PCCA Leads with Education at 78th Annual Convention
With more than 400 attendees, the Power & Communication Contractors Association (PCCA) held its second-largest convention ever this March in Miami Beach.
Education is always a mainstay of PCCA meetings, and in Miami PCCA members learned about the state of utility construction markets, damage prevention, immigration as a workforce solution, issues surrounding contracts, PCCA’s top legislative priorities, the latest equipment, and services in the industry, and much more.
PCCA also announced its annual scholarships, raised money for important association programs, honored outgoing chair Jerrod Henschel, Equix, Inc., welcomed new chair Ed Campbell, HMI Communications, and inducted two PCCA stalwarts into its Hall of Fame. And of course, as PCCA members are known to do, everyone had a great time.
The PCCA Leadership Development Program session on contract issues kicked off the convention, followed the next morning by the Excavation Safety Summit that PCCA holds every year with Common Ground Alliance and Nulca, the utility locating professionals.
That evening, keynote speaker Gregory Offner shared the lessons learned while traveling the world playing piano bars into a message of how employers can create experiences that their people want to engage in.
Sundays at PCCA conventions always start with the Prayer Breakfast (this year was the 51st annual) and end with the Auction, raising funds for PCCA scholarships, workforce development, damage prevention efforts, and more. Sunday also included Continuum Capital principal Mark Bridgers’ presentation on the Economics of Immigration, detailing the history of immigration in the U.S., some common misunderstandings, and some of the possible solutions being offered.
The Annual Associates Exhibit & Breakfast opened the convention’s fourth day, followed by FMI’s Chris Daum and his always informative power and communication industry update. He said the long-term outlook for these markets “is awesome but still requires solutions.”
The convention’s final day featured PCCA’s Issue Roundtables, with detailed discussions on scholarships, registered apprenticeships, and utility construction programs at technical colleges that PCCA works with. An all-star panel at the Government Affairs Roundtable updated members on broadband deployment, immigration reform, permitting issues, Buy American requirements, a variety of onerous labor provisions from the Biden administration, and more.
PCCA closed the convention with a Circa 1955 Party where Henschel received the association’s 2023 Distinguished Service Award and then passed the gavel to Campbell. PCCA also inducted Dan Levac of Preformed Line Products and John Fluharty of Mears Group into the PCCA Hall of Fame.
The association is now looking forward to the 2023 PCCA Mid-Year Meeting, Aug. 6-9 at the Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point, California.
SOURCE – PCCA