Privitera Named NUCA’s Ditchdigger of the Year

The National Utility Contractors Association (NUCA) awarded Tony Privitera the prestigious “Ditchdigger of the Year” Award, honoring his many years of service to the American underground utility industry and his years of support for NUCA’s successful government affairs programs. 

“Tony Privitera exemplifies the very best of our industry. He possesses a relentless dedication, visionary leadership, and an unwavering commitment to advancing underground utility construction in every city and state,” said Zack Perconti, NUCA’s Chief Advocacy Officer. “His tireless work on behalf of NUCA’s many programs strengthened our voice in Washington and inspired countless contractors to get involved with their chapter and the national association. Tony has rightfully earned the top recognition of this industry as the 2025 Ditchdigger of the Year.”

Tony Privitera is Executive Vice President of Mark One Electric Co., Inc., headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. He started working for Mark One as the son of the president when he was 14 years old, working in the warehouse and learning the business from the ground floor. Years later, Tony took over as a vice president in 1994 when his father retired and turned business operations over to his four sons. Under his leadership, the company evolved to provide electrical contracting services from design/build and pre-construction to underground and data/communications services around the Kansas City region and surrounding states.

Privitera served as NUCA’s chairman in 2024 and vice-chairman in 2023. Privitera has also served as past president of the NUCA Greater Kansas City Region chapter. He is still involved in the chapter’s Board of Directors, and has actively served on NUCA National’s Governmental Affairs Committee and the Executive Committee. Privitera was the leading force behind establishing Dozer Day, the industry’s popular workforce development event program hosted by several NUCA chapters, as a NUCA National program during his year as NUCA Chairman.

Privitera continues to inspire others in the industry with his dynamism and enthusiasm for NUCA’s support of this vital national industry, and deserves to be recognized as NUCA’s Ditchdigger of the Year™.

This national award is awarded to a NUCA contractor member who has made a significant contribution to NUCA and the underground utility construction and excavation industry. The 2025 “Ditchdigger of the Year”™ Award was presented to Privitera at the association’s National Convention held in February of this year at the Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa in Tucson, Arizona.