Articles

In addition  to the video stories produced exclusively for  ElectricTV.net, we have also collected articles, interviews, stories  and other news covering a variety of topics from the electrical and construction industry. To view any of these articles, just click on the link following the story summary.

Boston Expands Apprentice Enrollment and Training

Drawing recruits from the most populated metropolitan area in New England, the Boston JATC program is now among the largest in the nation. But the program’s scope, diversity and success stems from a well-thought-out, concerted effort, not from the size of the population base. “We have approximately 800 electrical apprentices in the program,” says Training Director Phil Mason. “Also, we’re running about 200 telecom apprentices through, for a total of 1000. In addition, we do quite a bit of journeyman training, as we do a lot of upgrade training. And we’re getting into more areas like alternative energy and
instrumentation.”  Read More

Electrical Apprenticeships’ Many Rewards

How do you find the top-notch professionals in a particular field? Do you look at the quality of their theoretical knowledge,
the depth of their hands-on training, or both? When it comes to the electrical profession—or any other profession where the mastery of complex technical skills is fundamental to success—the answer is “both.”  Read More

"Dream" Training Facility Offers DuPage County Day and Night School

After 22 years as an instructor and training director, Ed Rossi had a clear idea of what would be required in his “ideal” training center. He got his “Dream Facility” in DuPage County, Illinois, just outside Chicago.  Read More

Recent History: Applications For Electrical Apprenticeships

As Recorded By More Than 300 Local NECA-IBEW Programs, this fact sheet provides hard data on the state of apprentice recruitment applications. Read More

Inventing An Industry

About 160 years ago, when linemen were tasked with stringing telegraph lines across the country, the electrically industry was born. With Thomas Alva Edison’s invention of incandescent bulbs in 1879, “wiremen” appeared, and with them the electrical industry began to grow up.  Read More

What The Electrical Industry Offers: Education, Opportunity and Great Careers

Usually, when a member of the NECA/IBEW team explains opportunities in the organized electrical construction industry to someone who’s not previously heard about them, we get the same reaction: Disbelief. People enrolled in, and paying for, specialized job training almost can’t understand us when we tell them that a NECA-IBEW apprenticeship—comprising on-the-job and classroom training—is FREE.  Read More

Welcome To A ‘Different’ Industry

We in the organized electrical construction industry are “different” from others. We stress cooperation, education, and new ideas. Welcome to our world! Who are we, anyway? We are the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the electrical contractors who employ IBEW members, including companies with membership in the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA).  Read More

Multi-State Coverage Challenges To Line Industry

Pressure to meet the needs of vastly different market forces through large geographic areas is a concern for all the outside line training programs administered jointly by NECA and the IBEW. They all cover multi-state areas. In the case of the American Line Builders Apprenticeship Training (ALBAT) program, it’s an eight-state geographic area stretching from Michigan to Virginia.  Read More