Episode Transcript
[00:00:07] We are here at the NECA show in Chicago listening to voices from the show. Hey. Well, good morning everyone. My name is Heather Thomas. I'm the assistant manager for Central Indiana Chapter neca.
[00:00:18] And so the best part of my job is honestly dealing with the contractors and learning so much about what they do and helping them build their reports and run their payroll, part of their business the best way possible, and helping them understand the contracts that we negotiate. There's very few people that get to sit on those negotiation committees. So part of my job is just helping them understand what the contract is doing and what we're doing for their fringes and their wages and getting that to materialize in their EPR live reports.
[00:00:47] The biggest challenge facing our area today is honestly a lot of portability and some of the erts reciprocity, the benefits has been a challenge. So we've definitely got some portability agreements that we're working through and just making sure that our employees are getting their full wage package benefits and getting that as soon as possible and not waiting on the ERT system to reciprocate those benefits. And one of the lessons I've learned the hard way is honestly just making sure that I understand the full intent of the contract.
[00:01:14] There's a lot of things that happen and making sure that you're understanding what the intent of the contract is and not just looking at the language has been integral actually in helping me advance forward through my role and in our industry and our offices over there. So my name is Elizabeth Dehm and I am an office manager at Pro One Electric located in Carpersburg, West Virginia.
[00:01:37] The most rewarding project I've worked on recently is probably starting an inventory management system at Pro One Electric, using technology so that we can better track all the inventory that we have and cost it to jobs. The biggest opportunity I see for our industry in the next five years is probably AI and technology.
[00:02:01] We're just kind of starting to play in that field to see where that can take us and how it can make us more efficient and more productive.
[00:02:10] One piece of advice I'd give my younger self is probably take more chances, do more things, don't be scared, See where that takes you.
[00:02:21] My name is Troy Van Dyne with Rosaden Electric. My title is Workforce Development Trainer. The best part of my job is being able to bring in future leaders, current leaders, current field leadership, and watch them grow and develop into something that sometimes they didn't even realize they were capable of.
[00:02:41] And just the growth and seeing them to be able to expand it is truly the best part of my job, being able to see others succeed. And that really is what it is to be part of a team. Anyway, Question number two. The biggest challenge facing our area today. I'm in the Southeast and in the Southeast our biggest challenge is skilled labor. It is recruitment of skilled labor. We are a union contractor. I'm a union contractor, NECA contractor and we hire IBEW field electricians. And the union is the South's best kept secret.
[00:03:19] Not a lot of people know about it. In trying to recruit into our trade is very hard right now and it has been for quite a few years. It's starting to improve, but it's going to be a long game. One of the lessons I've had to learn the hard way is the importance of active listening and not listening for a response, but listening to truly understand what the message is that you're being delivered or the question.
[00:03:47] And that I found myself a lot of times thinking about what my response was going to be instead of truly hearing the individual and what they had to say. And there's been times where that's had catastrophic consequences. So that was probably one of the hardest lessons. I would love to say I'm improved in that, but I still have faults at times. But yeah, thank you for letting me sit down and share a little bit of myself with you guys today and I hope you have an amazing convention. My name is Jim Power. I'm an ISR for Wesco Distribution based in Hammond, Indiana. The best part of my job is the fact that I get to meet a lot of people.
[00:04:28] I get to help people with stuff that they need for their electrical supplies. And it's anything from residential to commercial.
[00:04:37] In my previous life I've done hotels, a lot of different variety of things. The biggest challenge facing us today, I feel, is that we still have supply chain issues where we're getting the material from.
[00:04:49] The tariffs are now coming into effect on my business per se.
[00:04:54] And I would also say I don't think we have a lot of younger people going into this business. One lesson I learned the hard way is to make sure you have the customer dot their I's and cross their t's because I did a quote for somebody recently and copper went through the roof and we had to eat it because I got the PO for it. It was not a good thing.
