What to expect from MEA in 2019!
by Clara DeRosier, Executive Director
The MEA winter conference was a wonderful opportunity to discuss priorities with Committee Members for 2019. All who gathered gave beneficial feedback that will help move MEA forward. I would like to highlight a few priorities from each meeting for all who were unable to attend.
ETN of MN – our program is growing! The administrative work and fee structure is continuously being evaluated and updated as needed to ensure the program is solid. If you are interested in performing Prevailing Wage work, we have a DLI approved program for you.
Membership – the Membership and Product Service Committee had a joint meeting to discuss engagement and how to partner for results. Online communities continue to be a desire for connection so MEA will explore how to make this happen. Engagement scoring is now live. Login to your MEA profile to view your score. Engagement is based on pre-set criteria in ways that you interact with the association. This information will be beneficial to leadership as new contractors get more involved with MEA. Contractor webinars will now be open to non-members! Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming dates and topics.
Workforce Development – The Job Board is live! When posting positions through MEA, you will have an opportunity to push those out to major job boards such as Indeed and Monster. There are over 30 resumes on the career portal, some with experience. This talent pool is continuing to grow and be an option for you to increase your workforce. Over a dozen basic electrical videos are available for you to view with your new hires. These are items that would be expected of you to understand prior to entering into year 1 of an apprenticeship program.
Education – The solar course held with Werner was a hit with over 50 attendees in the classroom. Additional types of training as well as method of delivery was approved and will be available in 2019. Enhancements to our public continuing education courses will be made - access to PowerPoint presentations for all attendees has been added as a new feature. A skills competition is being explored for apprentices in MEA’s 4-year program to test their hands-on talent.
Government Action - MEA’s legislative survey was evaluated and 2019 priorities determined. Duty to defend, retainage, prompt to pay and solar ratios will be topics to watch during the upcoming session. Conservation Improvement Programs (CIP) will be on our lobbying teams’ radar as a program to support. I would like to thank Senator Senjem, Senator Paul T. Anderson, Senator Goggin, Committee Administrator for Energy-Darrin Lee and Senate Researcher-Aly Gunstrom for participating on a panel during out legislative luncheon. The discussion was robust and I know that the MEA members who attended were grateful for the knowledge and light that was shed on the upcoming session.
And to wrap the weekend up – we spent the afternoon at the new Top Golf location in Brooklyn Park. It was more fun than I think any of us could have imagined. We will definitely be going back next year. Thank you for all who were able to make it out and participate, it was another great conference for the books! And stay tuned for more 2019 initiatives after leadership conducts a new strategic plan for the organization in January.