NECA

2009 Coggeshall Award To Be Presented To Ben W. Nevers, Sr.

The Coggeshall Award was established to honor a contractor who has made an outstanding contribution to the progress of the electrical contracting industry in the technical/training area. As a dedicated public servant, Ben. W. Nevers, Sr. has advanced our industry’s training aims throughout his entire state and will bring the award home from NECA 2009 Seattle.

He became a journeymen wireman member of IBEW Local 1077 in 1969 and ultimately served as its business manager before opening Nevers Electric in his hometown, Bogalusa, Louisiana, in 1980. His firm joined NECA’s South Louisiana Chapter the next year and he became active in association affairs.

At the same time, Ben Nevers was active on the civic front. He was  elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives in 1999 and in 2003 to the Louisiana Senate, where he is currently serving his second term.

His position as chairman of the Louisiana Senate Education Committee has enabled him to pursue his life-long interest in improving educational opportunities, especially vocational education, for Louisiana citizens. His dedication led to his introduction and passage of what became Act 472 of 2007, thought to be the first of its kind in the nation.

This Act authorized a procedure for granting apprenticeship tax credits against the income and corporation franchise taxes of qualified employers who employ registered apprentices.  Senator Nevers rightfully perceived that providing this tax credit would encourage employers to hire and train individuals, either through an existing registered program such as the seven NECA/IBEW programs in Louisiana or through an independent program registered with the state, thus increasing the pool of qualified craftsmen — a belief borne out as enrollment has grown in every NECA/IBEW electrical training program in the state.