Conferences
Upcoming Conference Dates
- 2012 WETC Trade Show and Conference: Feb 8-10 - Stoney Creek, WI
- 2012 MEA Spring Conference: April 16-18 (Monday-Wednesday) Location Hyatt - Minneapolis
- 2012 NCEL: April 18-19 in Minneapolis - Convention Center
- 2012 MEA Summer Conference: June 13-16 (location to be announced)
- 2012 MEA Winter Conference: Nov 29-Dec 1 Fargo Holiday Inn
Over the course of any given year, MEA has three conferences for its members. The purposes of these conferences are to:
- Give members an opportunity to gain updated business and industry information.
- Allow committee and board members a set meeting time to determine policies and formulate the focus of MEA for the upcoming quarter.
- Provide a relaxed atmosphere for members to network and exchange ideas with other members or prospective members.
- Enjoy each others' company in the hospitality suite.
The first conference of the year is held in the spring in either March or April and is located in the Twin Cities Metro area.
The second conference of the year is held for four days in the first week of June. It is a great opportunity to pick up free continuing education credits, learn about new products at the product show, gain valuable business information from other contractor members and inspectors and enjoy food, golf, Rolle Bolle and conversation with old friends. Anyone interested in attending is encouraged to bring their family for golf, special activities for guests and children, informative meetings, and raffle prizes!
The third and final conference of the year takes place in December and is held in or near the city where the current Chairman of the Board lives.
2011 Summer Conference
Business for Contractors & Fun for All! The Product/Service Members put on a great product show awarding door prizes every 20 minutes. Electrical contractors learned a lot and sales were made. The grand prize of an iPad2 was won by Michelle Klein.
Thank you to Border States Electric and John Brandt for again awarding the MEA/Border States scholarships. This year the winners were Kristine Provo, the daughter of Tim Provo, Provo Electric, of Corcoran, Carissa Johnson, the daughter of Wade Johnson, Wade’s Electrical Service of Moorhead, and Kevin Leiferman, the son of Gregg Leiferman, G&D Electric Inc of Truman.
More Highlights and Pictures from the 2011 Winter Conference
2010 Winter Conference
Meetings and classes at the new Werner Electric Supply facility in Cottage Grove - The winter meeting featured committee and board meetings which were heald at the new Werner Electric Supply headquarters in Cottage Grove, Minnesota. Attendees were also able to receive credits for attending a code training classes or attend a hands on workshop using the Werner/Allen Bradley "programmable wall".
Update from the Department of Labor and Industry - John Schultz was on hand to update contractors on the Department of Labor and Industry.
More Highlights and Pictures from the 2010 Winter Conference
2010 Summer Conference
Even with a lack of sun the MEA summer conference was a success. Cloudy skies during the product show kept people close to the product service tent where there was plenty of time to meet with the product service vendors and grab some delicious BBQ.
Rob Olson of Crescent Electric Supply introduced the Eaton/Cutler-Hammer team to kick off the product show with a brief discussion of Power Quality. Interest in this topic was high and a more in-depth follow-up presentation will be held at a future meeting. The Eaton/Cutler-Hammer team followed up later in the day by presenting their Certified Residential Contractor Program. If you missed this presentation feel free to contact Jen Danich and her team for more information on the program at (952) 939-5425.
Janet Streff, manager of the State Energy Office, gave a great overview of ARRA-funded projects in Minnesota. Special thanks to John Schultz and Sam Sampson of the Department of Labor and Industry for updating members on what's new at the DLI.
2010 Spring Conference
The MEA Spring Conference and Annual Meeting was held in conjunction with the NCEL Expo. Eric Seanger, MEA Chair, welcomed members to the appreciation dinner. He thanked John Benz of Federated Insurance for hosting the dinner and Doug Seaton of Seaton, Beck & Peters for hosting the hospitality suite.
2009 Winter Conference
U of M's new Golden Gopher's TCF Stadium - Joel Gatewood made grounding and bonding interesting and topped it off with the inspection of the Daktronics state of the art Gopher's Scoreboard! A very cool way to learn the NEC and get info on installing the many smaller Daktronics LED signs that are popping up all over Minnesota. MEA's instructor general, Paul Krmpotich, teamed up with the electricians at the U of M to show new 3000 amp equipment that can be installed with almost no personal protective equipment. No-they are not putting anyone at risk! It's an exciting new technology that will keep electricians safer.
