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2023 Leadership Conference
Registration Deadline: August 14th
The Young Professionals committee is thrilled to announce that registration is now live for our 2023 Leadership Conference!
Mark your calendars for September 14-15, 2023, as we have a jam-packed 2-day conference filled with great speakers, food & drink, and networking opportunities!
Program Highlights:
- Tour of Milwaukee Tool
- Off-Campus Activity at MobCraft Beer
- Education and Break-Out Sessions
The cost for the event is $250.00 per person. This event is open to all ECA Member Firms and their Employees.
The fee covers lodging, conference programs and events, and food and beverage.
Register Now
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2023 ECA Summer Social
Registration Deadline was August 10
Please contact the ECA for Availability
Mark your calendars for Friday, August 18, 2023, as we have a wonderful day planned at the Navy Pier Offshore Rooftop Bar!
Located at the far East end of Chicago’s Navy Pier, Offshore Rooftop offers unencumbered views of Lake Michigan and the city’s famed skyline not found anywhere else.
*Spouses and guests are welcome to attend!
Program highlights include:
- Chicago Air & Water Show practice
- Food, Beverages, & Networking
- Tremendous Views of the City Skyline
Register Now
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NECA Convention & Trade Show - Philadelphia
September 29, 2023 - October 2, 2023
Registration for the NECA Convention & Trade Show has begun! Room Reservation for the Chicago Chapter Block ended on August 10, 2023. Any extra rooms went into the regular NECA block. The Four Seasons is now based on availability. Please register, as soon as you can. However, please contact the ECA if you need assistance.
Registration
Please visit www.necaconvention.org to register for the NECA Convention/Accommodations. The Convention Center is located at the Philadelphia Convention Center, 1101 Arch St, Philadelphia, PA 19107.
Those who register early (on or before August 10, 2023) will receive the “early” price of $1,725 for members and $1,100 for the member’s spouse / guest. Those who register beginning on August 2, 2023 will receive the "regular" NECA Convention registration fee of $1,975 per NECA member, and $1,300 for the member’s spouse / guest.
After you have registered, please e-mail a copy of your completed registration transaction to the Association office at registration@ecachicago.com. This will allow us to have a record of your registration information, should you need any assistance after registering.
Hotel Reservations
The Hotel for the Chicago & Cook County Chapter is the Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast Center located at 1 N 19th Street, Philadelphia, PA. The room type and rate that is available is the Standard Room (1 King Bed or Two Double Beds) at $505.00 Single / Double.
Convention Stipend
The ECA Executive Committee approved the stipend of the Registration Fee for up to two representatives and their guests from each ECA member firm that registers for the Convention. The registrations will be reimbursed to the applicable companies after the Convention. The Executive Committee also approved an additional stipend of $1,000.00 per applicable attendee’s room block utilization for the NECA Convention & Trade Show to offset the room night cost increase with the Four Seasons Philadelphia Hotel.
CLICK HERE FOR CONVENTION BROCHURE WITH FULL SCHEDULE
CLICK HERE FOR CHAPTER EVENTS INFORMATION / CONVENTION REGISTRATION
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The Illinois Green Alliance announced the launch of their new project, “Building Energy Resource Hub.” A launch event & reception was held on Wednesday, August 9, 2023 at the Old Post Office – Meadow Rooftop. The event offered industry leaders an opportunity to learn about the Hub’s services and strategies that will assist building owners, service providers, and others in the building industry in navigating the opportunities and challenges in building decarbonization project financing, construction, technology, and compliance.
The guest speakers included the following:
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Michael Freichs, Treasurer, State of Illinois
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Brian Imus, Executive Director, Illinois Green Alliance
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Katie Kaluzny, Deputy Director, Illinois Green Alliance
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Angela Tovar, Chief Sustainability Officer at the City of Chicago
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Farzin Parang, Executive Director at BOMA Chicago
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Erica Borggren, Vice President, Customer Solutions, ComEd
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Chris Meister, Executive Director at the Illinois Finance Authority
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Micaela Preskill, Midwest Advocate – E2 Environmental Entrepreneurs
Each presenter congratulated the Illinois Green Alliance’s efforts to create the “Building Energy Resource Hub” (The Hub), as an on-line resource, soon to be developed with a physical space. All were excited to assist in development of educational, technical, financial programs and opportunities to assist those in the building industry. The Hub web address is: https://www.buildinghub.energy/ .
