Electric League News

1st Annual Electric League Road Show

The Electric League of Missouri and Kansas invites you to join us for a Barn Party! On Friday, September 19, 2003, we’ll be having a luncheon at the Privitera Ranch in Topeka! This event will enable the members of our industry from the Topeka, Lawrence, Manhattan and Kansas City areas to get together to network, share ideas, enjoy lunch and most importantly, strengthen the industry! The event will begin at 11:30 a.m., at the Privitera Ranch. This is a great opportunity to meet your peers in the industry, and learn a little bit about the Electric League and how it can benefit you and your business! Please join us for the 1st Annual Electric League Road Show on Friday, September 19th!

Legislative News

If your business uses a fax machine to connect with your customers, you’ll be glad to know the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has delayed – for 16 months – a new rule dealing with fax transmissions.

The rule would have required organizations and businesses to get written permission before faxing out unsolicited commercial ads. As USA Today noted, "Unless written permission were obtained, real estate agents could not fax home listings that clients requested…and contractors could not fax bids for construction jobs." The FCC’s decision postpones the effective date of the rule from August 25, 2003 to January 1, 2005, giving businesses time to gather "permission slips."

The Electric League – and other organizations – would have been burdened by the rule as well. We sent a notice via fax asking you to give us your consent to continue sending fax and email communications to you. We have heard from many of our members, but we still need to hear from the rest. Please go ahead and return the consent forms – that way we’ll have your permission on file.

Taken in part from Your Chamber @Work 8/21/03

Legislative After Hours Briefing

The Electric League has planned a legislative after hours briefing in October.

Thursday, October 16, 2003
4:30 p.m.
Western Extralite Company
1470 Liberty St.
Kansas City, MO

Speaking at the briefing will be John Jones, National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)/Missouri Assistant State Director. He is responsible for the political and governmental affair functions in Missouri. Hal Hudson, Kansas Lobbyist for NFIB will also be speaking. The Kansas president, Kenneth Daniel, will join us that afternoon as well. These gentlemen plan to give us some insight into what the States will be discussing in 2004 - but we want to hear from you as well. Bring issues from one or both legislatures you would like to see discussed during this briefing.

Prevailing Wage Law - A Republican Perspective

On August 22nd, Connie Cierpiot shared her views with the League at our luncheon. She explained how she approached Republican House Members to help defeat the repeal of the Prevailing Wage Law. Connie has looked very carefully at repealing prevailing wage in Missouri, even piecemeal as she believes House Bills 414 and 576 would have, and came to the conclusion that labor is not to be bought and sold as we would buy computers or equipment for our businesses. American labor policy abandoned the notion that labor is a commodity many decades ago and Republican politicians spearheaded the issue.

She stressed that Missouri’s prevailing wage law addresses itself strictly to the people side of public works construction. She strongly believes that labor is not a commodity, and predetermined wage law benefits the approximately 10,000 small business contractors who would be harmed by repeal, the skilled craftsmen who complete the projects and finally, the taxpayer.

Congratulations to our winners:
1st Flight:
1st Place – Clayco: Lena Brull, Mike Brull, Brad Gaeddart and Rick Hass
2nd Place – Graybar: Vince Groff, Chris Lacy, Richard Meek and Tony Winslow
3rd Place – Mark One: Vince Dasta, Ken Dworak, Vince Migliazzo and Joe Privitera

2nd Flight:
1st Place – Capital Electric/Southwire: John Dussold, Phil Hickey, Mike Ryan and Chris Wallace
2nd Place – GE Industrial: Sean Baker, Mike Hart, Jason Massoth and Russ Niemi
3rd Place – Lankford & Assoc.: Roy Allen, Don Erisman, Greg Fendler and Tim Woofter

3rd Flight:
1st Place – Cutler/Hammer: Grant Kitchen, Tracy, Jim Wright and Rob Meyers
2nd Place – Square D: John Coulter, Jack Hudson, Craig Lanham and Ron Lomax
3rd Place – B.A. Electric: Tom Delk, Bob Garner, Rob Jones and Jack Suess

Longest Drive on Hole #2 – John Guerdan, Square D
Closest to the Pin on Hole #4 – Ken Dworak
Longest Drive on Hole #11 – Steve Hollar
Long Putt on Hole #18 – Joseph Horyat