[00:05:17] My name is Derek Atkins. I am the chapter manager for Twin Courts Arrowhead, neeco. The most rewarding project I've worked on recently is I work sometimes as the subject matter expert for The Electrical Training alliance. And I get to update and work on the curriculum for grounding and bonding. And currently I'm working on updating the grounding and bonding textbook for eta. And that's pretty cool to me. Biggest opportunity I see for our industry in the next five years is we need to embrace the limited energy sector of the industry.
[00:05:56] Class 4 fault managed power.
[00:05:59] More and more things go into the Internet of things. More and more things go into structured cabling. We really need to embrace limited energy systems.
[00:06:10] Biggest piece of advice I give my younger self is always stay confident. Even if you're not. Be confident. Always be confident. Thank you. So my name is Brandon Curry, executive manager at the Quad Cities chapter in neca.
[00:06:25] Best part of my job is really being able to focus on the industry as a whole. I appreciate the fact that everything I do doesn't necessarily focus on one contractor, one job, one local. It's industry focused as a whole because this industry really has been a blessing for me and my family and the ability to be able to go out and not only introduce our industry to people that don't necessarily know about it really, or all the different facets that it touches, let alone the opportunities that exist. So that's probably my favorite part of my job is the broad spectrum of the focus that it has. So I think the biggest challenge facing our industry today is our industry's been around for over 100 years and it's made up of a lot of individuals, a lot of areas that don't necessarily handle change very well.
[00:07:12] So when you look at the ability to face new challenges, especially right now, the industry is just changing daily in a lot of cases, from technology to business practices, legal concerns, I mean, all that kind of stuff is new all the time. And the ability to mold and adapt to that is probably our biggest challenge. We've got a lot of resources available to help accomplish that task or those tasks, but that's probably one of our biggest challenges.
[00:07:38] Lesson I've learned the hard way. I'd say probably that's a broad question, but in our industry, everything is kind of trial by fire in a lot of cases, right? I mean, I became an inside wireman and never even considered the trade as an opportunity. And then as I became an inside wireman, I decided I wanted to teach. Then I had the opportunity to run an apprenticeship program. Not a reason I got into the trade. And I think probably all of those different doors that have opened up has really taught me to treat everybody obstacle like another opportunity. Sometimes it's hard to focus on the positive, that comes with a challenge. But yeah, I'd say focusing on opportunities, right? Not that the whole glass is half full versus half empty thing. So my name is Mike Mitchell, cfo, Electric Plus Inc. In Indianapolis, Indiana.
[00:08:22] The best part of my job is the people that I work with. I think going in every day and being around good people that are passionate about their jobs and want to make our industry better is the best part of my job.
[00:08:34] Biggest challenge facing our area today is not going to be a unique one, but manpower, workforce, it's hard to find people. And then when you do find people, it's hard to find good people. So that's the biggest challenge.
[00:08:46] 1. Lessons I've learned the hard way. Boy, I would say probably when it comes to communication, some of the best advice I've gotten is that everybody can be a badass behind an email, right? It's hard to read emails and understand what the intent was. So just to pick up the phone and call somebody.
[00:09:04] My name is John Kane. I'm the operations manager for Case Communications. We're a low voltage contractor based in Gurney, Illinois. The best part of my job is I learn something new every day. As an operations manager, I kind of have to have a hand on everything that goes around the company. And I learned from the people around me, the mistakes they make and the mistakes I make and I become a little bit better at my job every day. The biggest challenging facing our area today, in my opinion, is how rapidly AI is taking over and changing our industry.
[00:09:37] I've been to nothing but AI conferences since I've been here and I need to start integrating more into my workflow and the workflow of the company as a whole. And one lesson I've learned the hard way, I've learned a lot the hard way is that you can't do it by yourself.
[00:09:52] That's probably my biggest challenge again, as operations manager, I'm in charge of pretty much everybody in our office and if we're not working as a team, we constantly fail. We're working together, we're communicating properly, then we seem to succeed. So that's probably the less that I've learned the hard way.
[00:10:13] So I'm here with EPR Live. How you guys doing today? Good. I'm Ken Finley, I'm from Capitol Electric. We are in New York and the best part of my job, I would have to say, is the people. It's a solid part of my heart.
