News Newsletter January 2010 MEA Winter Conference
MEA Winter Conference
Written by Judi Rubin
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. Thanks to Joey Hulsebous, Adam Skare and Adam Ormrsher, lead design engineer for the TCF display systems, from Daktronics for their presentation on the LED signage.
MEA's instructor general, Paul Krmpotich, teamed up with Dave Weigel, U of M Electric Utilities General Foreman and Tom Moran, U of M Facilities Management Principal Engineer Supervisor and their high-voltage electricians at the U of M to show new 13,800-volt switchgear that can be operated 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. Also, Todd Christianson from EATON and George Cusick from Cooper-Bussmann presented a very informative seminar on application of overcurrent protection conforming to the NEC. A special thanks goes to Allen Bradley-Rockwell Automation, Federated Insurance, EESCO United, and Musco Sports Lighting for making this event more interesting by showing their newest product offerings.
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.
Town Hall Meeting at the Department of Labor... How many of you get to talk with:
• Commissioner Steve Sviggum for an hour about worker's compensation?
• Director Roslyn Wade for an hour about the ins and outs of prevailing wage?
• Assistant Director John Schultz for an hour-and-a half about speeding up inspections, when to expect online permits, help with problems? (The best thing we can do to get our electrical inspectors back to work so we can speed up inspections—is to get the legislature to stop taking $1.5 million of permit and licensing fees away from the department.) Forty of MEA's contractors did just that on December 4th!!! A special thank you to Doug Seaton of Seaton, Beck & Peters for sponsoring this event.
Doug Jaeger, Adolphson & Peterson, keynote speaker... We will be putting some of Doug's remarks on the MEA website for MEMBERS ONLY. Dinner attendees found his fast paced, fascinating glimpse into where to find business in the future—a valuable use of their time.
MEA Board Meeting... The MEA Board approved the minutes, financial reports, budgets, service and loan agreements. The 2010 dues increase was waived in the budget due to the economy. Key man insurance was renewed for MEA President and a compensation error corrected. Bill Daly gave an update on the Federated Insurance program.
REVIT Software Class by Chad Kurdi, Director of Electrical Construction & Design, at Dunwoody College of Technology... One person called it AUTO CAD on steroids because it's so powerful. Another said it is more fun than computer games. Not only can the architect, engineers, and subcontractors do all of their work on the same software—it provides a three dimensional look at the building to determine if the levels of lighting, furniture layout and other aspects of the design will work. It is easier to learn than AUTO CAD for beginners and Chad said the students absolutely love it. Dunwoody is no longer teaching AUTO CAD because of the increased demand for REVIT expertise.
Please mark your calendar now for the MEA meetings on April 13 & the NCEL Expo April 14-15.
Have a happy and successful New Year!
