Going the Extra Mile: Crystal Franciosi

It’s no surprise that ACRT Consulting Utility Forester (CUF) Crystal Franciosi recently received an organizational G.E.M. (Going the Extra Mile) Award — she lives out everything that the award stands for every day.

Currently assigned to one of our Northeastern utility customers, Crystal has been praised by her operations manager and the vegetation management leader at the utility for going above and beyond expectations on multiple occasions.

On a daily basis, Crystal performs many UVM duties ranging from gaining property owner consent for tree work, managing hazard tree removals, representing the utility at town meetings, managing outages, handling storm response, and more. She is the company arborist covering a significant portion of the utility territory where she is responsible for all tree work; resolving customer complaints; and interacting with contractor crews, officials, and property owners.

Crystal understands that success for the utility and its customers means going beyond day-to-day responsibilities. She has successfully uncovered various system issues such as pole top construction, wire-related problems, and various safety issues — even on other utility systems.

In one instance, Crystal noticed a private tree company crew member working on a tree near live wires. The crew member was not wearing any personal protective equipment and had not received any electrical hazard training. Despite him wanting to continue working, Crystal succeeded in getting him out of the tree — thereby preventing the possibility of serious injury.

We are proud of Crystal and her work to strengthen our customer’s vegetation management program, but more importantly, we’re proud of her relentless commitment to safety at all times and for everyone involved.