Celebrating Indiana’s Linemen: Hold Fast at the IEC Lineman Rodeo

There are few better ways to understand the skill, strength, and dedication behind the work of Indiana’s linemen than to watch them compete side by side.

This year, Hold Fast Rigging had the privilege of sponsoring and attending the Indiana Electric Cooperative Lineman Rodeo, an event that brings together linemen from across Indiana to demonstrate the skills they use every day to keep our communities powered.

The event began with an opening ceremony that set the tone for the entire day. Linemen climbed the pole to hang the American flag high above the grounds, followed by the Indiana state flag. With both flags flying overhead, everyone stood for the National Anthem.

It was a powerful and fitting start to a day dedicated to the men and women who serve communities across our state.

Skill, Precision and Teamwork

Throughout the rodeo, linemen competed in events designed to test the skills of the trade. Each event required a combination of technical knowledge, precision, efficiency, communication and teamwork.

For those outside the utility industry, it is easy to see a power pole or a crew working alongside the road without realizing just how much training goes into performing this work safely and efficiently.

The rodeo provided an opportunity to see those skills up close — and to celebrate the people who have spent years developing them.

We were honored simply to be there.

Bringing Hold Fast to the Utility Industry

As a sponsor of this year's rodeo, we were also excited to introduce more members of Indiana's utility community to the Hold Fast Rigging Systems.

Hold Fast was originally developed around the need for a compact, powerful and portable way to control loads from the ground. As we've spent more time talking with utility professionals, we've continued to see applications where that same concept can be valuable in linework.

At the rodeo, we showcased how the Hold Fast can be incorporated into rigging systems for applications such as lifting and lowering transformers and erecting backyard pole sets, where portability and controlled mechanical advantage can be especially useful.

But one of the most valuable parts of attending events like the IEC Lineman Rodeo isn't simply showing people what we've built.

It's listening.

Talking with the people who perform this work every day helps us better understand their challenges, their equipment and the ways they approach rigging in the field. Those conversations are incredibly important as we continue exploring how Hold Fast can best serve the utility industry.

Proud to Support Indiana's Linemen

Hold Fast Rigging is an Indiana company, which made sponsoring this event particularly meaningful to us.

These are the crews that work through storms, outages, extreme temperatures and difficult conditions to build and maintain the infrastructure our communities depend on every day.

The rodeo was a chance to recognize their work in a different setting — one filled with competition, camaraderie and pride in the trade.

We want to thank Indiana Electric Cooperatives for allowing us to be part of this year's event, and thank every lineman, apprentice, utility professional and family member who stopped by to talk with us.

It was truly a privilege to spend the day celebrating Indiana's linemen.

To everyone who keeps the power moving: thank you for what you do.

Rig Safe. Hold Fast.