News

DONCO, LLC Launches New Gas Construction Services Division

(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – March 29, 2019) – Metro East utility design, information technology and meter services company Donco, LLC is broadening its services to include gas construction.
 
The new division will focus on services such as gas pipeline construction, gas leak repair, design services and employee training. Donco, LLC Chairwoman and CEO, Candice Fowler, said the company decided to start the division after realizing it was an area where local options and expertise were in short supply. They plan to provide more jobs for local contract workers and help keep construction dollars in the Metro East and St. Louis.
 
“We recognized that there are hardly any contractors in our immediate region offering gas construction services,” said Fowler. “We brought in a gas industry expert, Ed Scott, who worked to develop qualifications, best practices and training videos used by the American Gas Association (AGA) and Midwest Energy Association (MEA) today. Expanding our services to fill that gap made sense to us. Not only are we going to help businesses get more jobs done locally, our experts will also be able to ensure that best practices and safety standards are being met.”
 
Gas Operations Superintendent Ed Scott has spent 45 years working in the gas construction industry. Over that time, he has worked in every position from an entry level service laborer, journeyman, foreman and eventually administrator who trains others on gas construction safety practices. Scott will lead a team of other highly trained gas construction services professionals with a wide range of expertise.
 
“What makes our gas division so unique is that we offer turnkey solutions for large construction projects. Not only will we design and electronically map the project through Donco’s Utility Design Services company, we will also build it with well trained, local workers,” said Scott. “Companies will not only be able to spend less money transporting equipment and workers in from out of state, they’ll have the benefit of dealing with just one company for projects, rather than several.”
 
Scott spent 15 years working as a senior trainer at Ameren Training Center and has been certified for nearly 30 years as a State of Illinois Third Party Safety Officer, Certified Welding Inspector (CWI) and Certified Welding Educator (CWE). As a representative of ASME International (American Society of Mechanical Engineers), Scott also worked with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to develop safety standards such as the Operator Qualification Rule, which requires that anyone working on a pipeline that contains any kind of hazardous product has to be properly trained.
 
Scott said the recent events, such as the over-pressurization incident of the gas distribution system in Massachusetts that caused a series of explosions and fires that destroyed five homes, highlights the importance of quality employee training and safety procedures.
 
“I think, nationally, that incident was a game-changer for our industry and my goal is to make sure I’m always providing our employees with the detailed training and operational experience they need to feel confident working in this field,” said Scott.
 
Ty Taake has been hired to fill the position of gas general foreman. Taake has nearly twenty years of experience working as a foreman, operating engineer and excavator. He also has extensive experience working on and managing pipeline projects.
 
Danny Tyler has also joined the gas division team as the gas distribution consultant. Tyler has 27 years of gas experience with Ameren Illinois where he most recently spent 11 years as a general foreman of a construction crew, retiring in 2017.
 
Donco, LLC is a woman-owned firm serving Illinois and the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. It recently received a world-class certification from the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). The business ranks No. 26 on the St. Louis Business Journal’s list of 50 fastest-growing private companies and 17 on the publication’s list of largest woman-owned businesses. Donco, LLC was also selected for the St. Louis Business Journal’s 2019 list of Best Places to Work.
 
Donco has over 300 employees in five divisions: gas construction services (http://donco.co/divisions/gas-construction-services/) and metering services (https://donco.co/), information technology (Fowler Technology Services), electrical design (Utility Design Services), and management services (Fowler Management Services). For more information about Donco, LLC go to https://donco.co/ or call Brett Angelico at 618-797-5299.