We’re nearly halfway through 2019, and unless you’ve been in a cave or under a rock, you understand that the environmental market is exploding right now. I have been in the environmental industry for 32 years (wow that’s a long time), and I do not believe I have ever experienced this much activity. The size, scopes, and complexities of our current projects are overwhelming. J.F Brennan Company (Brennan) is extremely fortunate to have a very busy, robust workload this year with some exciting projects underway, and more that are set to begin once fish windows open. Based on our own surplus of work and activity, I wanted to share my observations and discuss the current state of the environmental community from a dredging contractor’s perspective.

The Inland Marine Expo (IMX) took place last week in St. Louis, MO, overlapping with National Maritime Day. Conference attendees, exhibitors, keynotes and panelists came together at the Dome at America’s Center to educate, celebrate (and sometimes commiserate), the state of the inland marine industry.

Equipment-heavy industries continually push for optimal uptimes. At J.F. Brennan Company, Inc. (Brennan), we’re committed to investing in our equipment not only during the purchasing process, but also during scheduled off-season maintenance. Internally, we coined the term “Brennanize” to refer to the custom alterations our team executes upon acquiring assets as well as our carefully regimented maintenance.

By Michael Cannell—Quality and Safety Manager

As construction projects pick up speed across the country, so do construction- and safety-related news stories. It’s important to ask: What is J.F. Brennan Company, Inc. (Brennan) doing to ensure the safety of our team? And, can we increase safety measures without sacrificing productivity?