For the 23^rd year, the IBEW/NECA Electrical Connection will being making critical electrical repairs and upgrades – free of charge – to low-income homes in St. Louis.  It is all part of an enduring partnership with Rebuilding Together St. Louis. Each year, about 100 IBEW Local 1 skilled electricians and 25 NECA contractors volunteer on Saturday morning fixing homes in need of electrical repairs and upgrades.  The Electrical Connection donates the services and materials. In 2024, the effort earned an Innovation in Philanthropy Award from the St. Louis Business Journal. This year’s repair blitz will be on Saturday, April 18, 2026.

As graduations approach, IBEW/NECA is offering a dynamic career in the electrical industry at career fairs throughout the region.  Last month, students at North County Tech learned all about the need for safe and reliable skilled electricians and communication technicians in the era of the electrification of everything. Those skills are developed and honed at the award-winning IBEW/NECA Electrical Industry Training Center, which for 85 years has trained more highly skilled and safe electricians and communication technicians than any other program in Missouri.

Left to right, IBEW Local 1 business Mike Newton, IBEW Local 1 Apprentice Alex Ross, IBEW/NECA Electrical Industry Training Center Director Shawn Levin, and Electrical Connection Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Sylvester Taylor.

David Payne, chairman of NECA Contractor PayneCrest Electric, will be honored with the Paula and Rodger Riney Beacon of Hope Award by the Alzheimer’s Association.  Payne has been a dedicated supporter of the association and Alzheimer’s research, which was detailed in the February cover story of Town & Style. The award will be presented at one of the nonprofit’s largest annual fundraisers, the Beacon of Hope Gala, on April 25 at The Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis.  Learn more.