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Minority Owned Business Making Its Mark in Utility Contracting

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By Michael Volpe
Philadelphia.- Mike Diaz is the Chief Executive Officer of Semper Utilities, a company which provides utility construction services, an industry with very few minority-owned businesses.
Out of 11,000 contractors nationally who specialize in his field, only .4% are minority owned.
But a benefit is that he has “a circle of influences,” of other minority entrepreneurs to guide him.
Semper Utilities is based the Philadelphia metropolitan area and Diaz said his plan is for the company to provide jobs and give back to the community.
“Our viability will be a by-product of what we do in this community,” Diaz said.
Diaz is a Marine veteran with a security clearance, meaning what he did in the Marine Corp is classified, but he said the organizational experience he gained during his service should give him a leg up.
He said that there’s a big gap in document collection in his industry, and his years in the military give Semper Utilities a step ahead in helping get all the appropriate paperwork.
Semper Utilities received its approval as a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) in August 2017 and began operations shortly after that.
But Diaz has over has over 30 years of experience in the utility industry with work in distribution, transmission, and underground services; this experience, he hopes, will make his services stand out.
“Along with the guidance of our CEO, we are a team of highly trained and experienced individuals who have a strong set of morals and ethics to help provide the highest level of safety, professionalism, and quality to our employees, partners, and customers.” Semper Utilities says on its website.
 “He started Semper Utilities because he saw a need in the industry to provide professional, safe, and cost-effective utility construction services. Mike prides himself in having a team of highly experienced staff with a keen understanding of industry regulations and safety controls.”
The site continues. “Mike and his team encourage the utilization of modern technology to help support their clients in order to expand visual capabilities, while providing real-time status updates of current projects. They strongly believe in keeping project communication open to all networks within the company.”
Though the company is less than a year old, he said many promising things have already occurred.
He secured a sub-contract to provide utility services for a larger commercial project. He’s working on deals in Florida and Puerto Rico.
He said he would “find a subcontractor agreement to do support storm work in Florida. (He is) Negotiating a subcontractor agreement for recovery in Puerto Rico.
Diaz said he hoped to build his base in Philadelphia, providing jobs, and giving back to the
community.
He said the best part about being an entrepreneur is that he sees his dreams come true, but the toughest part is going months at a time without being paid; indeed, he noted that so far, he’s sunk in more than six figures of his own money, but that all his effort will be validated when he gets the first contract.