Little Rock District makes customers part of the team

Have you, as a customer, ever been consulted with about the product you are purchasing? Have you ever been invited to visit the site where the product is produced? Ever been included in a planning session with the contractor and the contract administrator?

Most of us have rarely received this type of customer care. When it comes to the construction of Montgomery Point Lock and Dam, that’s exactly what Little Rock District is striving for: uncommon customer service.

Construction of the new lock and dam on the lower portion of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System will solve a chronic low-water problem in the area.

Without the dam, navigation restrictions and heavy dredging were common practice. This slowed or temporarily halted navigation traffic and affected shipping, towing, port and terminal interests in a two-state region.

When the solution became obvious, so did a large amount of support from the navigation system’s customers. The users of the navigation system—to include shippers, towing industry and port or terminal representatives—joined forces to form the Coalition for Montgomery Point Lock and Dam.

"We recognized them as a serious force in the Montgomery Point project when they brought two busloads of supporters from Oklahoma just to attend a public meeting in Pine Bluff during the feasibility phase of the project," said Randy Hathaway, chief of Project Management for the district.

The coalition started out with two leaders, Glen Cheatham of Oklahoma and Paul Revis of Arkansas. In the 10 years since the loose-knit organization of customers was formed, their interest in and support of the project has grown.

"We have been involved in the project since the beginning," Cheatham said. "It is important to all of us because it improves the reliability of the navigation system. We depend on the system to make our living. Our states depend on the system to cheaply and easily transport needed products."We have taken it upon ourselves to keep this project in front of the lawmakers who ultimately fund it."

Keeping the project in front of the decision makers, educating the local officials and keeping their coalition members informed is no small task. Two additional leaders were added, Bob Portiss of Oklahoma and Wally Gieringer of Arkansas, to help share the work.

In fact, coalition members have recently returned from briefing Arkansas and Oklahoma’s congressional delegations in Washington D.C.

"We have such a good relationship with the Corps, and we work so closely with them," Portiss said. "If you had walked into the congressional briefings, you would have thought Glen or Wally worked for the Corps. They had all the current information and knew all the issues."

Coalition members know what’s going on at the project because Little Rock District makes an effort to keep them informed. Shortly after project construction started, the district invited coalition representatives to participate in the partnering session with the contractor, J.A. Jones/Atkinson Joint Venture.

"I know it was out of the ordinary for us to be invited to the partnering meeting, but if you think about it, that’s really the way it should work," Portiss said. "We are able to hear everyone’s concerns and expectations, and they can hear ours. We learn where everyone is coming from, and we build a relationship that will hold in the event that something happens."

Those relationships were put to the test when the Montgomery Point Lock and Dam faced temporary work stoppage from January to June 1998 due to a lack of funding. It could have been a time when every one turned against each other. But the district took steps to triple their communications efforts with their customers.

"The shutdown came earlier that we expected," Hathaway said. "We truly realized then the importance of keeping them informed. It is to our benefit to coordinate with these folks because they will be most impacted by the construction. Because of their organization, we can brief four people who in turn pass information on to hundreds of customers."

Since that time, the project’s resident engineer and project manager prepare bi-weekly status reports and photos of the work that are forwarded to interested parties in the district, in Southwestern Division and to the four key coalition members.

"I think it says a lot for our relationship when you realize that the same report we send to our higher headquarters is sent to our customers," Hathaway said. "They know everything that we know."

Coalition representatives also meet quarterly with Hathaway and acting project manager Tom Clement for lunch and a personal briefing. The group also has made site visits to Montgomery Point to see the work in progress.

"Our working relationship is not perfect yet, but we are getting there," Portiss said. "We have made unbelievable strides, and we have good working relationships with Little Rock and Tulsa districts and the Southwestern Division.