Monday, February 1, 2010
SOTU Reaction
State of the Union.
I didn’t know what it meant either. I kept seeing “SOTU” in e-mails from the Government Affairs folks. I finally figured it out.
This isn’t a commentary on the President’s speech, but some of my personal observations on the new legislative reality — post the Senate election in Massachusetts.
Obviously, things have changed dramatically, whether political leaders will admit that or not.
I think there will still be some kind of health care legislation, but not the comprehensive package that was being brokered a couple weeks ago. The air has been let out of that balloon.
Likewise, don’t expect to see climate change legislation, immigration reform or the Employee Free Choice Act. You may hear talk about these, but in the end nothing will be enacted.
Much more will be focused on creating jobs, even if it isn’t in the form of a third stimulus package. The President is already floating proposals regarding small business loans and hiring incentives for small business. Note that these programs will be aimed at small businesses, which most see as the real engine of job growth. Plus, most people feel too much attention was focused on bailing out big banks, auto companies, and financial institutions.
There’s lots of talk about applying the “cash for clunkers” concept to other industries. A program called Home Star would offer rebates to homeowners for energy-conservation and improvement projects. Building Star would do the same thing for commercial buildings. One aspect of that program would encourage energy audits — something that NECA is hoping electrical contractors will be able to market as one of their services. Another energy-conservation rebate program will be directed at manufacturing.
Other good news for our industry: Programs to fund the creation of high-speed rail lines and the promotion of nuclear energy. I also think we’ll see some movement on pension funding relief legislation and getting a permanent fix for estate taxes.
Expect the Administration to increase its attacks on big business — especially banks, insurance companies and business lobbyists.
One red herring is the concern being expressed over the recent Supreme Court decision allowing freer political spending by corporations and unions. It really doesn’t change that much and it won’t have much impact either. This doesn’t allow direct corporate contributions to candidates. Those still need to be personal contributions or from PACs. That’s why Justice Alito shook his head and mouthed “not true” when President Obama said that the decision overturned 100 years of legal precedent. It hasn’t. The decision nullifies a more current law which kept corporations and unions from financing political ads within a certain number of days before an election. I don’t think corporations are lining up to spend big bucks on political ads.
BTW, NECA GA DIR Lake Coulson was in 202 for SOTU and sat in the balcony F2F with FLOTUS. KEWL.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Our Plans for 2010
Meeting in not-so-warm Florida last week, NECA’s Executive Committee reviewed and approved NECA’s Budget and Plan of Operations for 2010. Here are some highlights:
While expecting a continued decline in revenue, the association has an active and aggressive agenda for 2010. The cutbacks made in 2009 helped us stay within spending limits, and we expect to be financially stable this year. We anticipate tapping 7 percent of the reserve fund to balance the budget.
We expect some very positive labor relations progress this year. NECA and the IBEW are dead serious about moving forward to grow our industry. Members of the NLMCC (leaders from both organizations) are meeting in early February to assess where we are and to decide what we need to do next. There will be a continued push for expansion of small works agreements, portability of manpower, and use of the CW/CE classifications.
In that regard, NECA is developing a program to help our members understand and take advantage of these labor relations tools. We’re learning from electrical contractors using the CW/CE classifications about what changes are needed to successfully manage a lesser-skilled workforce.
The NECA Management Education Institute (MEI), which is responsible for this project, is also working on a new introductory foreman training course. It will dovetail with the more extensive Effective Supervision courses but can also serve as a basic leadership training course for lead journeymen. In addition, the MEI is putting together a networking and mentoring program for women electrical contractors.
Our government affairs program is looking ahead to the big legislative issues coming down the pike after the health care bill is resolved. Pension reform, taxes, and energy are at the top of the list. After a banner year for ECPAC in 2009, we are planning an even bigger push in 2010. This is the year to get the right people elected to Congress and to support our efforts to protect small businesses and promote policies that grow our industry.
A special Energy Solutions Task Force, formed last year, has been expanded. It will continue to implement the recommendations from a master plan developed in 2008. This year, we will focus on the new Energy Auditing training course and developing a “funding source” matrix that contractors can use to help customers pay for energy solutions projects.
Safety also takes a front-burner position with the creation of a new contractor safety orientation training program. There will also be several webinars focused on NEC and NECA safety materials.
NECA continues its support for the National Electrical Installation Standards (NEIS). In addition to updating some of the existing standards, we will begin the process of creating four new standards. We are also working with the Canadian Electrical Contractors Association to develop a CEIS version of the NEIS for Canada.
