuries and incidents requiring some degree of medical attention, are associated with non-vehicular incidents (non-MVA). The events leading to these incidents are typically associated with the Top 15 Construction-related OSHA violations detailed in this article.
- Beginning in May, you will receive a separate email each month from our safety leaders, discussing the most common safety issues company-wide! Here are two great reminders for Construction Safety Week:
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Our commitment to safety is a promise to ourselves, our teammates and our communities, who rely and count on us. Please take the time to do everything in your power to ensure that every person is safe! |
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UES Grows Organically Through National MSAs
At UES, our business grows both organically and through acquisitions. Our organic growth is driven by multiple drivers: expanding our existing services with new and existing clients, creating new service lines, expanding into new end markets, and establishing national clients with a Master Services Agreement, also known as an MSA. An MSA is a contract between two parties who work together. It establishes what terms and conditions will govern all future activities and responsibilities. MSAs are useful because they eliminate the need to recreate a new contract for every project. For example, if UES has an MSA with a national client, it allows all branches across the country to do work for this client without having to establish a new contract. UES has been pursuing national accounts and in year-to-date, we have established 6 new MSAs including: B&T Group – a provider of infrastructure solutions to wireless carriers and tower owner/operators Kiewit Power & Kiewit Engineering – one of North America’s largest and most respected engineering and construction organizations Texas Instruments – a semiconductor technology company Walmart – an international retail company Lithko – one of the country’s largest concrete contractors If you are interested in learning more about UES’ MSAs and how you can utilize these MSAs in your region, please reach out to Ron Harris, Growth Leader, at rharris@teamues.com. |
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Check out UES' New Services: Petrographic Testing and Asbestos Testing UES is excited to share that SUMMIT Engineering, Laboratory & Testing, a UES Company, is now offering two new services - petrographic testing (Raleigh branch) and an asbestos laboratory (Charlotte branch). With a longstanding history of providing expert-quality geotechnical engineering, construction materials testing, environmental testing, and more to clients spanning across the nation, we are thrilled to be expanding our already extensive list of services offered. Petrographic Testing Petrographic testing identifies problems with new or existing concrete and determines the current state of a concrete mass. As concrete is a man-made conglomerate, over time the product may deteriorate, crack, and cause long-term instability. Petrography provides information on the type, proportion and reactivity of different constituents, on-going deterioration mechanisms, and potential for future deterioration. The Raleigh team is available to answer and discuss projects where petrographic testing might be beneficial. They can assist in pricing proposals, make recommendations for sample collection, or devise a testing sequence for the most cost-efficient analysis of both normal and degrading concrete. Prices are competitive and price matching is available. Learn more here and reach out to Project Manager Cary Caruso or Raleigh Branch Manager Jason Coble for more information. Asbestos Laboratory SUMMIT's Charlotte office now offers a National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) accredited asbestos lab. This lab is a highly specialized facility that offers testing services to determine the presence of levels of asbestos in various materials, such as building materials, soil, and the air. The asbestos lab uses advanced equipment and techniques to accurately and reliably detect and measure asbestos fibers and offers a range of testing services, including bulk sample analysis, air monitoring, and soil testing. Bulk sample analysis involves collecting and analyzing samples of suspected asbestos containing materials, such as ceiling tiles, insulation, and floor tiles. Air monitoring includes collecting air samples to determine airborne asbestos fibers levels in a particular area. Soil testing involves analyzing samples of soil to determine the presence of levels of asbestos fibers. Learn more here and reach out to Environmental Lab Manager Maria Cao for any further information. |
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ASTM Compass Webinar May 3
We’ve previously shared the great news that all UES team members have access to ASTM's Compass portal, which contains thousands of ASTM's and AASHTO's published standards. The ASTM team is holding a free webinar on Wednesday, May 3, at 9 a.m. ET, which will be a comprehensive overview of all the features and content custom to the Compass platform. Learn more and register here. Everyone can access Compass at Compass.teamues.com using their TeamUES username and password. If you’re not sure what your username or password is, or you have not yet received yours, you can email the Help Desk at Helpdesk@teamues.com. |
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| UES Makes a Slam Dunk at DBIA
