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News

NECA Looks Forward to 2020

Dec 26, 2019

NECA is on a mission this year to expand membership value, develop the best talent, collaborate within the industry and foster member relationships. 2020 marks the year of finalizing our staff realignment, NECA’s headquarter relocation to Washington, DC, and an emphasis on labor relations, advocacy and apprenticeship standards. 

Our national office and 118 local chapters serve nearly 4,000 member companies, which continue to lead by example in multiple industries. With this leadership comes innovative development. By working together with our members, NECA has developed multiple new initiatives, expected to launch in 2020 and beyond. These new initiatives span across education, public affairs, labor relations, safety, codes and standards and events.

Advocate

NECA maintains a strong presence in Washington, D.C., and we look forward to welcoming our contractors to the nation’s capital for another year of advocating for our industry. In April 2020, the annual National Legislative Conference will be restructured and revamped to be a longer, higher-level meeting. 

NECA will capitalize on the many legislative successes we saw in 2019. Among those successes include securing the inclusion of a construction industry exemption from the Industry Recognized Apprenticeship Program (IRAP) provisions, and attaining enactment of several important policy provisions including the repeal of the Cadillac Tax, allowing apprentices to utilize 529 savings accounts, and lowing the payment period for contractors that are small businesses.

In recognition of our efforts in advancing legislation and regulatory policies in the best interest of NECA’s electrical con­tractors, NECA’s Vice President of Government and Public Affairs was named among Capitol Hill’s Top Lobbyists in 2019.

Represent

NECA’s Director of Safety now serves on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Advisory Committee on Con­struction Safety and Health, allowing NECA direct input on the development of federal regulations. This will help NECA to ensure new safety regulations are fair and equitable. NECA will continue to work with our partners at the IBEW on labor relations and lead the discussions on pension reform, portability, technology and collaboration. Insights on workforce development, labor relations and standards development have increased the competitive position of our members.

On Capitol Hill, NECA members have earned a say with legis­lators, holding more than 300 meetings during the 2019 National Legislative Conference. NECA members also held 45 in-district meetings and sent more than 600 letters to Congress on the association’s top legislative issues. We look forward to expanding these critical relationships this year.

Educate

NECA creates new resources daily for our members to stay informed about the industry, stay safe on the job and perform their job well. Members can rely on critical information to run their businesses from a variety of sources, whether it is the ELEC­TRICAL CONTRACTOR magazine and weekly newsletters, online training courses, industry expert-led webinars, the NECA career center, or video reports.

The NECA Learning Center trains thousands of people every year, and NECA’s industry standards are relied upon throughout the industry. In fact, training on NFPA 70E Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace, which NECA developed with the electrical training ALLIANCE, IBEW and the Department of Energy (DOE), received reciprocity approval from DOE National Training Center.

In 2020, NECA will go through a complete website redesign that will highlight the tools and benefits we have to offer. In addi­tion, NECA will be launching a new safety magazine to help the electrical contracting industry reduce costly incidents.

Connect

2020 brings the NECA Convention back to Chicago, and also marks the 10th Anniversary of the Safety Professionals Confer­ence. Keep an eye out for the NECA events below:

  • Women In NECA and NECA Future Leaders (WINFL) Conference
  • NECA 2020 Chicago Convention & Trade Show
  • NECA National Legislative Conference
  • NECA Labor Relations Conference
  • NECA Safety Professionals Conference
  • and many more!

Connecting our members is just one component of bringing the industry together. Finding and retaining the best talent in our industry requires planning and cultivating the next generation of skilled workers. Higher education is a critical tool for NECA to transfer knowledge to future generations, and stu­dent chapters are one of the best ways to achieve this goal. NECA now has 37 student chapters across the country, all of which have the opportunity to participate in the NECA/ELECTRI International Green Energy Challenge, a popular competition that engages col­lege students and their faculty advisors with NECA members.