Tag Archives: Mahoning Valley NECA







Kenny Cooper presenting commemorative plaque to local leaders

100 years and counting … IBEW Local 573 honors its past at anniversary event


In the decade leading up to when IBEW Local 573 was chartered in 1923, Warren was the fastest-growing city in Ohio. The industrial era was in full swing thanks to emerging electric and steel companies attracting throngs of immigrants to relocate to Trumbull County. Citing a surge of individuals practicing the electrician trade without adequate […]

Valley native makes another move up the NECA ladder


For the second time in five years, a Youngstown, Ohio native working for the National Electrical Contractors Association gets promoted. Jack Savage is now the Executive Director for the Eastern Region, which took effect at the end of February. Over the last four years, Savage served as NECA’s Field Representative for the Eastern Region, which […]

Chuck Wright, journeyman electrician with MG Electric, checks one of the three charging stations at WRTA in Youngstown.

MG Electric adds power source to WRTA


One location in Youngstown is a bit closer to the future as it embraces the term “Voltage Valley” with help from a member electrical contractor. MG Electric installed three charging stations in Youngstown for electric vehicles, or EVs, at WRTA’s administration location on Mahoning Avenue. There are three, dual-port chargers that will “charge any type […]

Electricians install pipe underground.

Local electrician follows in father’s “Boot” steps


Braeden Allen is not only earning money while he learns, but he’s doing it all while working alongside people he’s known forever. His father is Ryan Allen, job superintendent for Boot Electric. A construction wireman, the junior Allen has been learning the ropes “while friends have been at class in college,” not applying lessons to […]

Application period opens for LMCC Scholarship at Youngstown State


Now through May 1, applications are being accepted for the Mahoning Valley LMCC Scholarship through The Youngstown State University Foundation. Eligibility requirements include: Must be at least a sophomore A minimum 2.5 GPA Full- or part-time student A joint labor-management committee consisting of IBEW Local 64 of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley Chapter of the […]

electricians at Ultium

Business Journal Growth Report: Ultium Battery Plant Energizes NECA-IBEW


[As printed in the Business Journal Growth Report 2022 …] Heading into 2021, local electrical contractors and union electricians were hopeful the year would lead to steady, solid work. Driven by one particular project, the NECA-IBEW electricians experienced “the largest number of man-hours that anyone can remember,” says Tom Lipka, executive director, Mahoning Valley NECA […]

Electrical apprentice shows high school students how to bend conduit.

Apprenticeship Week – Katie Gintert, a Local 573 electrical apprentice, wants to specialize in inside wiring after program


Katie Gintert is in her second year with IBEW Local 573 in Warren. She’s working to complete her inside wireman program. Gintert always liked to build things. She joined Habitat for Humanity in high school, and took wood shop classes. “I knew that I wanted to be hands-on, I knew I wanted construction after being […]

Sparking an interest in electrical industry careers at the 2021 Skilled Trades Expo


Beating the heat one day and braving brisk temperatures the next, thousands of students from local high schools attended the Mahoning Valley Skilled Trades Expo in Canfield. Held at the Canfield Fairgrounds Sept. 22-23, the expo was an opportunity for middle school and high school students to start the conversation about joining a trade after […]

MG Electric electricians looking over blueprints

MG Electric gets hands-on at OH WOW! renovation downtown


What does the renovation and rewiring of a Youngstown treasure like OH WOW! entail? For MG Electric Project Manager Michael Johnston it involves “a lot of patience and a lot of planning.” The two-phased project consists of a complete renovation of the first floor which will relocate the entrance from Federal Plaza to Central Square […]

History of safety and compliance paves way for strong year by electricians


(Portions of the following first appeared in the Business Journal Growth Report 2021) NECA-IBEW Electricians, an association of IBEW union locals in Youngstown and Warren and signatory electrical contractors in the Mahoning Valley, leveraged their workplace safety track record to ride a strong year despite the obvious hurdles put up by the pandemic. “We adapted […]