The first reported meeting of the Western Pennsylvania Utility Contractors Association (WPUCA) was in May of 1966. It was stated at the time that getting paid would be the area of greatest activity and meeting participants were focusing on efforts to stop a proposal which would place pipe work under plumbers’ jurisdiction.
The first recorded meeting was held at the Holiday House in Pittsburgh on January 19, 1967. Attendees were Angelo Sciullo of Dan Sciullo & Company; John Kotch of Gerald Vitale, Inc.; Lawrence Victoria of N. Victoria & Sons; Harold Schneider and Fred Sanders of H.J. Schneider Construction Company; John Kukurin of Frank Kukurin & Sons, Inc.; A. Sweeney and Park Lefler of A.H. Sweeney Construction Company; Ed Rawlings of Knox & Knox Agency; Paul Williams of American Vitrified; and Don Worthington of the Flintkote Company.
The Association was incorporated in April of 1967 and was granted its charter by an Allegheny County Court. Witnesses were Harold Schneider, John L. Spiegel, Lawrence Victoria, and Angelo Sciullo. WPUCA’s first officers were elected November 30, 1967. Carl Nardei was elected President, Paul Poknis Vice President, Angelo Sciullo Secretary, and Harold Schneider Treasurer. The first directors were Fred Zeglin, Lawrence Victoria, and A.H. Sweeney.
At the May, 1968 meeting the Association was reported to have 20 contractor members and 12 associate members. In March of 1969, a WPUCA office was opened in the Professional Building in Bridgeville, under the direction of Carl Nardei.
The First Annual Convention of the National Utility Contractors Association (NUCA) was held in Pittsburgh, June 27-28, 1969, at the Redwood Motor Hotel. John Spiegel was employed as the Association’s attorney on February 10, 1970. The National Utility Contractors Association, Inc. elected Harold Schneider as its 1970 President and Dan Carapellucci, Sr. was NUCA President in 1982.
In early 1969, a group of utility contracting industry leaders banded together to form the Utility Contractors Association of Eastern Pennsylvania (UCAEP). The date of incorporation was August 11, 1969. UCAEP’s primary goals, as stated in the ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION, were to define, establish and preserve the identity and the common interests of the utility industry; promote better relations between utility contractors and governmental agencies, other contractors and the public; foster, encourage and maintain safety standards in the conduct of work; participate in or support legal actions, to the extent and in the manner deemed appropriate in each case, which affect the interests of utility contractors.
The original founders listed in the ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION were Anthony J. Shuttle, Jr. of A. Shuttle & Co. Inc.; David J. Hawk and John Frain of Nenna & Frain, Inc.; Erole J. Spinosa of D&C Spinosa Company; and L. Cylde Smith of Chas. F. Smith & Sons, Inc. Anthony Shuttle, Jr. was NUCA President in 1972. The original Directors/Officers were A.J. Shuttle, Jr., President; Anthony Marques, Vice President; Joseph Julian, Secretary; and John Frain, Treasurer. The Solicitor for the Association was Otis W. Erisman of Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis. For many years, Chuck Hagie was the Chapter’s Executive Director.
The Utility Contractors Association of Eastern Pennsylvania (UCAEP) was affiliated with the National Utility Contractors Association (NUCA) in late 1969 as the result of a meeting between Antonio M. (Tom) Marinelli, Co-Founder of NUCA; Joseph D. D’Annuzio, then President of NUCA, and a group of interested eastern Pennsylvania contractors. A partial list of attendees at that 1969 meeting included Joseph Julian of James Julian, Inc.; David Hawk of Builders Sanitary Sewers, Inc.; Marlay Smith of Chas F. Smith & Son, Inc.; George Tripp of George Tripp, Inc./Marona Construction Co.; Anthony Shuttle, Jr. of A. Shuttle & Company, Inc.; William E. Sherry of C & T Associates, Inc., and John Frain of Nenna & Frain, Inc.
The eastern and western Associations cooperated through the 70’s and early 80’s under umbrella Task Forces such as More Work – Jobs Now; the Region 3 EPA Task Force, and the Sewer and Water Task Force. Tony Shuttle, Harold Schneider and Emanuel Paris provided long-term leadership to these Task Forces whose efforts resulted in increased industry funding, the Pennsylvania Water Facilities Loan Board ($300,000,000 bond issue), Pennsylvania Call Before You Dig, Act 317 – Contractor Prompt Pay, Standard Specifications for Utility Construction, creation of the $1.2 billion PennVest Program, blasting training and licensing, bid error withdrawal, elimination of licensed plumbers on public water and sewer projects, retainage of sales tax exemption on public utility projects, etc.
In January of 1984, in recognition of common interests and needs, the WPUCA and UCAEP were dissolved as corporations and the new state-wide Association was formed. The incorporation and chartering of the Pennsylvania Utility Contractors Association was handled by John Spiegel with William McQuade continuing as Executive Director at the Parkway Center, Greentree office. Robert Rice was employed as Association Executive Director in January, 1987 working with William McQuade until his retirement on March 30, 1987. In April, 1987, the PUCA offices were relocated to a more central Pennsylvania location just outside of Harrisburg. In 1996, Brenda Reigle was hired as the new Executive Director for PUCA and moved the office in 1997 to a prime location, one block from the state capital. Beginning in 2012, the association decided to do business as NUCA of Pennsylvania to brand with NUCA National to promote unity and strengthen numbers. In 2013, the office was moved to 4400 Deer Path Road, Suite 106, Harrisburg, PA 17110.
Brenda Reigle retired October 31, 2022, after twenty-six years as the Executive Director. She won many NUCA National awards for Government Relations, Executive Director of the Year and was the first Executive Director to receive the national “We Dig America” award in 2020. She mentored many Chapter Directors throughout her years and advocated for the use of Subsurface Utility Engineering in the planning and design phase as well as geospatial mapping for better utility project designs.
On August 5, 2022, the Association Management firm of Milliron Goodman was hired to oversee the operations and administrative duties of NUCA-PA. The NUCA-PA office at Deer Path Road was moved to the office location of Milliron Goodman at 200 North 3rd Street, Suite 1500, Harrisburg, PA 17101 by September 31, 2022.
On November 2, 2023, with Board approval, the Membership voted to amend the bylaws to split from NUCA National effective December 31, 2023. On January 1, 2024 NUCA-PA officially moved back to their original name: Pennsylvania Utility Contractors Association (PUCA) and adopted a new logo to reflect the change.