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Call for Support for the Helping Hand Fund
11th Annual Benefit on September 23, 2023
The IBEW Local #134 Helping Hand Fund was created in 2011 as a 501(c)3 charitable organization to help members and their families facing a crisis in their life such as health or family emergencies, disabilities, personal tragedies, and even death.
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ECA Regular Membership Meeting - September 20, 2023
The membership will be reconvening our regular membership meetings this September 20, 2023, for a luncheon meeting.
The luncheon program will feature industry updates and a guest presentation from Kyle Krueger, Director, NECA Codes and Standards. Providing a high-level overview, exploring the inspiration, history, and development process of NECA’s library of standards, the NEIS®; highlighting the latest additions to the NEIS® library, NECA 5-2023.
This presentation will also focus on the benefits of implementing performance workmanship standards into engineering, design, and installation processes.
ECA Membership Meeting
Wednesday, September 20, 2023
The Chicago Firehouse
Kimball & Palmer Room / Veranda
1401 S. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60605
(312) 786-1401
Complimentary Valet Parking is Available.
Registration / Networking: 12:00 pm
Lunch: 12:30 pm
Business Session: 1:15 pm
Event Concludes: 2:00 pm
Register Now
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Director, NECA Codes & Standards | |
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Kyle Krueger has worked in the Electrical Industry since 1997 as a Journeyman Wireman, Electrical Inspector, and Educator. Krueger currently serves as Director of Codes and Standards for the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA). Kyle holds a Master Electrician Licenses, Commercial Electrical Inspector License, and Design Engineer of Electrical Systems, he is also certified thru NFPA as a Certified Electrical Safety Compliance Professional (CESCP).
Kyle currently represents NECA on the National Electrical Code’s® Correlating Committee and Code Making Panel-3, as well as the Correlating Committee for The National Fire Alarm Code® (NFPA 72). Krueger serves on NFPA’s Electrical Section Executive Board and as the Assistant Secretary of NECA’s Codes and Standards Committee.
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New Episode of The POWER OF BETTER - Coming Soon!
This episode will feature ECA member: Low Voltage Solutions.
Episode 6 of the Power of Better will
release Sunday, August 20th on YouTube / Monday, August 21st everywhere else.
Subscribe to the Powering Chicago channel to catch all the episodes!
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CISCO Annual Golf Outing
CISCO's Annual Golf Outing
Monday, September 11, 2023
Bloomingdale Golf Club
181 Glen Ellyn Rd., Glen Ellyn
Bloomingdale IL
7 a.m. Registration
8 a.m. Shotgun Start
1:30 p.m. Cocktails/Lunch
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ECA 2023 Membership Meetings - Educational & Special Events Programming
Please click on the link for a listing of upcoming programs sponsored by the Electrical Contractors' Association of City of Chicago (ECA) Research & Education Committee, as well as National NECA events, Chapter programs. Registration links provided in pdf.
2023 Programming
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Various Event Stipends
The Electrical Contractors' Association of City of Chicago (ECA) Executive Committee recently approved a number of educational stipends for various events throughout 2023. Please click on the link for the current listing. The registrations will be reimbursed to the applicable companies after the applicable Conference.
2023 Stipend Listings
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IMSCA Update
HB2878 Amendatory Veto
As you know, IMSCA’s legislative initiative seeking retainage reduction on public construction projects was included in HB 2878; which was approved by the Illinois General Assembly and forwarded to Governor Pritzker for his approval. In addition to including IMSCA’s retainage reduction language, HB 2878 also included significant changes to the Illinois Procurement Code, Public Construction Bond Act and extends the authority to use public private partnerships (P3s) in Illinois from the Illinois Department of Transportation and Tollway to also include counties, municipalities and any other unit of local government.
On Friday, August 11th, pursuant to Article IV, Section 9(e) of the Illinois Constitution, Governor Pritzker returned HB 2878 to the House (chamber of origin) with a specific recommendation for change. In short, the Governor issued an amendatory veto of HB 2878. The Governor’s recommended change on HB 2878 has nothing to do with IMSCA’s retainage reduction provisions. Rather, Governor Pritzker cited concerns with the included P3 provisions. The Governor’s amendatory veto message states the expanded P3 provisions “creates a pathway for private industry to enter P3 agreements locally that skirts transparency and anti-corruption requirements established in state statute, including ethics, BEP, campaign finance, and procurement laws. The potential in this bill for opacity and corruption is too great. In addition, the bill as written puts the state at greater risk of project failure because it decreases competition and reduces the opportunity for public input into project planning and implementation currently required for other P3 developments under state law.” Governor Pritzker’s full amendatory veto message is attached for your review.
