Lending a Helping Hand to Canadian Communities After Hurricane Fiona

Power & Energy Market

By Scott MacDonald, Project Manager

When Hurricane Fiona made landfall in Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canada on September 23, 2022, it ravaged communities, damaging homes and businesses and leaving hundreds of thousands of Nova Scotians without power.

Shortly after the storm subsided, Cianbro’s Distribution team mobilized, with 32 team members departing Maine on September 26 to assist with power restoration in Nova Scotia. The line workers, digger operators, and support staff worked 15 days clearing trees, setting poles, and installing wire. The residents of Nova Scotia were welcoming and understanding, given that many had been without power for several days. Our team saw just how grateful the residents were that Cianbro was there to assist in restoring power, with encouraging social media posts, comments, and the occasional delivery of homemade treats and meals as a thank you to our crews.

In late December, the team also responded to back-toback storms that carried through the holidays. In all, Cianbro had more than 40 lineworkers, operators, and support staff working through Christmas to restore power to the people of Maine and New Hampshire.

Here are just a few of the kind words Cianbro received from Nova Scotia residents about our team’s hard work and commitment to helping our neighbors to the north: Lisa from Nova Scotia:

“My complete and utter appreciation to your linesmen who traveled to NS and hooked up my power after nine days.” Chance from Pictou County, Nova Scotia

“I am writing to say how pleased I was with one of your utility repairs crews here in Nova Scotia to help put back together our electrical grid in the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona. In particular, I refer to the crew led by Ryan here in Pictou County.

Ryan and his crew were repairing downed lines in our area over the past week. Ryan went out of his way to put back a bent mast on my summer home. Without his efforts, I would be waiting months to repair that service. Today he and his crew repaired it.

Thank you to Ryan and his crew. Great guys, very friendly, very helpful.”

Victor, Client Rep

“Hurricane Fiona was an unprecedented storm that impacted Northern Nova Scotia quite heavily. We were faced with a herculean task for the restoration of power in a safe and timely manner. Without the help of numerous contractors and other utilities NS Power would have been months to restore power to their customers. Most of our feeders were in a desperate state with multiple broken poles, broken crossarms, trees buried in trees buried in trees, wire down everywhere, services completely ripped off houses, etc. I have been through Hurricane Juan and this was a lot worse. The damage was unthinkable and the task at hand was truly unimaginable.

Corey and his crew landed with myself. I wanted to reach out and express our gratitude to Cianbro for lending those crews to us and to the crews themselves for the work and commitment they put forth. Corey and the crew were extremely professional and committed to the task at hand. They came to work every day with a full plate ahead of them with an eagerness to get to work and turn some lights on. They worked very safe and efficiently and were true professionals in their trade. I pride myself in being a very capable Powerline Technician and Corey and his crews proved to be the same. I knew I could hand Corey a task and it would be done as safely, efficiently, and professionally as possible no questions asked. We would not be where we are today without the help of crews like Corey’s. We are extremely grateful to have neighbors like Cianbro and I just wanted to reach out and express our gratitude.

I am a firm believer in giving credit when credit is due and Corey and his crew deserve as much credit as I can throw their way. Please extend my thanks to those crews and let them know just how much their hard work and dedication was appreciated. Also know that the customers of Cianbro are in very capable and loyal hands when it comes to hard work, commitment and professionalism related to building, maintaining and reactive restorations on their powerlines and related equipment. There are no words to express how much Nova Scotia appreciated their support!”

Helping Out the Next Generation

As part of our commitment to our communities, The Cianbro Companies are mindful of assisting the next generation on their journey into construction, education, and leadership.

Each year, The Cianbro Companies Scholarship Program awards financial support to students of active team members. The program’s mission is to assist students with exceptional academic performance who display leadership inside and out of the classroom. These students must be pursuing an education at a post-secondary institution.

Awards are determined based on academic achievement, extracurricular activities, work ethic, leadership, community involvement, and the content of the essay. Scholarships are announced each year in May, and awarded to the college or university in the student’s name. In 2022, a total of 40 scholarships were awarded to students of team members across The Cianbro Companies.

In 2021, the company began The Cianbro Companies Intern Scholarship Program to recognize top performing interns. The scholarship gives students an opportunity to earn financial relief toward their post-secondary education.

In addition, R. C. Stevens is a proud member of the Central Florida Builders’ Exchange (CFBE) Scholarship endowment fund, which provides annual scholarships to the University of Florida M.E. Rinker, Sr. School of Construction Management. Six long-time CFBE member firms contribute to this scholarship opportunity for Upper Division and Graduate Construction students who live in the Central Florida area and show financial need. They also provide a letter to CFBE regarding their character, CM experience, and future goals in construction.