 
California Local Signs Six Solar Contractors
May 2008, Electrical Worker
Santa Rosa, Calif., Local 551 is in the process of signing six new solar power contractors the after the non-signatory employers were invited to attend a three-day solar installation training session sponsored by the IBEW and NECA.
“The contractors saw first hand what we had to offer and that we could fill their need for skilled electrical workers,” said Local 551 Business Manager Jack Buckhorn.
Concerns over climate change and big state incentives have made California the biggest producer of solar energy in the nation, with hundreds of small contractors – mostly nonunion – springing up throughout the state.
More than 150 IBEW members and contractors attended Santa Rosa, Calif., Local 551-sponsored solar training session in January.
“Most of the companies are small startups who see the industry’s growth potential but don’t always have the skilled manpower to make it happen,” Buckhorn said.
A signatory contractor out of Oakland had called up Local 551 Membership Development Coordinator John Lloyd before the January training and mentioned that some local solar non-signatory contractors were interested in attending the local’s training.
Normally the training sessions – which are put on by members of Los Angeles Local 11 and the National Electrical Contractors Association of Southern California – are reserved for IBEW members and NECA contractors only, but the local “decided we had nothing to lose and a lot to gain by opening the doors to everyone,” Lloyd said. More than 150 people attended the session.
The local also invited members of Solar Sebastopol, a coalition of green energy activists who advocate for more government funding of solar energy. “IBEW needs to be a leader in this market, and you do that by reaching out and working with all like-minded people on the issue,” Lloyd said.
Ninth District International Representative Greg Boyd said when the local announced that nonunion companies could attend, “they got some flak, but they ended up signing everyone that came.”
“They stepped out of their comfort zone to grow the IBEW,” Boyd said.
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