Underground Construction - April 2018 - 35

Underground Construction Technology International Conference & Exhibition

MVP
Jeff Awalt | Executive Editor

Industry Honors Vic Weston
with 2018 MVP Award

Baton Rouge Contractor Helped Raise Standard of Construction Education in Louisiana

I

It's been more than three decades since Tom Iseley moved to
Louisiana and joined the Purdue
University faculty, but he'll never
forget his first meeting with Vic
Weston.
Iseley was leading a research
program at Purdue for the state
Department of Transportation,
which wanted to know more
about how to put pipes under
roadways without digging ditches. About 40 contractors from
companies across the country
responded to Iseley's call for industry support, but Vic Weston
had bigger things in mind.
"At that first meeting we had
in 1987, Vic told me about a vision he had," recalled Iseley, who
later became director of Louisiana Tech University's Trenchless
Technology Center (TTC). "That
vision had to do with how an or-

Left: Weston addresses the crowd after accepting
the MVP award.; Above: Victor Weston displays
his MVP award along with his wife, Joy.

ganization like the AGC (Associated General Contractors) could
work with the licensing board in
putting together a program that
can provide millions of dollars of
support for construction education in our state."
His determination to make
that vision a reality has made
Weston a role model for collaboration between industry and
academia. And his commitment
to both was a key factor in his
selection as the 2018 Most Valuable Industry Professional. The
award is presented annually by
Underground Construction magazine and the Underground Construction Technology Association
(UCTA).

Advocate for Education
Weston is president and owner
of Tri-State Road Boring Inc.,

a general contracting firm he
founded in 1975, specializing in
highway drainage and casings,
the heavy industrial sector for
petrochemical companies, and
micro-tunneling and directional drilling throughout the Gulf
South states.
Weston's advocacy for strong
industry-university relations began with his appointment to the
Louisiana State Licensing Board
for Contractors, which was created in 1956 to protect the general
public and promote the integrity
of the construction industry.
The board, which receives no
public funds, includes 15 commercial members appointed by
the Governor to represent all
segments of the contracting industry, along with five Residential Subcommittee members.
Weston embraced his role

on the Licensing Board and the
opportunities it provided to give
back to his industry and community. He organized regular
meetings with Louisiana university leaders to help them align
student and workforce development programs with the needs
of the construction industry, and
he shared his vision of a collaborative future.
"Those meetings were most
beneficial to me and other
higher-education leaders, as we
gained regular insight and saw
the strong support that could
be provided. Vic Weston was
always in the center of these
discussions and he was always
both encouraging and challenging to achieve higher levels,"
said Louisiana Tech President
Les Guice.
"Vic played a major leadership
UConOnline.com | APRIL 2018

35
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Underground Construction - April 2018

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