Wesco Commits $100,000 to NECA/ELECTRI PM Apprenticeship Program
Wesco, Pittsburgh, announced it will commit $100,000 to the NECA/ELECTRI Project Management (PM) Apprenticeship through the Wesco Cares scholarship program. This is the fourth consecutive year Wesco has invested in the U.S. Department of Labor-registered apprenticeship program and is the program’s inaugural corporate sponsor. Wesco executives were on site at the NECA Convention in Las Vegas to discuss its partnership with NECA/ELECTRI International and participate in the Project Management Apprenticeship graduate recognition.
“We are proud to continue to support the successful NECA/ELECTRI Project Management Apprenticeship Program and the electrical professionals who are dedicated to advancing their education, expanding their skills and strengthening our industry,” said Sean Grasby, senior VP and general manager of U.S. Construction, in the press release. “We are committed to delivering value-added services and innovative, purpose-built solutions that help contractors more efficiently tackle today’s most demanding and complex projects.”
“The PM apprenticeship program has given us the opportunity to enroll emerging talent into a structured and well-developed program,” said Michael Parkes, president and CEO of O’Connell Electric Co., Victor, N.Y., in the press release. “And Wesco’s investment has given us the opportunity to allocate additional funding to our workforce training that would have otherwise not been available.”
As the inaugural executive sponsor, Wesco was featured at the NECA/ELECTRI Project Management Apprenticeship graduate recognition as 14 cohorts officially graduate by year-end 2026, representing more than 130 apprentices and NECA contractors from 32 states. To date, the apprenticeship program boasts a 96% completion rate, and more than 100 contractors have sent at least one apprentice through the program since its inception.
About the Author
Jim LucyJim Lucy
Editor-in-Chief, Electrical Wholesaling & Electrical Marketing
Over the past 40-plus years, hundreds of Jim’s articles have been published in Electrical Wholesaling, Electrical Marketing newsletter and Electrical Construction & Maintenance magazine on topics such as electric vehicles, solar and wind development, energy-efficient lighting and local market economics. In addition to his published work, Jim regularly gives presentations on these topics to C-suite executives, industry groups and investment analysts.
He launched a new subscription-based data product for Electrical Marketing that offers electrical sales potential estimates and related market data for more than 300 metropolitan areas. In 1999, he published his first book, “The Electrical Marketer’s Survival Guide” for electrical industry executives looking for an overview of key market trends.
While managing Electrical Wholesaling’s editorial operations, Jim and the publication’s staff won several Jesse H. Neal awards for editorial excellence, the highest honor in the business press, and numerous national and regional awards from the American Society of Business Press Editors. He has a master’s degree in communications and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Glassboro State College, Glassboro, N.J. (now Rowan University) and studied electrical design at New York University and graphic design at the School for Visual Arts.