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Green Bay Local, Contractor Assist Cerebral Palsy Center

January 19, 2010

In tough times as donations fall, nonprofits have trouble meeting the needs of those they seek to help. Cerebral Palsy Inc. in Allouez, Wis., located just outside of Green Bay found itself struggling to cover its own costs.

A one-time resident of Allouez, famous football coach Vince Lombardi, once said: “We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.” Taking that approach to solving the nonprofit’s dilemma, Green Bay Local 158 and Cerebral Palsy Inc. have partnered in the installation of a solar array at the group’s facility, a venture supported by grants and other incentives.

 By donating labor and equipment for the project, signatory contractor Eland Electric Corp. provides opportunities for journeymen and apprentices to gain training time on solar work while supporting the nonprofit’s mission. In a story in the Green Bay Press-Gazette lauding the IBEW’s workers and contractor, CP Center’s Executive Director Dale Barbiaux says:

It’s huge for a nonprofit agency like this to have this kind of outpouring of support from these types of organizations. It allows us to use donor dollars directly in the delivery of essential services.  Any time we can reduce the overall cost structure, that allows us to directly impact the communities and clients we serve as opposed to heating and lighting our building.

David Jungbluth, business development manager for Local 158, told the Gazette:

Even though the photovoltaic industry is growing, and growing quickly, there still isn’t quite enough opportunity for all our electricians that have completed the photovoltaic training to get that hands-on experience. So we’ve partnered with a deserving non-profit to get them a photovoltaic array that is going to help them reduce their energy bills.

“Local 158 and Eland Electric are showing how, by working together for the betterment of their surrounding communities, union locals and signatory contractors can overcome the misinformation spread by those who accuse us of being concerned only about ourselves,” says International President Edwin D. Hill.