Do Your People Help Drive Your Company’s Success?

By Joe Salimando Salimando is a Fairfax, Virginia-based writer and contributor to energysolutions.necanet.org, eleblog.com, and tedmag.com. Reach him at ecdotcom@gmail.com. Obviously, the answer to the question above is YES. Most contractors I’ve met will, when asked, enthusiastically provide instances where one or another of their employees – comes up with remarkable ideas, finds shortcuts that … Read more »

Having Fun Yet?

It’s a question that’s meant to be sarcastic. People ask it when they know things are bad, and they expect a sarcastic response in return. I’ve heard it asked a lot over the past three years. So you may be surprised that my response is not sarcastic at all. This may be one of the … Read more »

Getting It Right

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal asked the question: Why Aren’t Companies Getting the Employees They Need? It states that even with unemployment of 9%, companies are complaining that they can’t find skilled workers. They lay the blame on schools for not giving kids the right kind of training and on government for … Read more »

NECA Convention: The New(bie) Business Perception

NECA 2011 San Diego may have been my first convention as NECA’s new Business Development Director, but I immediately got a sense of renewed purpose for electrical contractors diving into new and emerging energy solutions markets. Whether renewable and alternative power generation or advanced lighting and building controls, many attendees were there to learn as much as … Read more »

Field Trip!

NECA Transmissions features posts from CEO John Grau and other NECA staff and leaders about industry projects or issues they are following. Today’s post comes from: Adrianne Gracias, NECA’s Online Communications Manager Since I’ve lived in the D.C. area most of my life, it’s rare that I get to be a tourist in my own town. … Read more »

The “Super Committee”

NECA Transmissions features posts from CEO John Grau and other NECA staff and leaders about industry projects or issues they are following. Today’s post comes from Lake Coulson. Just before you were leaving town on your August vacation and much-needed family quality time, Congress passed legislation that would prevent the United States from defaulting on its … Read more »

50% of Women in Executive Positions: A Workable Goal?

by Beth Margulies, NECA Director, Communications My job at NECA is communications for both our members and the public, which has me going through different sources to see what’s working for other shops. I thought members of the NECA Women’s Peer Group (and their male colleagues) would appreciate this blog post from Richard Edelman, president … Read more »

A New Model for Multiemployer Pensions

In the union segment of the construction industry, multiemployer pension plans are the norm. In addition to covering construction workers, these plans are also commonly found in coal mining, trucking, retail trades, printing, health care and performing arts. All told, more than 10 million Americans participate in multiemployer pension plans. Special rules under the Pension … Read more »

Dan Walter Sees the Future: BIM on Every Project

NECA Transmissions features posts from CEO John Grau and other NECA staff and leaders about industry projects or issues they are following. Today’s post comes from Dan Walter. Building Information Modeling has been around for a while, starting with 2D CAD and continually evolving as better software and hardware became available. But, 2011 might be … Read more »

The Sound of a Stagnant Economy

Thud! The national jobs report has landed and it’s not an encouraging sound. Instead of gaining ground on job growth and lowering the unemployment rate, we’re moving backwards. The rounds of self-analysis and blame have begun. The timing was good for the Jobs for America Summit which I attended earlier this week. It made national … Read more »