Recently, UES was a platinum sponsor of two conferences held by the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) in Seattle, Washington – one focusing on the transportation and aviation sectors, and the second on water and wastewater. The UES booth featured a basketball theme to coincide with March Madness and was able to exhibit our wide array of services, including our new virtual design consulting, to more than 2,000 attendees! During the conference week, UES also held two client events at Copperworks Distilling Company, a local Seattle distiller, where clients had the opportunity to connect one-on-one with UES staff while enjoying a tasting of local spirits and learning about the process of distilling through a private tour. As we continue to grow and build our newly re-vamped brand, we are excited to expand our reach nationwide and attend more conferences providing opportunities to educate partners, clients, and prospects on the services we offer! Check out the pictures below! |
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Left to right: National Director, Virtual Design Consulting James Slusher, Jr., PE, South Florida Branch Manager Rey Villa, MS, PE, Chief Engineer of Geotechnology’s South Region Ash Elsayed, PhD., PE, D.GE, M.ASCE, Business Unit Manager Rene Aburto-Garcia, President of the West Region Trent Anderson, FAST Marketing Manager Patrick Walden and Vice President, Business Development Royce Parker. |
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The Growing Fight Against Forever Chemicals As we shared in a recent blog post on our website, billions of dollars have been made available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to assist communities in addressing contamination from "forever chemicals" like per - and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in public drinking water supplies. Additionally, several recent EPA proposals will require monitoring of PFAS in drinking water, and pending legislation may also require testing for water discharged during activities such as construction or the cleanup of a Superfund site. What are PFAS? PFAS are a set of man-made chemicals that have been used in a wide range of consumer and industrial products since the 1940’s due to their resistance to grease, oil, water, and heat. For example, PFAS are used in stain and water-resistant fabrics and carpeting, cleaning products, paints, and fire-fighting foams. PFAS has been shown to cause cancer and other severe health problems and poses serious threat to drinking water supplies across rural, suburban, and urban communities. While many manufacturers are ceasing their use, the cleanup of existing contamination is really just beginning. How we can solve, serve, and succeed in the fight against PFAS UES is well positioned to assist communities, industries, and other impacted entities to investigate through sampling, monitoring, and remediation of water contaminated with PFAS. PFAS sampling is extremely sensitive to cross contamination which leads to false positives, and the mitigation and remediation technologies are currently evolving, which makes turning to UES’ experts the best and simplest solution. The implications, and potential revenue, from EPA’s outstanding proposals and the potential legislation are enormous for our environmental teams across the country. Some clients may also be looking to get ahead of required regulations and want to assess potential PFAS risks beginning now. Potential clients/projects include: · Public water systems · Wastewater treatment facilities · Landfills · Superfund sites · Any construction requiring dewatering
You can help raise awareness of this issue, and our ability to help, by sharing our blog post, our LinkedIn post, or referring clients to your local business development or environmental team. We’ll also continue to share related content and marketing materials. |
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Ready? Break. Cross sell! Cross-selling supplementary services based on the customer’s interest is a great way of increasing customer loyalty and deepening customer relationships which in turn can improve customer lifetime value and retention. Melisse James, PE, Environmental Manager for UES Orlando, recently cross-sold an extensive Subsurface Utility Mapping (SUM) campaign to Beazer as part of an environmental due diligence package for a former Naval Training Center spanning 100 acres. The environmental portion will generate around $25,000 while the geophysical survey provides a whopping $50,000 of additional revenue. That’s quite an increase in customer value! Melisse’s collaboration with Ben Weide, PG, Regional Florida Manager of UES’ newly formed VDC group, is just one of many examples of how cross-selling can retain existing customers and gain new ones. Not to mention the positive impact on the P&L. So, when you break the huddle today, think of ways your team can add value to customers and UES by cross-selling. |
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Compass - Your True North for Thousands of Resources
In December (as you can see below), we shared the great news that all UES team members have access to ASTM's Compass portal, which contains thousands of ASTM's and AASHTO's published standards.
Everyone can access Compass at Compass.teamues.com using their TeamUES username and password. Not sure what yours is? Check your December 13th email about Compass for more info or reach out to the UES Helpdesk at Helpdesk@teamues.com or call at 407-544-9250.
