History

Western Electrical Contractors Association, Inc., a Chapter of Independent Electrical Contractors, Inc. (WECA) started with eight members on April 9, 1929 as the Electrical Contractors and Dealer Association of Sacramento and was affiliated with the Association of Electragists International (now known as NECA). In December 1929, the name was changed to Sacramento Electragists.

The Association incorporated on October 28, 1937 and the following names appeared on the Articles of Incorporation: Rex Moore, E.L. French, George C. Foss, J.D. O'Connor, C.E. Vorlander, Sam Bissett, and C.S. Donley.

During the early Thirties, W. H. "Bill" Welch was hired as the first manager of the Association. In the Late Thirties, the Association became a part of the Northern California Chapter which covered most of the West Coast. Later in 1946, it was chartered as the "Sacramento Valley Chapter, NECA." In July, 1958, the Association suffered the loss of its manager, Mr. Welch, in an automobile accident, thereby ending 30 years of devoted service to the Association. Joseph T. Krivanek became Association Manager and served until 1961. Mr. Kenneth W. Carlson was then hired by the Board of Directors and served from 1961 until 1990. During that time, his efforts reserved a historical place for the Association in the Electrical Industry.

The Association opened its office on Elvas Avenue in 1960 where it remained until 1990 when the office was moved to 14th Avenue.

In 1979, the National NECA organization threatened to pull the Sacramento Valley Chapter’s charter because the majority of its C-10 members were non-union contractors. After enduring several IBEW worker strikes in the late 1970s, Sacramento Valley Chapter NECA member Rex Moore Electrical Contractors and Engineers decided not to ride out the latest strike in 1981 and instead hired replacement workers and subbed out to non-union contractors, the first time in history that NECA company had done so. Several other members followed suit, further angering the union and NECA and jeopardizing the chapter’s charter.

Despite receiving threats and suffering damage to property at their offices and job sites, the NECA members who resisted the IBEW strike persevered in the face of extreme pressure from the National NECA office and local labor leaders. These members included Rex Moore, Royal Electric, Slater Electric, Nutter Electric, and Carlson Electric. Slater Electric was owned by Edward J. Miltner, a member who resisted the IBEW strike until his business went bankrupt, rather than give in to union demands.

Sadly, Miltner died soon after the conflict between the Sacramento Valley Chapter and NECA and IBEW moved to the courts. The WECA Man of the Year Award, given each year to someone who devotes untiring effort toward elevating the principles of the electrical industry, is named after Miltner.

In response to the Sacramento Valley Chapter’s refusal to disband their chapter and several members’ resistance to negotiating over the latest IBEW worker strike, NECA began filing multiple lawsuits to try to force the chapter members to voluntarily resign from, rather than be forced to leave, the organization. Other unfounded lawsuits followed over the next nine years regarding issues ranging from labor violations and pension fund administration, but the Sacramento Valley Chapter’s members refused to back down.

Finally, the last lawsuit was settled and the charter for the Sacramento Valley Chapter of NECA was revoked in 1990. As a result, the former Sacramento Valley Chapter membership voted that year to change the name of the Association to “Western Electrical Contractors Association, Inc.”(WECA). During this period, WECA began the demanding process of establishing a State Approved Apprenticeship Training Program offering insurance and pension benefits to its indentured apprentices. The Association’s Commercial apprentice training program standards were approved in 1992; the Residential program standards were approved in 1998 and the Voice-Data-Video (VDV) standards were approved in 2005.

In 1997, WECA joined the Independent Electrical Contractors, Inc. as the Sacramento Chapter of IEC. The association changed its name to WECA and later updated its logo with the new name and a more modern color scheme. The Board of Directors restructured the management team and hired an Executive Director and an Apprenticeship Director. These two positions reflected the Board’s vision and desire to (1) manage local and national priorities for a rapidly growing Association membership, and (2) expand the Apprenticeship Training Program.

In 1999, the Association moved to the Lincoln Village Office Park where classroom and lab facilities were added to expand the Association’s Apprenticeship Programs. The Association’s main administrative offices and Sacramento Training Center still reside in this location today.

In 2002 the Board of Directors hired a new Executive Director, CEO to oversee both membership and training for the association. The focus of the association shifted to expanding its training programs throughout the state. At the time, WECA was limited to indenturing apprentices in 11 of the state’s 58 counties. A four-year long battle followed against organized labor interests intent on preventing WECA from expanding its programs statewide.

