Working Underwater: The Story of the Commercial Diving Industry

Left: The three new owners along with
representatives from the Connecticut
Development Authority (CDA) and Webster
Bank shortly after acquiring the company in
December of 1996. From left to right; UCC
Vice President/Secretary Michael Pellini;
UCC President/CEO John Lawton; CDA
Representative; Vice President/Treasurer
William Feeley and Webster
Bank representative.
Right: UCC completing extensive dam
rehabilitation on the Tennessee River in
1999. The work involved repairs to the
downstream apron of the dam over a period
of several months.
proved to be a significant move that continues
to benefit the company to this day. The offices
in Connecticut and Michigan continued to
grow as the company attained more annual
contracts and took on such large projects as
the Keokuk Dam on the Mississippi River
in Iowa as well as chemical feed line installations
and mollusk remediation throughout
Lake Michigan.
For the next several years the underwater
welding program was intensifying and providing
UCC many new opportunities both
domestically as well as internationally. By
1995, UCC had completed its first safetyrelated
welds at a Nuclear Plant in North
Carolina and its first dryer cut-up at a
nuclear site in Japan. These were two significant
advancements in UCC’s welding and
reactor services program that brought the
company additional and well deserved recognition
in the nuclear industry.
In 1996, UCC was awarded a long-term
contract in Ludington, Michigan, which helped
the company grow to roughly $10 million
in annual revenues. Then, after a decade of
public ownership, the company was privately
acquired by three standout employees who
were part of the management group entrusted
to run the company in 1994. All three had
worked many years for the company as
divers and, eventually, in management. The
new leadership team was comprised of
John Lawton, who served as president while
Michael Pellini and William Feeley served
as the company’s two vice presidents. The
acquisition was successful due in part to the
assistance it received from Connecticut state
agencies like the Department of Economic
and Community Development (DECD) and
the Connecticut Development Authority
(CDA). These two agencies, in combination
with Webster Bank, helped the three new
owners accomplish the transaction and
reclaim the company’s original name, which
is synonymous with commercial diving.
Also in 1996, UCC made an important
decision to open a new office in Soddy Daisy,
Tennessee, to service the vast network of
power producing facilities along the
Tennessee Valley River System. By early 1997
the office was staffed and fully operational.
This expansion into Tennessee helped the
company in its pursuit of future growth in
the Southeast region. Some twenty years later,
through the talented leadership and support
staff, the Tennessee office now accounts for
roughly twenty-five percent of the company’s
annual revenues.
The impact of the aggressive new ownership
was apparent almost immediately, and by
the end of 1997, UCC had annual revenues of
approximately $11 million and seventy-five
employees. The new management group was
mostly comprised of veteran employees who
had worked as divers for the company for
many years; “They are a diverse and talented
group of individuals that William Feeley and
I have worked with for many years, both
diving and in management. The fact that
they all still work at the company in major
roles is a true testament to their dedication.
We could have never achieved our success
without this group and the people that
support them,” comments Pellini.
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