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!
(Held in conjunction with the Electric Association Conference)
May Membership Meeting
The May ECA Membership Meeting was held the evening of Wednesday, May 19, 2021 at the Union League Club in Chicago. The meeting featured a number of industry updates and was highlighted by a presentation from the new Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Buildings, Matthew Beaudet. We thank the Commissioner with his time with the meeting!
Pictured above is Matthew Beaudet,
Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Buildings.
The ECA Research and Education Committee is pleased to have been able to present the following programs in May. We hope that you will be able to participate with future sessions.
"Contractor Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Training Program"
The ECA's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee sponsored a "Contractor Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Program specifically designed for Electrical Contractors. The first session was held on May 5, 2021 and was presented by Alex Willis, Leadership Surge.
The program was designed with a Multi-Tier Top-Down Approach, while implementing inclusion prerequisite skills at the frontline level. This approach will guarantee that the Diversity & Inclusion lessons are sustainable and have maximum impact throughout all levels of leadership within the company. It is the first of it's kind in the nation, and we are pleased to offer it to our members beginning this spring. Other sessions will be coordinated throughout the year.
Program Objectives:
Identify personal and company biases related to diversity and inclusion
Understand and be able to articulate the business case for diversity and inclusion
Understand and create plan for adopting and incorporate diversity and inclusion within the company culture
Identify situations in which further discussion and planning needs to take place related to diversity and inclusion
Create a plan for taking action after completion of the training
The program includes:
Quarterly Training Webinars (4 Sessions total) - First Session was May 5th at 1:00pm (Virtual Session) -
Second Session is September 14 (virtual) -
DEI Mobile App
DEI Communications Calendar with Content & Activities (supplemental training content between Quarterly Trainings)
Monthly Toolbox talks with 90 second video from Alex
Access to resource center for DEI Company Champions with explanatory videos from Alex
This program is complimentary for ECA Chicago Members, and there is no limit to the number of your employees that can participate. Please direct questions to Carrie Spaeth at [email protected].
We thank Alex for his efforts with this on-going program!
"Basic Estimating of Electrical Construction" Workshop
The ECA's Research and Education Committee presented an "in-person" classroom program called, “Basic Estimating of Electrical Construction Workshop.”The program was conducted by Robert Mooty, former NECA Education Instructor. The program was held on May 10 - 12, 2021 at the Drake Oak Brook Hotel.
The Chicago & Cook County Chapter, NECA and the Northeastern Illinois Chapter, NECA were proud to present a seminar called, “A VDVNA Review of the 2021 Revisions” on Wednesday, May 19, 2021. The VDVNA Review was a summary of items an employer should know when securing a project and utilizing the newly extended VDVNA. The session was conducted by Mr. David Ward, Midwest Field Representative.
We thank Dave for his time and due diligence with the program!
"Transformational Leadership: Creating High Performance Work Teams" Seminar
The Electrical Contractors' Association of City of Chicago (ECA) Research and Education Committee presented an "in-person" classroom program called, "Transformational Leadership: Creating Safe, High Performance Work Teams." The program was conducted by Bruce Bolger, Bruce Bolger Company. The program was held on Thursday, May 27, 2021 at the Drake Oak Brook Hotel.
The ECA Young Professionals Committee is coordinating its Third Annual Young Professionals 20201 Leadership Conference to be held August 26 - 27, 2021 at the Journeyman Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This year's theme is "Adaptive Leadership and Innovation." The conference will feature dynamic speakers, a tour of the Milwaukee Tour Innovation Center, overnight accommodations in Milwaukee's Historic 3rd Ward at the Journeyman Hotel, roundtrip luxury motor coach transportation, a rooftop social event and more! Registration closes on July 23, 2021!
The NECA Student Chapter at IIT submitted their final video and written proposal for the ELECTRI International Student Challenge (or) Electrical Contracting Innovation Challenge!
The students will be notified by June 30th if they have made it to the final round, which takes place at the NECA Convention in Nashville this October.
The NECA IIT Student Chapter IPRO has won top finalist for the Illinois Institute of Technology "Innovation IPRO Day" for the Spring 2021 semester! The Top 5 IPRO groups out of 53 IPRO competing groups were selected. The judging criteria included problem identification and viable solution, feasibility, clarity, creativity, and quality of the project.
The final Innovation Day will be virtual and held this Friday, May 14, 2021 where teams receive their awards and recognize the companies who contributed to their project, which included: Gurtz Electric Company, Jamerson and Bauwens Electrical Contractors, Inc., Continental Electrical Construction Company, and the ECA.
Please click on the link for the two-minute video by the IPRO proposal team leader, which is to be shown to the University Community recognizing the NECA / ECA contractors and companies who helped the NECA IIT Student Chapter. The team’s submission is virtually the same video and proposal that was submitted to the 2021 NECA National / ELECTRI International Electrical Contracting Innovation Challenge (ECIC). Congratulations to the NECA IIT Student Chapter and Dr. Dan Tomal, Chapter advisor / IIT Facilitator.
We also wish the NECA IIT Student Chapter the best of luck in the upcoming judging phase of the 2021 ECIC!
For a listing of coursework available through the Construction Safety Council (CSC) for the month of February, please visit: www.buildsafe.org.
NECA Safety Professionals Conference
May 25 - 26, 2021 - VIRTUAL
This conference was well attended. NECA was able to reach many more participants utilizing the virtual format. We hope that you were able to participate with this premier program!
Industry Statistics
Stay on top of monthly data for our industry: number of contractors active, quantity of people employed and total hours worked.
