President’s Message
President Mike Kivlin,
Utility Service Company
Dear Friends,
Happy Fall! I hope you are all doing well,
and your businesses are booming. Thank
you to all our members and sponsors!
Without you, this great association would
not be here.
I apologize for my absence over the last
few months, but things have been crazy
around JWI (as I’m sure it has been for
the rest of you, too). On September 30th,
we lost a giant of our industry. Weldon
Woodall, known as “Woody” by everybody
that knew him, passed away. He founded
John Woody, Inc. in 1979, and has been a
stable presence here in Jacksonville and
around the state of Florida ever since.
His passing has left me admiring how
smart and innovative he truly was. Some
of the technologies that he developed
for trenchers are still in use today. It also
has made me grateful. Yes, you read that
right. I’m grateful that he was caring and
intelligent enough to have a succession
plan in place for John Woody, Inc. Now,
Woody has been out of the business for
over a decade (almost two), but when
he left, he made sure that their was no
mistaking who was in charge and how it
was going to be. In doing so, he instilled
the same ideals in his son, Mike Woodall,
who has created his own succession plan.
We get so caught up in the everyday
business of making money today, that
the future is sometimes forgotten about.
Not everybody is as lucky as Woody and
Mike W. in that they had/have family
members ready to step in and keep the
show running, but by taking the time to
groom/train your employees, a successful
transition can easily be accomplished.
Make sure the legacy of your business and
yourself continues to live on without you.
For those of you that missed it, The
Presidents Cup, which was held at Rosen’s
Shingle Creek in Orlando was a great
success. It was great seeing everybody,
and I can’t wait for next years’ event. Our
advocacy efforts are going strong, but they
can always be doing more. Donations to
our Advocacy Fund and our Bidding for
Benjamins program are always greatly
appreciated. Other than Kari and Scott
getting geared up for another Legislative
Session, Q4 is usually pretty quiet for
NUCA of Florida, but I know that all of
our chapters have great events to attend
over the next few months. I’ll be at SUCA’s
Election Night on Nov. 7th, and will be
attempting to make it around to all of our
other Chapters over the course of the next
year. Check out the Chapter calendars
here in the Ditchmen and go give them
some support!
I hope that everyone has a great month!
Stay safe and keep making money!
Sincerely,
Mike Kivlin
OCTOBER 2019 • DITCHMEN
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