[00:10:28] The biggest challenge facing our area today I would say is infrastructure. Right? So buildings just not meeting up to Code, stuff like that. You know, one lesson I've learned the hard way is to hire the wrong guy, right? Like I hired this guy right here. He worked for about a week and a half and now he's a DJ full time. So I don't know how he got here, but he's with us today. I'm not even joking. That's what it really was. But thank you guys so much.
[00:10:59] My name is Aaron Mills, CEO and founder of daxit.
[00:11:03] The best part of my job is when we work with construction contractor business owners, we actually make them a better business owner. The cool thing about that is, like, when business owners better, everybody else benefits. So we've had a couple success stories where, you know, we have a business owner that said, says that he had the best relationship with his wife just for the fact that been able to step out of his business.
[00:11:34] Also, you know, majority of our business owners are making record profits and they're able to give back to the employees and profit sharing and bonus programs. So that's the best part of my job. The biggest challenge facing today, I think is just changing people's mindsets. You know, everybody's thinking about the negativity. Everybody reads about social media. It's everything negative. I mean, everything's negative, really. Life is what you look at it. And I think that's the biggest challenge is what you focus on is the reality of your own life. And the one lesson that I've learned that is the hard way is ignore the negativity and just focus on the positivity and your life will change in that direction. So thank you very much for having me here.
[00:12:23] My name is Jack Savage. I am the executive director of the eastern region of neca.
[00:12:29] And the best part of my job is for the people that I get to work with and spend time with and interact with, especially like here at Conventional. The biggest challenge facing our area today without a doubt is manpower. We are blowing up everywhere, which is good. It's a good problem to have, but that is our biggest challenge and will be for the foreseeable future.
[00:12:53] One lesson I've learned the hard way is I didn't prepare an answer for this one is to prepare your answers before you get on a podcast.
[00:13:03] My name is Diane Bohachek and I'm the executive director for Necka Milwaukee. And the best part of my job is definitely the people. The industry is very friendly, fast moving, and really a fun group of people.
[00:13:18] The biggest challenge facing our area today is definitely workforce challenges. With the tremendous amount of work going on in the Milwaukee area and throughout the state, let alone the country.
[00:13:31] The pressure on workforce is tremendous. And so recruiting new talent is definitely one of our biggest challenges. And one lesson I've learned the hard way is you don't know everything and should listen to the. To the people around you. They're really smart and you should take advantage of their knowledge while you can. I've been in the industry for over 20 years now. And so being a woman in the industry and starting off when I was in my 20s, it took a long time to sort of build my confidence and get comfortable in the industry.
[00:13:59] And now that I've been around for a while, I still do have to walk a tight line and sometimes prove myself and walk that tight line of not over proving myself and then coming off a certain way. But 20 years does bring with it some knowledge and skill. And so you want to be heard. My name is Matt lefree. I'm the executive director with Northern Indiana neca. The best part of my job is all the different hats that I wear throughout the day. There's a lot of different responsibilities. There's a lot of different expectations. There's a lot of different people to answer to. And each day is something different, so it never seems to get old.
[00:14:34] The biggest challenge facing our area today is probably the labor and the lack thereof. It's been really tough finding qualified people for the last, you know, several years. And then, of course, with all the boom of construction in the area really kind of put us behind AOL even further than we thought we were going to be a few years ago. So one lesson I've learned along the way is be adaptable. You got to be malleable. You have to be able to adjust and make sure that you may not have all the answers, but know who you can rely on to help find the answers and help make some progress along the way, I guess.
[00:15:04] All right. My name is Craig Meese. I'm the CFO of Edwin Lheim Company out of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The best part of my job is the people that I work, work with. I have a great team, great management team, and we really just get along well strategically aligned with where we want the company to go. Biggest challenge facing our area today is just finding the right people for the right job.
[00:15:29] It's a challenge across multiple different generations. We have a lot of older people on my team. I'm actually the youngest person on my team, but still leading them. So that that's a challenge just within my department.