MEA's Strategic Plan Update - Interesting, informative and fun is the way members described the fast paced, effective three hour meeting led by Tom Kopperud. It generated clear direction for the leadership and staff. The update will be presented at the Annual Meeting for final approval.
More Highlights and Pictures from the 2009 Winter Conference
2009 Summer Conference
"Glad I was there! Glad my competition wasn't!" was an interesting comment at MEA's Summer Conference. Here were some of the reasons:
- Steve Sviggum, Commissioner of Labor, paid a surprise visit to our education and government action committees. It was great to have him discuss unallotments, the future of training, and more.
- NFPA 70E enforcement was addressed by Tom Joachim, the head of the Construction Codes & Licensing Division and Bob Durkee, OSHA Consulting.
- Bill Glahn, Assistant Energy Commissioner, spoke about how to get energy grants for implementing the state energy mandates.
- Ways of getting new business with "stimulus" money and rebates for energy efficient projects were discussed at seminars. Rob Olson of EESCO United flew in experts Jason Bondra (Pittsburgh) and Jim Paplaczyk (Chicago) to talk about the best-selling trends in green projects.
More Highlights and Pictures from the 2009 Summer Conference
2009 Spring Conference
Changes that affect electrical contractors were explained by experts who are in the know!
- How Minnesota will use the $9 billion in stimulus money was explained by Steve Sviggum, Commissioner of Labor.
- How to cut the cost of your workers’ compensation insurance was explained by Bill Daly, Federated Insurance.
- The value of indenturing apprentices in a registered program was explained by Roslyn Wade, Director of Labor Standards & Apprenticeship.
- Prevailing Wage changes under consideration was explained by John Ploetz, MEA.
- How electrical contractors will be affected as the Legislature balances the budget was explained by Tom Bakk, Chair of the Senate Tax Committee.
More Highlights and Pictures from the 2009 Spring Conference
2008 Winter Conference
Commissioner Steve Sviggum, Department of Labor, updated the contractors who attended MEA's business luncheon about proposals being considered for overhauling the current workers comp system, changes that were made to the Independent Contractor Exemption Certificate requirements, and the DOL's outlook for 2009. He encouraged people to reach across party lines to discuss their business needs with their legislators and to be active participants in the political process.
More Highlights and Pictures from the 2008 Winter Conference
2008 Summer Conference
It started with good news. Northern Minnesota has $6 to $7 BILLION in new construction projects in varying stages. According to Senator David Tomassoni of Chisolm, if everything works out as planned, almost all construction workers in the state will be busy in northeastern Minnesota. While Minnesota is missing the energy and defense industry—it is encouraging to learn how valuable our mineral deposits have become to India, China, and other countries. Plus—who knew they would discover copper deposits in Aitkin? It was an upbeat way to end a full day of committee work on Thursday. We emerged from our conference rooms into a sunny afternoon, good news from the Senator, and a delicious dinner hosted by Federated Insurance in Breezy Point’s new dining room overlooking the lake.
More Highlights and Pictures from the 2008 Summer Conference
2008 Spring Conference
Tammy Miller... CEO from Border States, gave an excellent talk about how to “Survive the Downturn in Construction.”
While reports from McGraw Hill show the decline for total construction during the first two months of 2008 at 34% in the Midwest compared to 18% nationally, it is helpful to focus on the fact that the value of new construction starts during the first two months of 2008 actually increased 1% compared to the prior year, if we exclude residential building, which declined 41%.
More Highlights and Pictures from the 2008 Spring Conference
2007 Winter Conference
Three hours of solid gold ideas and information were contained in the following three highly informative talks:
- How to Sell your Business Without Really Trying—given by Wyatt Zaun. More on this topic is discussed in Judi Rubin’s column on page 2.
- Insure Against Design-Build Disasters—given by Bob Anderson, Federated Insurance.New Enforcement Rules & Top 10 NEC Changes—given by John Schultz, Electrical Licensing & Inspection Unit.
More Highlights and Pictures from the 2007 Winter Conference
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