In August 2003, as a result of an unwillingness by the State of California to allow the merit shop industry to add new or expand existing training programs throughout the State, WECA received approval from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, to Federally indenture apprentices statewide into Commercial, Residential, and Sound & Communications Installer training programs. This approval was a historic move by the Department of Labor and as well as a huge victory for California merit shop contractors. However, WECA was limited to using Federal apprentices on federal public works projects due to the State of California refusing to recognize them, which limited the use of WECA apprentices on state jobs.

In October 2005, after a protracted battle with the union-dominated California Apprenticeship Council (CAC), WECA finally won the right to indenture apprentices throughout California when the CAC unanimously voted to approve statewide expansion of WECA’s Commercial Inside Wireman and Voice-Data-Video Sound and Communications Systems Installer training programs. As a result of receiving approval to indenture apprentices statewide, WECA boasted an all time high of more than 600 indentured apprentices in 2007.

In 2002, to meet the demands of increased membership in the Southern California area, WECA opened a second location with an office, classroom and lab facilities in San Diego, CA. WECA hired a Southern California Membership Manager and one full-time Instructor.

With a full-time instructor on-board in San Diego, WECA was ready to implement a one year trial of a 2-Week related and supplemental instruction formatted program to meet the demands of an ever-changing workforce. This 2-Week format consisted of two weeks of classroom instruction per semester requiring students to attend classes twenty 8-hour days per year instead of the traditional format of 2-nights per week for 2 ½ hours each night for 73 nights. In November, 2002, San Diego Commercial 4th year students reported to class.

The 2-week trial program in San Diego was so successful that on May 8, 2003, WECA’s Board of Directors approved to change the traditional 2-night per week format to the new, concentrated and focused learning environment of the 2-week format in its Sacramento apprentice program classes. Five additional full-time instructors were hired to teach at the Sacramento Training Center, and classes started in the Fall of 2003.

The San Diego location has continued to grow, and completed an expansion of its office space, classrooms and lab facilities in 2006. Increased growth of Southern California membership and the Electrician Trainee Program led to the hiring of a full-time San Diego office manager in 2006.

Another leap forward in WECA’s growth came with the passage of the Electrician Certification law in 1999, which took effect on January 1, 2006. This law, which requires electricians to become certified in order to legally perform electrical work in the state of California, created a new category of electrical worker: Electrician Trainees. An electrician trainee is an electrician who is not indentured in a state-approved electrical apprenticeship program and who has not yet taken and passed the State Electrician Certification Exam.

In order to legally work as a general electrician in California after January 1, 2006, or as a residential electrician after January 1, 2007, an electrician must either have passed the state exam or be registered with the state and enrolled in a state-approved electrician trainee program, or indentured in a state-approved apprenticeship program. WECA established our Electrician Trainee (ET) program in December 2005 to meet the needs of uncertified electricians, and the program has consistently been the largest program in the state since its inception. WECA currently has more than half of the total number of ETs in the state enrolled in its program.

Also in response to the certification law, WECA established its Continuing Education (CE) program to provide the classroom continuing education hours required by the state for certified journeyman electricians. Between the ET and CE programs, WECA is positioned for even greater growth in the coming years.

In July 2010, WECA’s Board of Directors voted to end the Association’s affiliation with IEC National in order to invest more resources locally to better serve the needs of our members and students by expanding and improving WECA’s programs and services. As a result of this decision, the Association changed its name back to “WECA”, changed its logo and established a new website address at www.goweca.com.

In order to better meet the growing needs of its students and members in Southern California, WECA opened its Riverside Training Center in August 2010. The WECA Riverside training facility is co-located at the current Associated General Contractors (AGC) apprentice training center at 1180 Spring Street in Riverside and includes a classroom and lab. Sharing space with AGC allows for WECA apprentices to get more exposure to the other trade crafts currently taught in the AGC apprentice program: carpenter, cement mason, drywall lather, drywall finisher, heavy equipment operator, painter and laborer. The Riverside site is WECA’s third training facility.

Today, WECA proudly represents a diverse membership of nearly 200 independent electrical contractors employing approximately 6,000 people throughout California. The Association also added Nevada to its chapter territory in 2006 and plans to expand its membership services and training programs into the state in the near future.

Part of WECA’s strategic plan for the future is to continue to add additional training locations as membership and student enrollment increases throughout California and Nevada. If past performance is an indication of future success, WECA looks forward with optimism and confidence to the challenges and opportunities facing us in the new millennium.