Skins Contest Winner – 1st Place – Clayco: Lena Brull, Mike Brull, Brad Gaeddart and Rick Hass

Special thanks to our sponsors:
ABB
Aquila
BA Electric Supply
C & O Electric Sales
Capital Electric
Citadel Electric
Cleaves-Bessmer-Marietti, Inc.
Electrical Corporation of America
Federated Insurance
G.E. Industrial Systems
Graybar Electric
Mark One Electric
MidLand Electrical Corp.
MWE, Inc.
Nextel / Rocky Mountain Wireless
Omni Cable Corporation
Rensenhouse Electric
Shaw Electric Company
Southwire Company
Square D
Staco Electric Construction
Stover & Associates
The Stress Crete Group

Happy Birthdays to: John and Tom Isenberg at Western Extralite for their big 50! Chris Beseau at C&O in July, and Eileen Hess (and her husband, Dave) of General Cable Corporation in July. In August, Doug McGough at C&O, Dot Perkins at French-Gerleman, and Tom Tholl at Cresent Electric Missouri Valley celebrated birthdays. Congratulations to Mark Bishop on his September birthday.

Doug McGough had a BIG summer - his daughter Julie just graduated from KU and then got married in June. Congratulations to Doug and his wife, Peggy. Doug Rehfield of C&O is engaged to be married this fall. Best wishes to you and your fiance, Malissa. Also from C&O, Jim Stanker’s son Luke has returned from studying in Australia this past semester. And, Evan Johnson, Pam’s son, who has just finished his freshman year at Piper High School, was added to the Principal’s Honor Roll and made the varsity baseball team as a pitcher.

Same faces, new places: Doug Huber is now hanging his hat at KC Electric Supply and Julie Biron is now doing the same at Western Extralite.

Get well soon wishes go out to Gary Sneathen at MWE, Inc.

Keep those e-mails coming in - this is YOUR column!

The week of July 23-26 took Electric League President-Elect, John Kelble of ABB and Executive Director Jane Male to Halifax, Nova Scotia for an international conference of Electric Leagues. The Electric League of Kansas and Missouri is a member of the International League of Electric Associations (ILEA) and has participated in this annual conference for many years.

The week is full of networking and idea sharing of what works and what doesn’t work for Electric Leagues. We talk about issues concerning education, trade shows, membership, golf tournaments, and programming. The best ideas presented by the Leagues in attendance are voted on by those present to be awarded a Golden Globe.

Your League presented the new video safety program that we developed with Time Warner Cable, Cable in the Classroom. Those in attendance were so impressed by the program we were awarded the Golden Globe in the Unique Program category. The group really enjoyed the videos the schools submitted as well as the first place trophy the committee designed. Congratulations Safety Committee on a program well done!

The conference was attended by the following Leagues:
Alberta Electrical League
British Columbia Electrical Association
Electric League of Maryland
Electric League of Missouri & Kansas
The Electrical Association of Philadelphia
Electric League of the Pacific Northwest
Electrical Association of Rochester
Electrical League of Rhode Island
Electro Federation Canada
Manitoba Electrical League
Nebraska-Iowa Electrical Council
North Central Electrical League
Ontario Electric League
St. Louis Electrical Board

Next year the group plans to meet in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Happy Holidays

You read it correctly...the always popular Electric League Holiday Luncheon will be Thursday, December 11 - mark your calendar. We are at a new location this year, the Ameristar Casino.

It’s not too early to think about what door prizes you or your company plans to contribute to the luncheon. Don’t wait until the last minute, let’s help the Hoilday Luncheon Committee out and send in your gift baskets, gift cards, electronics, or even cash. The luncheon is full of holiday cheer and your door prize contributions add to the smiles of all the guests.

To make a contribution, please call Kim Swank at (816) 561-5323, or e-mail kswank@swassn.com at the Electric League office to make arrangements.

We look forward to seeing you December 11!

Legislative Surveys

The July/August issue of the Electric League News contained a legislative survey. Members are reminded to complete this survey and return it to the League. Surveys can be faxed to the League at (816) 561-1991.

Prospective Member Luncheon

The Electric League will hold its annual Prospective Member Luncheon at the Arrowhead Club in Arrowhead Stadium on Friday, October 24, 2003. Make plans today to attend and bring a prospective member!

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