IMPORTANT: Your Compass access is based on a Microsoft Single Sign-On (SSO) experience. If you’re on the TeamUES domain (those in Florida and most of the West), you can click through to sign onto Compass the same way you sign into your computer. If you’re NOT on the TeamUES domain, Single Sign-On can create issues by logging you out of your current Microsoft environment. To avoid this, open a private or "incognito" window in your browser before typing in Compass.teamues.com. Click here to learn how. |
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Plus, as part of our company-wide ASTM membership, we have made more than 60 of ASTM's eLearning courses available in the UES LMS. For those with access to the UES LMS, to view the ASTM eLearning courses, you can search for ASTM or click on Training > Courses and then view the ASTM category on the righthand side. |
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| UES Attending DBIA Transportation & Wastewater Conferences in Seattle
UES is excited to be attending two back-to-back conferences in Seattle this March, hosted by the Design-Build Institute of America’s (DBIA): one for transportation and another for water/wastewater.
Representatives from UES will be at booth #627 to share information about our company, services, and of course, our new branding! If you know any clients who are attending, please be sure to let them know to drop by our booth for some UES swag or to set up a meeting to learn more on our services.
UES will be hosting two client events at a local distillery during the conference week. Pictures from the conferences and events will be posted on our social media channels shortly after.
For more information on the conferences, visit the links below: DBIA – Transportation and Aviation Conference March 13 – 15, 2023 https://dbia.org/design-build-for-transportation-conference/ DBIA – Water/Wastewater Conference March 15 – 17, 2023 https://dbia.org/design-build-for-water-wastewater-conference/ |
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Going Green at FAST
Ensuring a healthy planet for many generations to come is one of the most pressing issues in society today for businesses and individuals alike, and each of us have a responsibility to do our part in protecting the planet. UES is proud to share that we’ve continued our commitment to corporate sustainability by renewing our Edenark Group ISO 14001 Environmental Sustainability Certification through 2023 for our FAST headquarters in Orlando, Florida. While rebuilding from the impact of the pandemic, our FAST team was able to fully complete seven sustainability projects in 2022. Additionally, new projects have been started since the beginning of the year. Completed projects include: reduced energy consumption, increased air quality, reducing junk mail, consolidating orders to reduce shipping, and elimination of Styrofoam.
At UES, we understand the impact that human activities and are proud of the efforts in which we are taking to minimize our impacts on the environment! |
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Give Yourself a Raise in 2023!
If you’re not enrolled in the 401(k) then you’re missing out on free money available in the form of a company matching contribution! We’ve made some great enhancements to the retirement plan benefits this year, including an increase in the company match. An Increase in Company Match! The company now matches your personal 401(k) contributions at 100% up to 3%, plus 50% on the 4th and 5th percent. That’s a net employer match of 4% on your contributions!
- Here’s An Example: An employee earning $65,000 that personally contributes 5% to the 401(k) plan ($3,250 in a year), PLUS receives a net 4% employer match of $2,600 (100% on the first 3% = $1,950 + 50% on 4th and 5th = $650), contributing a grand total of $5,850. The tax-deductible contribution saved an estimated $715 a year in tax! With an assumed average rate of return of 8% over 10 years, the 401(k) balance could grow to be $85,000 from making a 5% contribution!
