The City of Chicago made a commitment in 2019 for all Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) buses to be electric vehicles by 2040. Three new charging stations were needed to get 20 new all-electric buses up and running, and the CTA turned to Powering Chicago contractor Aldridge Electric and skilled electricians from IBEW Local 134 to […]
Michael Evans, the managing member of Evans Electric, LLC, never thought he would see a day when he used that job title for a electrical contractor bearing his name. Owning his own company was never on his mind as he worked his way up from apprentice in 1973 to general foreman with Block Electric over […]
In his thesis while attending the National Labor College, now retired IBEW Local 134 Vice President Russell Ponder wrote about Michael Boyle, one of Local 134’s legendary members. In doing research to write the paper, Ponder documented several watershed decisions in the union that opened doors for Black members in the 100+ years since the […]
Shon Harris and Angela Drexel decided to take a leap of faith when they stopped working for others and founded LiveWire Construction. After coming up through the apprenticeship program, they knew they had the skills to build an electrical construction firm that could take on large projects and outperform their competitors. But when they started […]
As the world begins to negotiate a world in which COVID-19 is less of a threat, it is undeniable that the effect the global pandemic has had on every industry will lead to long-term changes. The COVID-19 pandemic has already served as a catalyst for adopting new technologies that are needed to create smart buildings. […]
In 1995, Integrated Control Technologies, LLC (ICT) Vice President Dave D’Amico didn’t know that he would one day lead a company providing electrical contracting services in multiple states. He also couldn’t have expected that the company would be one of the few in metro Chicago employing IBEW members to program complex control systems, or that […]
When Northern Trust called Powering Chicago member KB Advanced Technologies (KBAT), a Newport Industries company, about a massive building overhaul, KBAT President Ron Roeder knew his team was right for the job. Nearly three years later, in May of 2020, KBAT completed the project at the city’s iconic “Big Red” building at 333 S. Wabash […]
COVID-19 has demonstrated the limitations of the current built environment in managing health and safety, and one of the responses has been to embrace technology as a means to address the limitations. Although we’ll reach a point when COVID-19 is no longer an immediate threat, the pandemic is likely going to be a catalyst for […]
Like many of the country’s largest cities, Chicago has been hit hard by the pandemic. With most companies still working from home and virtually no tourism, Chicago doesn’t have the draw it usually does. On Thursday, January 14, Powering Chicago Director Elbert Walters III will participate in a panel discussion during a Bisnow digital summit […]
On December 18, 2020, the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) announced the formation of a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) Task Force made up of 20 NECA national staff members, chapter staff, and executives from member companies. Task Force members represent the entire United States, including all 10 NECA districts. Among those selected to join […]
