St. Louis Union Electrical Contracting Industry Honored for Donating $760,000 in Service/Materials to Wire 154 Habitat Homes Since 2004

ST. LOUIS — The Electrical Connection received the Thomas J. Finan, Jr. Humanitarian Award for its six-year partnership with Habitat for Humanity St. Louis to safely wire new homes for families in need. The award was presented Oct. 29 at a 40th anniversary celebration for St. Louis Construction News and Real Estate (CNR) benefiting Habitat for Humanity St. Louis.

Since 2004, the labor-management organization has donated more than $760,000 in services and materials and mobilized more than 500 electricians to wire 154 homes. The Electrical Connection is a partnership of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local One and the St. Louis Chapter, National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA).

The award honors Thomas J. Finan, Jr., founder of CNR. In presenting the award his son, Tom Finan, said: “My dad strongly believed in cooperation between management and labor, in diversity, and in the ability of those in our industry to work together to affect an urban St. Louis renaissance. The men and women of the St. Louis Chapter NECA and IBEW Local One epitomize the values that my dad held, as witnessed by their cooperative effort to assist Habitat for Humanity. It's fitting that these organizations are the recipients of the first Thomas J. Finan, Jr. Humanitarian Award.”

The Electrical Connection has also donated $400,000 in labor and material to Rebuilding Together to improve 260 homes for low-income, elderly St. Louisans. And, for 12 years the group has donated skills and material in support of St. Louis City’s “National Night Out” anti-crime program totaling more than $600,000.

Find out more at www.electricalconnection.org.

(from left) Doug Martin, executive vice president of the St. Louis Chapter, National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), Matt Lampe, business representative of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local One, Tom Finan, publisher of St. Louis Construction News and Real Estate (CNR), and Steve Schoemehl, business manager of IBEW Local One, with the Thomas J. Finan, Jr. Humanitarian Award honoring the Electrical Connection’s partnership with Habitat for Humanity St. Louis at a ceremony Oct. 29, 2009.