Lynn, Lynn… the city of… steam?

My grandparents and my parents grew up in the City of Lynn, which is located just north of Boston in MA. Most people that grow up in eastern MA know the old rhyme: “Lynn, Lynn… the City of Sin. You’ll Never Come Out the Same Way You Came In.”

As a 5-year-old, this made absolutely no sense. I had no concept of what sin was, and I think most people would sing this rhyme not realizing its true meaning (many assumed it meant there were different main roads to drive into and out of the city – not exactly).

Flashforward 45 years… I’m working for APM and we are faced with a considerable challenge for the City of Sin: Complete repairs for 13 different municipal buildings throughout the city in less than 3 weeks.

Before we get into that, a brief history lesson:

• Lynn is the 9th largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Lynn is part of Greater Boston’s urban inner core. 

• It was settled by Europeans in 1629 and stands as the 5th oldest colonial settlement in the Commonwealth. An early industrial center, Lynn was long colloquially referred to as the “City of Sin”, owing to its historical reputation for crime and vice.

• In terms of its industrial history, Lynn was (at one point in time) the largest manufacturer of shoes in the world. Marshmellow fluff has been made in Lynn since 1920 (never tried it? A must). At one time, a large percentage of the surrounding population worked at the General Electric plant in Lynn (including my grandfather).

Because of my own personal history with the City of Lynn, I take great pride in what APM was able to achieve.

Sean relentlessly chased the customer and utility down to make this project happen. I’m not talking about 2-3 phone calls and an email. He made dozens of calls and sent dozens of emails to get all of this lined up. As his job became more complicated, he didn’t complain, he stayed focused and worked harder. After weeks and weeks of delays by the customer and the utility, the PO finally arrived.

When the customer issued their Purchase Order in early December, the consensus was: “OH, SH*T! The order actually arrived? We have how long to complete all of this???” Thankfully, Sean kept everyone in the loop and made sure we were ready to order parts, and Michelle was ready to pull the trigger on the schedule.

Not many companies could have pulled of repairs for 13 facilities in 2-3 weeks like APM (add in the fact we’re in the middle of a pandemic). Looking at the scheduled shifts and who worked on these jobs, it was a massive team effort. From our incredibly talented techs working off-hour shifts and double shifts to the logistical nightmare of moving from site to site, to managing the challenge of keeping parts and manpower in sync. Michelle had to throw a pipe vise (see image) in her car and drive it over to the job site to keep things going.

In the end? We repaired 98% of all blowing/leaking traps from the survey!

The staff in the field and in the office? Stepped up and made this happen.

The customer? Beyond happy.

The utility company company? Highly satisfied and impressed.

For that, we thank everyone that was involved and stand proud that APM was able to successfully complete a job like this.

When someone asks what separates us from our competition , tell them about our project in the City of Sin. Actually, it may be better to say the City of Lynn.