Please review this month's LiveWire newsletter. We hope you enjoy the local and national industry updates. As a reminder, every Monday we send an e-mail to the membership concerning upcoming events and every Thursday, we send an Industry Update e-mail. Also, we invite you to join us on Facebook and LinkedIn!
The Electrical Contractors’ Association of City of Chicago (ECA), held its October Membership meeting on Wednesday, November 9, 2022 at Maggiano's Banquets in Chicago. The session featured industry updates from Rick Jamerson, ECA President, Jamerson & Bauwens Electrical Contractors, Inc., Gene Kent, INTECH Director and Elbert Walters, III, Powering Chicago Executive Director. The meeting was also highlighted by an Electrical Insurance Trustees (EIT) update by Sean Madix, Executive Director, EIT Benefit Funds. Mr. Madix reported that the construction of the new EIT building is now completed and the Health Center portion would be operational starting on November 15, 2022. He also introduced Erin Keane, who has been the EIT Administrator since July 2022. Mr. Madix also announced that his retirement will begin at the end of the year. The membership applauded Sean's efforts over the decades! We wish Erin well on her new role!
Pictured from left to right are:
Mark Thomas, ECA Executive Vice President,
David Witz, EIT Trustee,
Continental Electrical Construction Company,
Erin Keane, EIT Administrator,
Sean Madix, Executive Director, EIT Benefit Funds, and
Ken Bauwens, EIT Chair,
Jamerson & Bauwens Electrical Contractors, Inc.
Pictured above is Erin Keane, EIT Administrator,
as she addressed the membership.
ECA Holiday Party-
December 17, 2022
The Electrical Contractors' Association of City of Chicago (ECA) is pleased to announce the 2022 President's Party & Holiday Celebration will be held on Saturday, December 17th, 2022 at OFFSHORE at Navy Pier. ECA Chicago member companies and their employees are welcome to attend this anticipated annual event featuring Chicago band "Maggie Speaks".
The Electrical Contractors' Association of City of Chicago (ECA) Research and Education Committee was pleased to have sponsored a seminar called, "Managing Construction Delay Claims." The program was presented by Dr. Awad Hanna; University of Wisconsin-Madison. The session was held on Thursday, November 3, 2022 from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm at Maggiano's Banquets in Oak Brook, IL.
University of Wisconsin-Madison, as he began the class.
ECA Student Committee -
NECA - IIT Student Chapter Meeting
November 10, 2022
The ECA Student Committee oversees the activities of the NECA - IIT Student Chapter. The Student Chapter held a session on Thursday, November 10, 2022 during their Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) Interprofessional Program (IPRO) class. Mitch Heydenberk, Continental Energy Solutions, was the guest speaker. He presented via the Blackboard virtual platform. His discussion focused on Solar issues in electrical construction was called, "Solar & Storage." He discussed various types of photovoltaic projects, pricing, project timelines, engineering, procurement and construction concerns, storage issues, among other areas. We thank Mitch for his detailed presentation!
Pictured above is Mitch Heydenberk, Continental Energy Solutions.
Young Professionals of ECA Chicago -- Oracle Innovation Lab Tour -- November 15, 2022
The ECA Young Professionals Committee sponsored an Oracle Innovation Lab Tour on November 15, 2022. At the Oracle Industries Innovation Lab in Deerfield, Illinois, Oracle and partners are using technology to revolutionize construction by automating project oversight, scheduling, logistics, financial, and other processes. The Innovation Lab helps organizations experiment, learn, and stay on the leading edge. We thank Oracle for coordinating the Tour!
Pictured above is the start of the Oracle Tour.
ECA Diversity, Equity & Inclusion --"Taking Your Business to the Next Level" -- November 17, 2022
The Electrical Contractors' Association of City of Chicago (ECA) Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Committee was pleased to present a program called, "Taking Your Business to the Next Level." The program was presented by Alex Willis, Leadership Surge and was held on Thursday, November 17, 2022 at the Hyatt Lodge Conference Center in Oak Brook, IL. Three other programs are scheduled for 2023. We thank Alex for his time with the program!
Pictured above is Gene Kent, INTECH Director (leftside of photo) discussing a point with Alex Willis (rightside of photo).
Pictured above is Alex Willis, Leadership Surge
2023 NECA Events
Please click on the link below for an updated listing of NECA Events for 2023.
For a listing of coursework available through the Construction Safety Council (CSC) for the month of December 2022, please visit: www.buildsafe.org.
NECA Safety Leadership Summit
November 14 - 16, 2022
The NECA Safety Leadership Summit was held on November 14 - 16, 2022 in Louisville, KY and was well attended. The Summit is a unique conference for expanding leadership skills to persons responsible for safety throughout the electrical industry, in addition to providing an avenue to create new safety leaders within an organization. Networking opportunities to interact with peers, other professionals, and executives are integral and key tenets to this Safety Leadership Summit. We thank all that were able to participate with this special event!
Industry Statistics
Stay on top of monthly data for our industry: number of contractors active, quantity of people employed and total hours worked.
The Electrical Contractors' Association of City of Chicago (ECA) January Membership Meeting is to be held on Thursday, January 26, 2023 at the Drury Lane Conference Center in Oakbrook Terrace, IL. The ECA is proud to announce that the guest speaker is Jared Christman, ELECTRI Director of Construction Technology. The meeting coincides with the Electric Association’s Annual Conference. www.eachicago.org
Jared Christman is the Director of Construction Technology at Electri International, which is the Research and Development branch of NECA. As such, his main responsibility is to test new technology, develop workflows, and teach the workflows to the electrical contractor. He has been involved in the electrical construction field his entire career, either in the office as a BIM/VDC Manager, or in the field. Jared has seen the advancement of technology in construction, and developed workflows to incorporate the technology into the electrical contractors current workflow.
The presentation will focus on a number of issues including the following:
Communication between the office and the field has always been an issue, and the age old “your design” and “my install” mentality seems to be a constant tug of war. Using the digital tools that we have in the office right now, we can start to bridge that communications gap. We will cover some examples of new technology that is changing the Electrical Contracting industry, how to use some of these “Digital Tools” and examples of WHAT tools, WHEN to use them, WHO should get them and WHERE to use them to bridge that communications gap.