The ELECTRI foundation is meeting next week to select up to $200,000 worth of new research projects. In addition to completing many other research projects in the pipeline, ELECTRI will once again sponsor the Talent Initiative program that encourages college students to seek careers in the electrical contracting industry.
Personally, I will be involved with a financial futures task force appointed by NECA President Rex Ferry to address NECA’s future revenue needs. Rex and I are also planning to experiment with a few electronic town hall meetings, where we hope to foster an open dialogue with NECA members in various areas of the country.
And of course our showcase event is the annual NECA convention and trade show, October 2-5 in Boston.
Well, these are just the highlights of the highlights. Look for a lot coming out of NECA this year.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Holiday Wish List - 2009
As we are in the midst of celebrating the holiday season, I once again asked NECA staff what they are wishing for this year. Here are some of the responses:
Always the optimist, Southern Region Executive Director David Roberts wants roller skates for his staff so they can keep up with our members as they accelerate their businesses during 2010. I wonder what the field reps think of that.
Midwest Region Executive Director Drew Gibson wants a commitment by local unions and chapters to succeed in market recovery expansion by cutting costs, improving profitability, and retooling training for emerging markets. Drew also hopes for continued global warming to ease the burden of Midwest blizzards. The Midwest reps will get ice skates instead of roller skates.
Convention Director Beth Ellis naturally wants a good turnout for the NECA 2010 Convention in Boston. She would also like something in a little blue box (Tiffany’s) and an additional staff person for help. My wife asks for the same things.
Public Relations Director Beth Margulies wants to see NECA members take advantage of the business opportunities that social media offer. Beth has been active in getting NECA involved in Facebook, Twitter and the like. Lets all give a tweet in 2010.
Marketing Executive Director Rob Colgan is hoping for a “sustainable” recovery. He’s pushing NECA members to explore new market opportunities in energy efficiency and renewable energy production.
Greg Mankevich, executive director of the Management Education Institute, put in a shameful plug for his latest MEI offerings such as “Adapt or Perish,” “The New Business Model of Construction Contracting,” “Business Development for the Design-Build Market,” and “Understanding Net-Metering, Distributed Generation, and the Energy Policy Act and its Impact on the Electrical Contracting Industry.”
Safety Director Jerry Rivera is hoping for a zero accidents for our workforce in 2010. Jerry is our designated driver at office parties.
Mike Thompson, NECA secretary-treasurer, had a rough year revising the NECA budget downward more than once. His fervent wish is that we have only one budget in 2010.
As for me, I’m hoping that we all take advantage of the many opportunities coming our way in the year ahead.
Now I’m off to Tiffany’s to see if I can buy just a blue box for a bracelet that I bought at Costco.
Merry Christmas!
The Best of New Years!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Rising Above
The week before Thanksgiving, I participated in the topping-off ceremony for the Beekman Tower in New York City. This Frank Gehry-designed apartment building will be the second tallest residential structure in North American and the tallest in NYC. But it came close to being much shorter.
Earlier this year the developer, Forest City Ratner, decided to halt construction at the 40th floor. Due to economic conditions, developers all over the city were making decisions to curtail or cut back construction.
That’s when New York City contractors and building trades unions went to work to save their jobs. Together, they forged an innovative project labor agreement that knocked anywhere from 15 to 25 per cent off their labor costs. NECA member, David Pinter of Zwicker Electric, was instrumental in the process. Zwicker is also the electrical contractor for Beekman Tower.
As a result of the PLA, high-rise construction in New York was restarted, and Beekman Tower reached its planned 76-story height. The NEBF provided part of the financing for the $1 billion plus structure.
NECA and IBEW officials at both the local and national level were on hand for the topping-off ceremony. Developer Bruce Ratner was profuse in his praise for the cooperation he received from the unions and contractors, and he cited NECA, IBEW, and NEBF in particular.
The Beekman Tower is a very visible and tangible reminder of what labor-management cooperation can achieve.
As a side note, my hotel in New York was located directly across the street from Ground Zero, the former World Trade Center site. I’ve been there a few times since 9/11 and it’s always a bit of a shock to see this vast empty space in the middle of Lower Manhattan.
When I checked into the hotel, the front desk clerk warned me that construction was going on around the clock and there might be some noise. From my 40th story window, I looked right down on the 16-acre construction site. It was well lighted. In one corner, the steel for the Freedom Tower was already a few stories above grade, while nearby earth was still being moved to prepare the foundations for other buildings.
I got up a couple times during the night to see what was going on. It wasn’t the noise that drew me to the window. In some ways, I felt that it was my solemn duty to watch the rebuilding process. Even in the middle of the night, recovery from one of the greatest disasters on American soil was taking place.