Employer Matching Contributions Are Now Fully Vested! All matching contributions made starting this month, January 2023, are fully vested upon receipt. Everyone is Eligible to Enroll! As of January 1, all current employees that were hired on or before 12/31/22 are eligible to start participating in the 401(k) plan, regardless of their length of service with UES or an affiliate company. Employees hired 1/1/23 or later will receive detailed information on their eligibility date in the future. Take Action Today! To enroll in the UES 401(k) plan, visit www.empower.com. The earlier you sign up, the better! Once eligible, you can decide to enroll at any time in the future. Questions? Visit www.empower.com or contact the Empower Service Center by calling (800) 338-4015. |
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Free Counseling Sessions Available Through EAP Did you know that our Employee Assistance Program offers up to five face-to-face sessions with a mental health professional, per person/per household/per year? Find out how! With more employees discussing mental health at work now than ever before, mental health support in the workplace has moved from a nice-to-have to an essential part of ensuring a healthy workplace for both employees and employers alike. As we begin the new year, UES has placed a strong emphasis on committing to the overall health and wellness of employees, with mental health support being top of mind. As UES continues to bring on more talent to our already expansive team, we strive to ensure that each team member has the resources needed to be successful both at work, and at home by building and maintaining an inclusive culture where each individual feels valued and supported. While culture certainly helps, we know that when it comes to mental health, it’s not enough. UES is proud to offer an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to all employees and their families at no extra cost to aid with mental health challenges they and their loved ones might be facing. The EAP includes 24/7 over-the-phone counseling support through master’s-level counselors. Additionally, the EAP also includes up to five face-to-face sessions with a mental health professional (per person/household, per year). Again, at no extra cost to the employee. Though these services are short term, employees that would benefit from speaking with a mental health counselor on a more on-going basis can be provided referrals by the EAP professionals to additional resources for support and mental health care. At UES, we are grateful for the hard work and dedication of our employees and understand that factors both at work and at home can contribute to the decline of our team members’ mental health. We will continue to actively work on providing not only an environment where employees feel safe and understood, but also provide them with the resources needed to thrive. Learn more about our values at UES here. |
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| Register for the Next Virtual Town Hall Join Us for a Virtual Town Hall Meeting! You’re invited to attend a virtual town hall meeting with UES senior leaders and team members from across the country.
Thursday, March 2, 2023 3:30 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. ET
Topics for the town hall include:
- 2022 highlights
- Welcome DBA & Carmichael Engineering
- Benefits
- Project spotlights
- What’s ahead in 2023
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| The town hall will end with a Q&A session. Please submit your anonymous questions in advance. There will also be the opportunity to submit questions during the event. If you can't make it, we understand and appreciate your hard work to provide excellent service to our clients. A recording will be shared after the event. |
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Compass Access for ASTM/AASHTO Standards
As an employee in the UES family of companies, you have access to ASTM’s Compass system, a web-based dashboard that allows easy access to all ASTM offers.
ASTM (the American Society for Testing Materials) standards are used and accepted worldwide. In addition to ASTM’s published standards and resources, they have an extensive library of training videos and e-learning within their ASTM Learning Center.
AASHTO (the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) also releases their Materials Standards and Test Methods, now available to you through the Compass portal as well. Here are some tips on finding the AASHTO materials within Compass. You log into Compass using your TeamUES username and password. Please refer to the email you should have received on Tuesday with more details on logging in. If you have any trouble with your access, please contact the UES Helpdesk at Helpdesk@teamues.com or (407) 544-9250. |
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| UES Moving into New Markets
As we continue our national growth plans, UES is targeting new, fast-growing markets to serve so we can diversify our reach and increase our resilience to economic downturns.
These emerging markets include:
• Data Centers – Data centers are buildings used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems. The need for data centers has rapidly accelerated with the use of social media, increasing needs of data storage, and growing demand for online work. Site selection and infrastructure are critical components of a data center project, and UES can provide the services needed to ensure a successful build. • Solar Energy – Solar is more affordable, accessible, and prevalent in the United States than ever before. In July 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration, through the US Department of Energy (DOE), announced significant funding to spur innovation in domestic solar manufacturing and recycling. Solar farms are popping up across America in all shapes and sizes. Geotechnical engineering is required to evaluate the soil’s composition before a solar farm is created. We are currently working on many of these projects in some regions, and we are working on knowledge transfer to allow other businesses and regions to benefit from that expertise.
• Semi-conductor Manufacturing – Semi-conductors may be the new oil! As the demand for electronic and smart devices grows, (cars, cell phones, computers, digital watches, etc.) semi-conductor demand world-wide has grown. The US recently passed the ‘Chips Act’ to increase our investment in this technology. New semi-conductor ‘fabs’ are being built in Arizona, Texas, and Ohio with more on the way. Some of the projects announced are over $100 billion, and they all require many of the services we provide. • Department of Transportation – The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) provides $550 billion in new funding for transportation and infrastructure spending over a five-year period (fiscal years 2022 through 2026). It is the largest long-term investment in our infrastructure and economy in our nation’s history. It includes investments in roads, bridges, mass transit, and more. UES is positioned to work with DOTs around the country to provide services supporting these investment projects. |
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