Leaders are not often described as servants, but that may be the best way to describe this year’s Trenchless Technology Person of the Year: Mark Bruce. For more than a decade, he has served the trenchless industry and worked to educate and build better relationships among its professionals.

In both the realm of nature and the realm of construction, a strong foundation is needed to help things grow. A building needs to be rooted in the ground before it can reach any great height, just as a tree must have strong roots in order to grow tall. It is often said that a successful business and career is the same way in order to maximize your potential, you must have a solid background and a foundation of knowledge, wisdom and integrity.

Steven R. Kramer has spent most of his professional life exploring, researching, developing, implementing and promoting the industry of trenchless technology — even before there was a name for the fledgling industry in the early 1980s.

Irene McSweeney Woodfall describes herself as a “quiet advocate” for trenchless technology. But her professional actions over the last 18 years reveal otherwise.

Over the past 25 years, Mark Wallbom has developed a knack for reinventing companies. From the college campus to the corporate board room, he’s polished a passion for organizational development, helping struggling companies find new direction and fresh markets.

For years, Ray Sterling’s daily workload has been composed of one fundamental task, especially after taking the directorial reins of Louisiana Tech University’s Trenchless Technology Center (TTC). As an industry figurehead in the trenchless arena, which is more than evident by the droves of titles that often proceed him, Sterling has strode to regiment and broadcast to municipalities, manufacturers and business professionals in the construction industry the benefits that trenchless technologies can offer.

As director of engineering for the Wastewater Management Division of the City and County of Denver, Joseph Barsoom directs the operation of a large multi-divisional engineering organization with 100 employees. Joe directs the planning, design and construction of engineering projects and is responsible for the use of new design and construction materials and methods for the division.

Trenchless Resources International Inc. is a young organization founded in a partnership of Dave Gellings and John Jurgens. Though only in their third year, the company represents the combined experience of more than 35 years in the wastewater industry, with nearly a decade of that experience gained as colleagues at a premier Northwestern sewer contracting company.

“It doesn’t do any good to have knowledge if you don’t share it with somebody.” That motto and the commitment to trenchless equipment design, training and education that it represents has driven Leo Barbera throughout his years in the industry.