[00:15:42] One lesson I've learned the hard way is to always pause before reacting. It's never, never positive.
[00:15:51] Typically it's not a very positive impact when you just react instead of pausing and then taking time to respond in the right way. So that is my quick story.
[00:16:04] My name's Tim Brannan. I'm a project manager with Tennessee Associated Electric, Knoxville, Tennessee. The most rewarding project I've worked on recently. That's a hard one to answer. About 11 months ago we had a flood in our town. There's a Hurricane Helene. It came through and it completely flooded an industrial facility in my town, which is about an hour from where our company is located. We had about 30 to 40 guys, worked 12 hour days for about 12 weeks to get that plant, manufacturing plant up and running. We've changed out transformers and panels and switch gear and motors, but we did it in 12 weeks, weeks safely, no injuries. Guys working lots of overtime, lots of hours, got the customer back up and running. And probably the best job recently that I can think of, the biggest opportunity I see for our industry in the next five years is the growth in this new AI. What I understand what I was told, one AI request from a phone, it draws enough electricity to kill a cell phone battery. Every time you ask to do something, I see a lot of growth in that, a lot of power consumption. And if I could give myself one piece of advice, it probably would have been to learn a lot more about technology when I was younger because it's something that has really taken off in the past few years. I was in the field for 20 years before I moved into the management side and I had to learn a lot about computers and technology in a short period of time. So if I could tell myself that that'd be learn the technology when I was younger. Hi, my name's Amanda Queen and I'm the office manager at the Chattanooga Electrical jatc. The best part of my job is my day to day interactions with all of our apprentices. We have about 450 of them down in Chattanooga and they make every day a different day. And it's just really fun seeing them grow into the journeyman that they become. The biggest challenge facing our area in my opinion, is the amount of growth that the higher ups at International are wanting the JATCs to come up with with all the new Data Centers and AI and everything. They're really pushing that on the JTCs, wanting us to, you know, double our apprenticeship program. And that is a challenge because it's great when you're saying you want to double in a furnishing program. But we also have to balance safety and efficiency in the workplace. So it can't just stuff like that doesn't happen overnight. So that's gonna be a fun challenge for us in the next five years. Ish. And one lesson that I have learned the hard way is that not everyone thinks the same way that you do and come to the same conclusions that you do. So especially in this industry, it is a big group project. You can't do anything alone. And so you have to work with others and listen to others opinions and then maybe change your own. So, yeah, thanks for having me. Hi, my name is Luke Kuhl. I am the executive chairman of Twin Cities neca. The best part of my job, I think, is the people.
[00:19:26] People in this industry are passionate, they're interesting. We're constantly, you know, being a chapter staff, we're constantly negotiating. And I think that that's exciting. Whether that's negotiating with our own membership about how the chapter can best serve them or negotiating with the union, it's just a constant push and passion. And that's what I love about being in this industry.
[00:19:49] The biggest challenge that what we're facing in our area right now is just workforce. We have a large data center that came in and we're kind of in the middle of it right now and we're managing that. We expect in the future to have other large data centers come into our jurisdictions.
[00:20:07] And the uncertainty about that, the timing of that, and just understanding our workforce and how we can grow and contract to meet the needs of the market as it is, when it happens is just a huge challenge for both the chapter and our members as well as our labor partners.
[00:20:26] One lesson I've learned the hard way, I think you just never can be too certain about anything in this life or in this industry.
[00:20:34] As soon as you think that you know what's going on, there's going to be a curveball that gets thrown your way. As much as we like cooperating with our labor partners or mixing it up with our labor partners, depending on what the day and situation is, the reality is we have a ton to learn from our labor partners. We have a ton to learn from our membership. It's an important lesson. You can't come into one of these jobs with a huge ego because you're just never going to be able to get your feet on the ground. There is always somebody out there that's been around longer, knows more, or someone who hasn't been around and knows the better way to do it. So we can stop saying you Know this is just the way we've always done it. So keeping an open mind and being curious and creative is the biggest lesson I've learned. My name is Justin Kyle. I lead the Enterprise team at BuildOps build short form for building operations.
