This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
On the first of April this year, there was no room for practical jokes, or humor of any kind, among executives of Seagate Technology’s product design center in southwest Longmont. The group, each of them working from home, was ending one of its daily video briefings on COVID-19 site preparedness when a final agenda item popped up on their screens. It was a photo of the long-awaited pair of ospreys, perched atop a repurposed utility pole on Seagate property.
A sight for sore eyes, the photo prompted cheers all around. “That bit of good news came at the right time,” said Seagate VP and site lead Cecil Macgregor. “We all needed something to smile about.”
Especially thrilled was the team of volunteers who built and mounted the new nesting platform. The task was completed just weeks before the springtime return of an osprey couple whose previous nest on adjacent property had been removed over the winter. The nesting platform was built by Seagate employee Dan Sokolov, then mounted last month on top of a 30-foot high utility pole by a Longmont Power & Communications (LPC) crew. With approval in February from Seagate management, the company’s facilities department began working with LPC Key Account Manager Chuck Finleon, who was just as eager to provide the new home for the ospreys.
“When Seagate asked us for assistance, I saw an excellent opportunity to work with one of our customers,” Finleon said. “LPC has responded to similar requests in the past in order to support local wildlife and ensure their safety and that of our electric system.” Finleon’s use of an LPC crane for the project got full support from Kevin Rademacher, acting director of LPC Operations, and David Hornbacher, executive director of Electric Services. “They were excited to partner with Seagate on this endeavor,” Finleon said.
Seagate’s Sokolov, a senior engineer in the company’s cloud systems group, said when he first proposed the nest platform idea to the site facilities manager, he “wasn’t sure how it would be received. This was not your average request.” The proposal then went to senior management, where it was approved unanimously. “It was a great feeling to know that our site leadership also sees value in providing a home for our local birds.”
Sokolov, and most of Seagate’s 1,400 employees based in Longmont, are now working from home, without a view of the company’s new penthouse residents. Still, Sokolov says he takes heart knowing the birds have a home. “When so much around us is uncertain right now, it sure is nice to see the ospreys return as they always have. And to see local businesses work together to keep it that way.”
