2015 Year in ReviewWestern Electrical Contractors Association, Inc.

A Letter from WECA’s Executive Director and CEO

Dear WECA Members, I’m so pleased to share the accomplishments that you--our members, your apprentices and employees--and all of us collectively as your contractors’ association, saw to fruition in 2015. There is a reason that WECA stands out as the premier provider of electrical and low voltage apprenticeship, electrician trainee education, and journeyman continuing education in California. I believe it all ties back to the commitment of our member contractors to quality training and workforce development.

The value of training to your business’s bottom line is more evident than ever. According to the American Society for Training and Development, “Companies that invest in employee learning have higher productivity, revenue growth, and profit growth than companies that do not.” 1 The Forbes article, “Why Employee Development is Important, Neglected and Can Cost You Talent,” examines what happens when companies don’t invest in training. Citing a July 2012 Harvard Business Review study, they explained that top-performing employees may exit early from companies where they might otherwise have enjoyed longer careers to mutual benefit, if they don’t receive the training and career development they need and desire. 2

I know that our member contractors understand the importance of training and professional development to retention, growth, safety, and productivity--the expanding numbers of your apprentices, trainees, and journeymen we serve are a testament to that understanding. WECA saw a 6% increase in enrolled apprentices and 30% growth in the number of electrician trainees and journeymen trained in the last year alone. Contractor membership in our association grew 15%, as well.

Your support doesn’t stop with your most skilled employees, either. In 2015, WECA launched a new workforce development initiative to prepare entry-level individuals with the basic hands-on skills needed to be effective contributors to our members’ jobsites, and to launch their journeys as electrician trainees. Your support of this program has so far allowed us to train and provide contract job placement assistance for 42 newly-minted trainees, with more every day being hired on by their contractors at the completion of their contract work placements.

It’s been gratifying to watch our member contractors ‘ businesses grow and bounce back from the recession. The WECA Board of Directors and Apprenticeship Training Committee trustees and the staff look forward to even greater results in the year to come.

I want to personally thank all of our Contractor Members and Industry Partners for their support and membership and for training the next generation of a skilled workforce for the merit shop electrical industry. Please join me in revisiting some of the highlights your membership made possible in 2015.

Sincerely, Terry Seabury

1 http://safety.blr.com/training/workplace-safety-training-sessions/safety-administration/EHS-strategy/10-Good-Reasons-Training-Is-a-Sound-Investment/2 http://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2013/01/29/why-development-planning-is-important-neglected-and-can-cost-you-young-talent/#49be84fa2ce0

Terry Seabury

Association HighlightsWECA saw a 15% increase in contractor

membership during calendar year 2015.Our industry saw growth and positive indicators

as well. Most regions in California saw significant increases in construction employment, with continued growth in the forecast.

WECA formed a Governance Model Task Force to examine how the Board of Directors, Apprenticeship Training Committee, and Association as a whole could better represent and meet member needs across the State.

We continued superior results in required annual financial audits.

Our social media presence continues to grow as WECA interacts with thousands of followers across multiple online communities. Join or follow WECA on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and now enjoy our new photostream on Instagram, too.

WECA continues to strive to provide the best client service in the industry, providing rapid response on incoming calls while continuing to service an ever-growing number of members and students.

WECA hosted seminars and webinars, free for our members,

featuring such experts as Carrie Bushman and Dennis Cook of WECA Industry Partner Cook Brown, LLP on legal topics of importance to our contractors; and Richard Markuson, WECA’s

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Government Affairs advisor and lobbyist, with legislative updates and forecasts for the upcoming business climate for our members.WECA developed and will shortly publish a Prevailing Wage eBook for our members and the industry. The publication combines information from multiple resources in an educational and user-friendly manner to help train your employees on this important topic.

Apprenticeship HighlightsWECA is happy to report growth in our apprenticeship programs in 2015, in which we trained 6% more apprentices than in the preceding year.Veterans now make up 10% of our apprentices.

apprentices in the last academic year, a major goal of our workforce development team.

WECA insituted an updated

indenturing process to better match individuals with the aptitude and skils to succeed, and to provide our members with candidates of the highest quality.

WECA apprentices were profiled multiple times in the California Apprenticeship Council quarterly newsletter.WECA’s 1st year Apprenticeship curriculum, used by both commercial and residential electrical apprentices, was substantially rewritten, piloted, and evaluated on a model of competency-based training. This training model includes an even greater number of hands-on labs and has been well-received by apprentices, who report deeper engagement with concepts.

