In May 2015, Vermeer announced that Ulmer Contracting had become one of eight finalists in North America — and the only Canadian company — competing for the top spot in its Ultimate Crew contest, a competition intended to highlight the skills of directional drillers.
Participants were asked to write and submit essays describing what made their HDD operator, locator, mud technician and supervisor the Ultimate Crew. Submissions were reviewed by a panel of five independent industry expert judges who sifted through the contest entries and narrowed the field down to just eight.
“Ulmer Contracting was selected as the only Canadian Ultimate Crew and we are very happy to support them,” stated Don Castron, director of Vermeer BC. “Chuck Ulmer is a passionate leader who appreciates great customer service, teamwork, quality equipment and safety. He is a very loyal Vermeer equipment customer of ours and we are very proud to be their preferred equipment dealer.”
Video interviews with each crew were posted on NavigatorNation.com on June 1, and industry peers were asked to vote for their favorite crew through Aug. 31, 2015. The four crews with the most votes were then invited to participate in the Underground Showdown HDD skill competition held at ICUEE in Louisville, Kentucky, during October.
“You don’t even know if you’ve got a sniff at North America wide, and then you find out you’ve got eighth place — that’s quite the feather in your cap,” Ulmer says. “We didn’t go any further than eighth place, but eighth place in North America wasn’t bad. It was great as a matter of fact.”
Although Ulmer Contracting did not make the final phase of the competition, it’s clear they’ve established themselves as one of Canada and North America’s industry leaders. And as he mentions in the semi-finalist video interview, the company’s crew members are fortunate enough to achieve a victory of sorts day in and day out through the enjoyment of their work and a job well done.
“It feels like you win every day when you go out to unique jobs and knock them out. It’s exciting, and for us it’s daily,” he says. “I really enjoy every day. Every day is a new challenge.”
That kind of enthusiasm is appreciated by his customers, Ulmer notes, and many of them have been customers for quite some time. From his perspective, what keeps them coming back for more is the way the job gets done.
“They know it’s done, and that’s what they like,” he says. “They don’t like extras. Put enough money into the job the first time around and that’s it. Don’t whine, don’t snivel, no nothing. Get ’er done.”
