IBEW Helps Pennsylvania Contractor
Get the Job Done Right
August 14, 2008
 It was an ongoing problem. Deborah Rinehart, owner of the southeast Pennsylvania electrical contractor Proelectric, would take out a help wanted ad in the local newspaper. Each ad would bring around 30 applicants, but after giving potential employees a basic code reading and math test, there would only be one or two left still worth interviewing.
Proelectric owner Deborah Rinehart, her
husband,Bradley right, signed up with
York, Pa., Local 229 thanks to the work
of Business Manager Matt Paules.
“We would get applicants who would put on their resume years of experience only to find out they haven’t had a day of training,” Rinehart said.
As a small, four-man contractor looking to expand, Rinehart didn’t have the time or money to waste doing shoddy work over, so the skilled manpower shortage was putting a real squeeze on their business. “We’re quality oriented,” she said. “We have to get the job done right the first time.” Then one day last September she got a call from York, Pa., Local 229 organizer Matt Paules.
Paules, newly elected business manager of Local 229, saw the same newspaper ad. He told her that Local 229 could help the company with its staffing needs and requested a meeting. It ended up being the right message at the right time.
Still, she was apprehensive at first. “Initially, there were some negative connotations about organized labor that we needed to clear up,” Paules said.
What was really attractive for Rinehart was the IBEW and NECA’s training program. Paules gave them training books and curriculums to look over. They were impressed. Also attractive were the Pennsylvania Initiative’s new job classifications and flexible crew ratios, which would allow Proelectric to remain competitive.
“It gave me a level of comfort knowing that when someone tells me they are a journeyman or a construction wireman, I know exactly what their ability level is,” Rinehart said.
After nearly six months of weekly meetings, Proelectric signed with Local 229 in February. Since then, the company has expanded its operations, winning contracts for jobs throughout southern and central Pennsylvania and all the way into Maryland. Having a steady supply of IBEW electricians has been key to its growth.
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