Welcome New VTCA President Nate Orders: Leading VTCA into Its 99th Year

Dear Members,

My great-great-grandfather was a farmer, and I would wager yours was too – in the nineteenth century this was an agrarian country and world.  But his son, W.R. Orders, had a vision for a better life, and left the family farm in North Carolina for West Virginia where he became an ironworker. In 1927, he joined prolific bridge builder, E.R. Mills, as general superintendent, and my family has been building bridges ever since.

Also in 1927, a handful of progressive quarry operators formed one of the first trade organizations in the Commonwealth – the Virginia Aggregates Association. After multiple evolutions, including the 2005 merger with the Virginia Road and Transportation Builders Association – itself dating to 1943 – the group emerged as our Virginia Transportation Construction Alliance. 

As a fourth-generation highway contractor, and third-generation registered professional engineer, it is my honor to lead the VTCA into its 99th year.  And I can tell you the Alliance is more relevant than ever with our industry facing numerous challenges including a burdensome permitting and regulatory regime, the imposition of mandated project labor agreements, and a limited pool of trained and qualified workers.  Yet while the VTCA will continue to advocate for solutions to these and other issues, my goals for the year are broad-based:

Increase Transportation Funding

In 2013, the Virginia General Assembly passed the largest transportation funding bill in the history of the Commonwealth, thanks largely to the efforts of the VTCA.  But over 12 years have passed since that seminal event, and VDOT’s construction budget is being eaten away by the Department’s increasing maintenance and administrative costs.  Almost all of Virginia’s legislators continue to claim highway funding among their priorities. Our challenge is to convince this next generation of senators and delegates to show us the money!

Strengthen our VDOT Relationship

One of the VTCA’s greatest assets is our cooperative partnership with VDOT.  The open, honest, and proactive interactions we have with Department staff are a dynamic of which many other ARTBA chapters can only dream.  The Alliance is blessed to have strong influence with VDOT’s leadership only because of decades of collaboration – working to advance the Department’s goals and overcome their challenges in a way that benefits the entire industry. Just as your closest personal relationships require consistent nurturing, the VTCA must continue to respond to VDOT’s needs and not take our partnership for granted!

Grow our Membership

Membership is the lifeblood of every association, and I hope to grow not only the number of members on our rolls, but also the engagement of those firms’ employees with the VTCA.  Our Alliance is strongest when we have active participation from every affiliated company, and we all have a role to play in recruiting, retaining, and engaging members. Never miss a chance to tell others about the good things we do at the VTCA and encourage them to participate!

In closing, thank you for allowing me to lead our Alliance of engineering consultants, aggregate producers, and highway contractors, as well as the associate members providing supplies and services to our firms.  It is a privilege to be part of an association as respected and strong as the VTCA. I am proud to be a member of this organization whose firms are directly responsible for improvements to the roads, bridges, and quality of life in the Commonwealth.

Best regards,

Nate Orders, PE