Blog

Annual Women in NECA Round Table Connects Leading Ladies in San Francisco

With the final day of the annual NECA Convention and Trade Show coming to a close, exhibitors are packing up and the traffic on the trade show floor is winding down. Outside of the show floor there’s been a jam-packed schedule full of can’t-miss events for NECA members and industry leaders. One of these yearly events is the Women in NECA (WIN) round table, an opportunity for NECA’s leading ladies to meet face to face.

Since 2009, WIN has connected professional women in the electrical industry through networking and educational events. The organization encourages more women to explore careers in the electrical industry.

Energy security for everyone

This year’s sixth annual WIN Roundtable, met Monday, Oct. 5. Members listened to keynote speaker Michelle Lacourciere, executive director of the Sirona Cares Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 2009 that’s working to end global energy poverty.

“Most people don’t realize the reality of energy poverty and how it affects a huge amount of the global population,” Lacourciere explained to the WIN audience. “1 in 5 people lack access to the most basic electricity. Our sustainable programs are giving people the power to create, use and market clean energy in their communities.”

In poor nations, such as Haiti, kerosene lanterns, candles or wood fires are often the only source of light and heat in homes off the grid. This type of fuel is not only expensive and difficult to gather, but the fumes can cause significant health problems.

Sirona Cares is brightening one community at a time by implementing Ti Soley Kits produced by Day & Night Solar in Illinois. Each 1.5-kilowatt solar charging station is set up in an accessible community area such as a school, clinic or store.

Children and Haiti use electricity from Ti Soley lanterns

Ti Soley Charging Station using Solar Panels

Children in Haiti use light from Ti Soley lantern

Up to 100 local families pay a small monthly fee to rent a battery that they can recharge as frequently as needed. The battery is used to run lights, charge cell phones and other devices, and each battery lasts up to 7 days. If properly maintained, the charging stations can last for up to 10 years.

“These kits take money out of the kerosene trade and put it back into the local community,” said Lacourciere. “For example, in Haiti a family can have unlimited access to recharging for around $6.25 a month. Some schools in Haiti are making $300 a month from the kits. Currently we have 24 charging stations in Haiti and more than 100 homes rely on our electricity.”

Sirona Cares (@SironaCares) not only provides the equipment for the kit and charging station, the organization also offers the training and tools to teach residents how to get their charging business started and keep it successful. Overall, the program is delivering a source of renewable energy, cutting indoor pollution and ultimately, adding jobs and increasing self sufficiency.

Following Lacourciere’s presentation the WIN Task Force lead a discussion, opening up the floor to a panel of industry executives and leaders, including WIN members Susan Ernst of Royal Electric Construction Corp., Michelle Carissimi of JMC Electric and Cindy Austin, Cascade Chapter Manager of NECA.

WIN welcomes members to Phoenix, where it will host the eighth annual leadership summit in April 2016.

Testimonials

My experience with US Builders Review was positive from start to finish. The staff conducted each interaction with the utmost professionalism, whether over the phone or by email. Beginning with the initial telephone interview US Builders Review carefully gathered information to form a draft document then incorporated my minimal edits required to achieve factual accuracy in the finished article. US Builders Review is a pleasure to work with.
— Tim Craddock, President, Vansant & Gusler Inc.
Kyle Gahm was instrumental in coordinating this project from beginning to end. He was always available and a pleasure to work with. It would be a pleasure to work with Kyle down the road. Bill Keaton was very impressive in raising money from advertising which resulted in ASE getting the cover story, so thank you Bill. Lia Prysunka and Jeanee Dudley are both very impressive individuals who deserve a lot of credit for this featured piece. They were both very patient and accepting of any changes we suggested. The format, quality, and resolution was awesome. To sum it all up: Our upper management, who never have been high on PR and things of this nature said that it was "absolutely fantastic" and were blown away. They now are requesting multiple copies of the full magazine and are very proud of the work you all put in. Thanks again.
— Ryan Sanzari, Director of Operations, Alfred Sanzari Enterprises
Everyone that we worked with was polite, professional, responsive & very good to work with. It was amazing to see the ideas transformed into the final product. We are very happy with the end results and would not hesitate to work with them in the future or recommend them to other business!
— James Kowalski, Owner, Kowalski Construction Inc.
We are excited to be featured as a case study in US Builders Review and look forward to sharing our company’s story with a national audience.
— Ryan Sanzari, Director of Operations, Alfred Sanzari Enterprises
Thank you all your efforts in putting together such a great article about our company in US Builders Review. DH Construction appreciates the professional manner in which your team worked with us to achieve the stateside exposure we were after; especially taking the time to get all of the facts correct. In short, the article was extremely well put together and we have already received a great deal of feedback, interest, and compliments as a result of the piece. Once again, we appreciate all the effort, and without a doubt, we will not hesitate to work with your organization again in the future.
— Daniel Harrigan, Principal, DH Construction
The team at US Builders Review is professional and did a great job with your published article. They asked for and listened to my feedback and responded quickly to any requests I made.
— Susan Courter, Director of Business Development, R.E. Crawford Construction
Ryan at TrueLine was a pleasure to work with and we wouldn't hesitate to recommend him or TrueLine to anyone in the future. They were professional, organized and great to work with through the process!
— James Cahill, President and Partner, J. Calnan & Associates
The staff was very helpful and easy to work with while developing our story. They were always open to our ideas and provided us useful information to maximize our visibility using social media. We were certainly pleased with final article.
— Daryl Whitmer, Marketing Program Manager, Harrison French & Associates (HFA)
It was an absolute pleasure to work with the writers and editorial team at TrueLine Publishing for our recent article in US Builders Review. From the start of the project, it was apparent that everyone involved was very concerned with accuracy and getting the facts right. They were also very conscientious about soliciting our feedback and ensuring that we were happy with the content and with the manner in which Giroux Glass was described in the finalized piece.
— Barbara Kotsos, Director of Marketing & PR, Giroux Glass
TrueLine Publishing was a delight to work with. They were extremely patient and worked diligently to get our article written and published. The team always responded in a timely manner and was courteous. I look forward to working with TrueLine Publishing in the future and will recommend them to other businesses.
— Crystal Leos, Business Development, DALLASWHITE Property Restoration

LATEST EDITION

Spring 2018

READ NOW

GET US BUILDERS REVIEW IN YOUR INBOX.

  • * We’ll never share your email or info with anyone.
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.