NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Associationand the Environmental, Health & Safety Communications Panel (EHSCP) packed six panels, a two-speaker keynote luncheon, and a full slate of committee meetings into three days in Bloomington, Minnesota, closing out the 2026 NATE-EHSCP Summer Symposium Powered by NATE WIN with a session titled, fittingly, “Hot and Spicy Safety Topics.”
The event ran August 11 through 13 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Minneapolis Airport, combining NATE’s Summer Board of Directors Meeting and standing committee sessions with a dedicated day of educational programming aimed at safety leaders and decision-makers across the communications infrastructure industry. NATE’s Board of Directors, Trade Show Committee, Standards & Regulations Committee, Safety & Education Committee, and Member Services Committee all held sessions during the gathering, alongside the joint NATE-EHSCP programming that made up the symposium’s centerpiece day. American Tower served as Networking Social Sponsor, Banner Enterprise as Reception Sponsor, and Rainbow Technology Corporation as Luncheon Sponsor.
SEMC history opens the day, insurance market follows
The first panel, “The History of the SEMC and the Importance Across the Industry and Beyond,” was moderated by Brandon Foster of VIKOR, with panelists Jeremy Buckles of SBA Communications Corporation, Joey Deuer of Deuer Development, and John Lamond of Petzl walking attendees through the history of NATE’s Safety Equipment Manufacturer Ad Hoc Committee (SEMC), which conducts real-world testing on safety equipment and related components used across the communications infrastructure industry.
A second panel, “The State of the Insurance Market,” turned to the business side of safety, featuring Will Teubel and Jeremy Krogman of TrueNorth Companies alongside Bruce Eades of Insurance Office of America.
Incident investigation, then a two-speaker keynote
“Incident Investigation and Root Cause Analysis,” the day’s third panel, was moderated by Heather Glossup of T-Mobile, with panelists Billy Robertson of Lumos Fiber, Clark Lindstrom of American Tower Corporation, and Paul Fuentez of Ontivity.
The Keynote Luncheon split its time between two speakers working very different corners of the industry: Peter Linder of Ericsson presented “Balls and Wheels Redefine Connected Sports and Entertainment,” while Steve Kosch of 3M spoke on “Data Centers and Telecom.”
Batteries, AI, and closing the data-to-action gap
The afternoon’s fourth panel, “EH&S Requirements for Telecom Batteries – What’s New?” featured Curtis Ashton of American Power Systems addressing evolving safety standards around an increasingly common — and increasingly scrutinized — piece of site equipment.
Panel five, “Utilization of AI in EHS Applications,” was moderated by Brian Wiedower of T-Mobile, with panelists Whitney Magy of Comcast, Jeff Hamm of NextEdge Networks, and Gabriel Dahl of Tracfax exploring where artificial intelligence tools are already showing up in environmental, health and safety workflows.
The sixth panel, “Closing the Data-to-Action Divide in Safety Performance,” featured Steve Roessler and Mike Workman of InfraServices Group Wireless LLC alongside NATE’s own Brian Bicknese and Kathy Stieler, tackling the gap between the safety data companies collect and the action that data actually drives on job sites.
The day’s programming closed with the EHSCP’s “Hot and Spicy Safety Topics” session, moderated by Chrissy Chapman of Verizon and Brandon Radicic of Comcast, described by NATE as a deliberately lively wrap-up built to spark conversation around timely safety issues facing the industry. NATE said attendee feedback on the expanded format was strongly positive, citing the educational sessions, networking opportunities, and overall event experience, and that it plans to build on the symposium’s momentum with enhanced programming in 2027.