[00:21:22] So the best part of my job would be the people I get to work with. Having a team that's collaborative, motivated and supportive makes them meaningful and enjoyable every day. The biggest challenge facing our industry probably be finding ways to leverage technology to do more with less.
[00:21:37] Balancing efficiency, innovation and cost effectiveness is becoming increasingly critical.
[00:21:43] And then one lesson I've learned the hard way is it's all about the people and the culture you work with. The right environment not only drives the results but also makes you want to show up and give your best every day. Hello everyone, my name is Will Hanley. I lead the strategic team over at Build Ops. Build Ops, short for Building Operations. I guess the best part of my job up I would say is as well the people. I work with a lot of people in Build Ops. We work with a lot of commercial MEP specialty contractors and what we did is hire people from the field that actually understand what companies go through in a day to day. So we're really building a software that is a need for the industry and not just like a nice to have or want. I'd say the biggest challenge facing our industry today is the labor shortage. A lot of people have a hard time finding labor, especially good workers as well. So they're looking to be more efficient, looking at software to kind of help streamline and not have to add people into the office whatnot. The biggest opportunity I see for our industry in the next five years is AI. A lot of companies are putting a big emphasis on AIs making workflows a lot better and just allowing people to focus on the more important things other than the administrative tasks that they have to deal with on a day to day. So yeah, I'm seeing a big push for AI and I'm excited for the future in the service construction industry. My name is Kevin McCollum, I'm an outside salesman with City Electric Supply. I handle the accounts out of the brain Brook Illinois Branch the best part about my job I would say which is most rewarding is just kind of the culture and the dynamic of the company of who I work for. It's really a well oiled machine. Really proud to be a part of City Electric and what we stand for and what we do in servicing contractors all across the United states. We're in 37 states up here in Illinois, we have 17 locations, soon to be 18 in Joliet this coming April. Just the unity, the compartmentalization with all the branches and just the, the culture again is, is what is the best part and joy of my job every day, day. The biggest challenge facing our area today.
[00:23:50] So we are in electrical primarily. We do dive into solar, solar projects for certain solar contractors. I think the biggest challenge facing us now is the coming news in December of right now. The unknown as far as executive orders and mandations go with the next phase and the next decade of solar.
[00:24:12] There's a lot of unknown uncertainty right now from solar contractors alike. And it's really just a waiting game from now until December to see what the government kind of puts forth with an ordinance. One lesson I've learned the hard way is always sharpen your pencil when you can. At City Electric and what I mean by that, we are ultra competitive with our pricing structure for our contractors. That's a nationwide statute. And I think that you always want to be sure that you're giving the best price. Not, not just for the customer, but in regards to competition industry wide. You know, you always want to make sure that you're most competitive. That's what's going to help you obtain more jobs in the present, in the coming future with all your contractors. So definitely double check, triple check and make sure everything's on point. I'm Sam Zartoshti. I'm an enterprise territory manager at BuildOps.
[00:25:05] The best part of my job is I get to work with such great people. Not only my teammates, but also the folks that we get to serve. The biggest challenge facing our area today is just getting in front of, getting in front of people. The folks that we're talking to are just extremely busy. They're out in the field. So that's typically the hardest part. One lesson I've learned the hard way is people, they like what we're selling. Our customers that have walked past the booth so far, everyone has really had great things to say and that's something that it's really, really been cool to hear. Yeah, My name is Jason Lee. I'm an enterprise territory manager at BuildOps. The best part of my job is just working with the folks in, in the industry. I feel like this is a very underserved market. So being able to impact that in a positive way is definitely the best part of my job. The biggest challenge facing our area today is probably the labor shortage. Everyone that I talk to is saying that it's hard to find labor and keep the good labor. So that's probably the biggest challenge. And then one lesson I've learned the hard way is to not cold call people when it's hot outside, man. They don't want to talk to you when it's hot outside. So make sure you check the weather reports.
