WEDA PRESS RELEASE: WEDA PRESENTS “DREDGER OF THE YEAR” AWARD TO MATT BINSFELD

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PRESS RELEASE 

WESTERN DREDGING ASSOCIATION (WEDA) PRESENTS “DREDGER OF THE YEAR” AWARD TO MATT BINSFELD AT ITS DREDGING SUMMIT & EXPO '19 IN CHICAGO, IL.

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At the Western Dredging Association (WEDA) annual meeting held June 5-7, in Chicago, Illinois, President and Chair of WEDA Marcel Hermans presented its 2019 Dredger of the Year Award to Matthew Roger Binsfeld for his contributions to the dredging industry as a whole and to the Western Dredging Association in particular. 

Matthew Roger Binsfeld received WEDA’s “2019 Annual Dredger of the Year Award” in recognition of his commitment to the dredging community, to the health and safety of the workers in the dredging industry, to the importance of information sharing and for always being available to help others. By applying his dedication and vision, Matt has helped WEDA strengthen its financial health and stability and has helped position the Association for a bright and successful future. Matt’s can-do attitude and sage advice have significantly advanced the stature and reputation of WEDA in the broader community.

Matt is presently President and Chief Executive Officer, J. F. Brennan Company, Inc. headquartered in La Crosse, Wisconsin. In his acceptance speech acknowledging this honor, Matt explained, Brennan is a family business – celebrating its 100th anniversary – and with the guidance of his father, and many others, he worked his way up through the company. As a boy his father took his brothers and him to many Brennan jobsites, and had them “steam cleaning bilges, cutting line for a survey party, or decking on a tow.” As kids they “walked miles of pipeline in the hot Missouri or Southern Illinois Summers and similarly froze our rear ends off over Christmas breaks working with the guys on equipment.” 

As Matt related, these experiences taught him a lot about the purpose of the dredging industry. “It gave us the opportunity to meet the farmer, who because of the levees we repaired after the biblical Flood of 1993, now had the courage to clear the fields, replow and replant after losing everything.” In Matt’s vision “because of the good work this industry provides” men and women across this country “have the opportunity to earn good and fair wages commensurate with their high levels of talent”… and the industry contributes to our country’s economic strength, “where our good work cleans a river or harbor, creating the foundation on which reinvestment and the rebirth of a town or city may occur.”

Matt is a long-standing member of the Western Dredging Association and sees “WEDA as a hub of innovation and purpose.” Time and time again he has demonstrated that he is a true dredging professional with the highest degree of integrity and dedication. 

For further information please contact: Thomas P. Cappellino, WEDA Executive Director (tcappellino@westerndredging.org) or Craig Vogt (craig@craigvogt.com)