WECA saw particular demand for our Low Voltage (Sound and Communications and Fire Life Safety) apprenticeship program and hired new instructors for our Rancho Cordova and San Diego facilities.

Training HighlightsThe number of Electrician Trainees, Journeymen, and General Interest students that WECA serves continues to go up. During academic year 14-15, we taught 3,149 students in our non-apprenticeship courses such as our Get Wired! Electrician Trainee series; our self-paced online interactive courses; our exam prep series; and the online and home

study courses from such training providers as Mike Holt, Simutech, National Training Center, and Click Safety with whom we partner. This was a 30% increase over the number of students we served last academic year.

as o r Get Wired! Electrician Trainee series o r

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We improved the online course experience for our students with new features and design upgrades to the WECA eCampus, a Learning Management System (LMS) in which our Get Wired! and online students learn and track progress. We added new 32-hour online continuing education offerings on low voltage topics such as security systems and fire alarm systems with partner National Training Center.We expanded our online safety offerings for journeymen and electrician trainees with the addition of self-paced OSHA10 and OSHA30 courses with our partner Click Safety.

Curriculum Product Development and

DistributionWECA launched another original, self-paced online course, “Wiring Motors and Air Conditioners,” available for 8 hours of Electrician Trainee or Journeyman Continuing Education credit. WECA also launched four instructor guide/student workbook combos on Amazon, offering its expertise in Blueprint Reading and Basic Motor Controls instruction to the industry.We have made our online self-paced training available to partners for seat resale, and launched our first partnership.

Workforce Development

Initiative Launched

Program helps our contractors to find entry-level employees with the basic skills required to succeed on the jobsite, and also helps individuals in the community get a “fast track” into electrical and low voltage employment.

WECA provides two weeks of paid training to those accepted into the program, and then helps place those who succeed into contract positions with our member contractors. WECA has trained and assisted 42 individuals so far.

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Having FunThe new and official WECA

Mascot--Wattson the Electric Eel--was born. Wattson has already been making appearances at outreach events and has become a popular prize in his stuffed form.

Giving BackThe 2015 Western Electrical Contractors Foundation (WECEF) Crab Feed raised a significant amount of money-- thanks to the generosity of our members and industry affiliates-- for scholarships for apprentices, electrician trainees, and journeymen attending classes with WECA.

Government AffairsExplained merit shop philosophy and opposition to SBTC to governor’s staff.Testified at over 30 committee hearings.Issued 50+ letters to Committees and Legislators .Testified before CAC on apprenticeship dispatch.Engaged 8 local agencies on PLAs and apprenticeship.Issued CEQA letter on SMUD solar project.CEQA challenge to Cal train – delayed.Founding Board member of CACTI (California Alliance for a Cleaner Tomorrow, Inc.)CSLB alerted us to SB465 –alerted contractors.Over 20 merit-shop calls on joint PLA and other workforce issues.Grew PAC to $148,000.

Argued against new, onerous rule for repeat OSHA violations.

2016 PlansExpand workforce development initiatives.Continue to expand member and industry partner benefits.Increase training opportunities for the low voltage industry. Sound and Communications and Fire Life Safety two-week intensive training courses to be made available to the public. For a different tuition structure, students can attend classroom training and hands-on labs alongside our apprentices.Gain a path to college credit equivalancy for WECA Commercial and Residential

Continue to pressure legislators and state officials for fair and open competition for our members and their employees.

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Who We AreWestern Electrical Contractors Association, Inc. (WECA), is a statewide nonprofit organization serving merit shop electrical contractors, their employees and the industry suppliers that support them.

What We DoWECA offers strong political and public affairs efforts, networking, specialized member services, training, and workforce development in an effort to achieve its goal of promoting merit shop electrical contracting as the most valuable, qualified choice for the electrical construction industry.

WECA offers federal and state-approved Commercial, Residential, and Low Voltage (Sound and Communications and Fire Life Safety) Electrical Apprenticeship programs, an Electrician Trainee program, certification exam preparation classes, continuing education classes for journeymen, and an electrical employment fast track program offering two weeks of paid hands-on skills training and temporary job placements to individuals new to the electrical and low voltage fields.

WECA additionally shares its expertise by producing curriculum products and publications for the industry.

WWW.GOWECA.COM