The images are a media staple in a severe weather event: along with the meteorologists, we see lines of utility bucket trucks getting into position to pick up the pieces and restring the wires. Today, though, the outdoor line...
The shortage of skilled tradespeople has been felt by contractors and customers and well-documented by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But thanks to its newly constructed, state-of-the-art training facility in Indianola...
Girl Scouts in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area can get a taste of what it’s like to be an electrical worker at Power Girls Camp—with the help of NECA and IBEW volunteers. Each July, the Minneapolis and St. Paul NECA...
A mentor’s purpose is to help you grow as a person and become the best version of yourself. This may involve helping you achieve personal or career goals, introducing you to new ways of thinking, challenging your limiting...
When the pandemic hit the world two years ago, people started working and studying at home, meeting using videoconferencing services such as Zoom and ordering everything they could online. Online data traffic grew...
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon aims to inspire the next generation of clean energy professionals. At the 2022 Competition Event in May, the DOE announced that it would be expanding the program through two new...
Government and private industry make great partners in the pursuit of new, greener technologies. The Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) program is a federally funded program that pairs colleges and universities with...
Powering Chicago, which brings together IBEW 134 and the Electrical Contractors Association of Chicago, introduced its new “field trip truck” to 3,500 Chicago Public Schools students in March 2022 at the Skilled Trades Career...
Online learning gained enormous popularity when in-person training sessions stopped during the pandemic. Tool manufacturers and suppliers have increased online training for operating, maintaining and safely using tools and...
We’ve probably all torn the house apart trying to find our car keys, only to look down and realize they’ve been on the kitchen counter all along. Not being able to recognize the keys from their surroundings might make us late...
It’s no news that electrical contracting firms across the country have been struggling with skilled labor shortages for some years—a condition that’s been highlighted and exacerbated by the pandemic. But electrical...
I was fortunate to have great teachers early in my career. One important lesson I learned was, “Do not try to estimate project types you have never estimated before.” That sounds rather limiting for expanding your knowledge...
While contractors are seeing an unprecedented rise in line work this year, training programs are ramping up to attract and train high-quality recruits to support the growing number of projects. Contractors, utilities and line...
In the last two years, the most basic concepts about the design and operation of business organizations have undergone more rethinking than at any other time in the last 300 years. In 1722, John Lombe and his brothers...
On May 20, 2020, a Black female apprentice plumber experienced an overwhelming sense of dread seeing a noose hanging at a construction site in downtown Portland, Ore. She reported seeing the symbol of Black oppression to her...
Workforce development initiatives, including the enhancement and expansion of registered apprenticeship programs such as those of the IBEW-NECA Electrical Training Alliance, Bowie, Md., stand to get a big boost from Congress...
I closed the January year-in-review column with, “Like I say every year, it’s always good to invest in training.” High-tech fields such as fiber optics are always changing, and you have to keep up with technology or risk...
One of my favorite quotes from the motivational guru, Zig Ziglar is, “If you keep on doing what you’re doing, you will keep getting what you’re getting!” If you presently work for a contractor, do you wait for the owner or...
In mountainous terrain inhabited by bears and moose, and sparsely populated by humans, electric utilities of varying sizes operate with a patchwork of hydropower, natural gas and diesel-powered generation. Extreme weather...
To provide mobility in the licensure process, the National Association of State Contractors Licensing Agencies (NASCLA) offers three separate open-book electrical trade examinations through the NASCLA Accredited Electrical...