IMSCA’s Government Affairs Specialists (Neil and Daniel Flynn) prepared the following overview of the amendatory veto process:
When the Illinois General Assembly convenes for the Fall Veto Session (October 24-26 and November 7-9), the House will consider HB 2878 first. The House will have three options:
- Vote to override the Governor’s suggested change and to enact the bill the way it was originally passed. Note: a 3/5 majority (71 votes) is required for this action;
- Vote to accept the Governor’s specific recommendation for change. Note: a simply majority (60 votes) is required for this;
- Do nothing – or take no action; in which case, HB 2878 is dead.
If the House votes to override or to accept the Governor’s specific change, then the bill and motion must be considered by the Senate within 15 days of the House’s action. Thereafter, the same procedure will happen in the Senate. If both the House and Senate vote to override, then HB 2878 will become law as HB 2878 was approved in May 2023. If the House and Senate both vote to accept the Governor’s specific recommendation for change, then HB 2878 is again presented to the Governor to certify that the Governor’s specific recommendation was accepted by the General Assembly. Upon the Governor’s certification of said action, then HB 2878 will become law as amended by the Governor’s specific recommendation for change.
IMSCA members will be updated accordingly as more information and plans for our next steps become available. Please stay tuned for alerts from IMSCA on this issue as the Fall Veto Session gets underway.
IMSCA would like to take this opportunity to say “thank you” to everyone who has supported their efforts on this issue. Many of you participated in their Calls to Action, including communicating their position to legislators and writing letters of support to Governor Pritzker encouraging him to approve HB 2878. IMSCA learned from the Governor’s staff that a tremendous amount of letters were received from our membership in support of HB 2878. If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact Jessica Newbold Hoselton, Executive Director, Illinois Mechanical & Specialty Contractors Association (IMSCA) at (217) 523-436 or jnewbold@boldnewstrat.com.
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IMSCA Update
Illinois Job Works Program Act
The Illinois Works Jobs Program Act (P.A. 101-31) is administered by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO). The program is the result of legislation that was approved in conjunction with the Rebuild Illinois capital program in 2019. The program involves 3 initiatives that include:
- the Illinois Works Apprenticeship Initiative;
- the Construction Pre-Apprenticeship Program and;
- the Bid Credit Program (estimated implementation October 2023)
Please CLICK HERE for the full IMSCA Update.
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IMSCA Raffle
THANKS to the generosity of our IMSCA members for prize donations, NINE RAFFLE WINNERS will be drawn this year! Tickets are $50 each. Each ticket purchased buys you a chance to win the prize of your choice. Your choices include:
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FOUR tickets to cheer on the Chicago Bears vs. Carolina Panthers at Soldier Field (November 9, 7:15 p.m.). This prize also includes parking passes (Value: $1,100.00). Donated by Tom Morton, LLD Electric Company.
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FOUR tickets to cheer on the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center in 200 Club Level seats (Date TBA). Donated by Jim McGlynn, McWilliams Electric Company.
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$1,500 Travel Package that includes a $500 Southwest Airlines, $500 Delta Airlines and $500 Hotels.com gift cards. Donated by Bloomington-Normal PHCC/IL PHCC.
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$500 Amazon gift card. Donated by Electrical Contractors Association of Chicago.
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$500 Best Buy gift card. Donated by PCA of Greater Chicago.
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$500 Cabela’s gift card. Donated by Underground Contractors Association of Illinois.
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$500 GoPlay Golf gift card good at 5,000+ golf courses nationwide or for use on golf merchandise, golf lessons or golf vacations. Donated by Bloomington-Normal PHCC/IL PHCC.
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$500 Home Depot gift card. Donated by SMACNA Greater Chicago.
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$500 Morton’s Steakhouse gift card. Donated by Bloomington-Normal PHCC/IL PHCC.
This is a great fundraiser package containing something for everyone. The winning tickets will be drawn at IMSCA’s Board and Membership meeting on September 15, 2023. The winners do not need to be present to win. Please click the link below for the Raffle Form!
Click Here for IMSCA Raffle Form
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Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Webinars & Member News |
EAP solutions are available via on demand telephonic support and through video counseling, mobile app, work/life web portal and chat functionality.
ECA Members may log-in to the interactive work/life web portal for information on a variety of topics. Webinars are available at any time of day and our mobile app allows employees to access services such as counseling and work life resources right from the palm of their hand.
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