Speakers

Wesley L. Wheeler, SMS, is NECA’s Executive Director of Safety. Wesley joined NECA in 2014 and has over 40 years of electrical experience. Prior to NECA, he was safety consultant in his own business, Wheeler Safety Services, Inc. and has been a Safety Director and OSHA Safety trainer for a large industrial based electrical contractor in Florida. Wesley is a qualified OSHA Construction Outreach Instructor and has assisted in OSHA Instructor classes for Electrical Training Alliance, (etA formerly known as the NJATC). He also has assisted etA in textbook development contributing to their OSHA workbooks. Wesley has served in many capacities in his career from electrician, foreman, superintendent, estimator, project manager to safety director and is a member of OSHA’s Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH). He has also a Florida State Certified Electrical Contractor and has also served on the NECA Codes and Standards committee for the last 14 years representing NECA on the NEC-NFPA 70 Code Panels 6 and 7 and was member of the NFPA 70E Committee for the 2015 and 2018 editions. Wesley brings a unique over all perspective to his position. Wesley is also a trained First Aid/BLS instructor, a Department of Labor Mine Safety Health Administration Instructor, and has had OSHA General Industry Outreach Trainer credentials from University of South Florida.

Mike Starner is the Director, Outside Line Safety for the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA). Mike is a Certified Utility Safety Professional (CUSP) and an OSHA Authorized Outreach Trainer. Mike has 29 years of operational and safety management experience in the electric utility field, including time with investor-owned utilities and electrical contractors before coming to NECA.

Chuck Fairchild is NECA’s first Vice President of Integrated Systems and represents the interests of low-voltage contractor and systems integrator members across the nation. With over 40 years in the systems integration business and as founder/president of Fairchild Communication Systems, Inc. since 2001, Chuck understands the accelerated growth of low-voltage markets, increased demand for higher competency and skills, and changes in regulation and licensing. He is excited to lead the charge to growth and success in this sector within NECA and our labor partners.

Kurt Brinkman serves as the CEO of Intrepid Electronic Systems, Inc., a San Francisco Bay Area based company specializing in Fire Alarm Life Safety installation and service. Intrepid distinguishes itself through its commitment to fostering enduring service relationships with clients well beyond the completion of construction projects. Intrepid integrates cutting-edge technologies such as wireless mesh fire alarm monitoring and electronic collection of fire data points, empowering clients to access and monitor vital information in real time.

Jerry Hein is the President of ECSI System Integrators in Bloomington, Minnesota.
Jerry founded ECSI in 1997. ECSI is a Systems Integrator and specializes in Limited Energy System Integration. His board and industry affiliations include the NECA board in St. Paul and Minneapolis, the Negotiation committee for the last 23 years, Labor Management, Local 292 Management trustee, and an ELECTRI member.

Ian Andrews is the Executive Director of Field and Industrial Labor Relations based in Madison, Wisconsin. Ian has also served as NECA’s Executive Director of the Midwestern Region, a Field Representative in the Midwestern Region, Assistant Manager of the Illinois Chapter, and NEBF Coordinator for the Illinois Chapter.

Ian has been involved in numerous industry facets including being a Trustee of the Electrical Training ALLIANCE, secretary of NECA’s Workforce Development Task Force, Functionary and a panel member on the Council on Industrial Relations (CIR), a founding member of NECA’s DEI&B Task Force, and revitalized NECA’s peer group efforts for contractor members and association executives. Ian has a passion for uniting people and fostering collaboration for the betterment of NECA members and the electrical contracting industry.

Steve Krieg has spent his career dedicated to the electrical industry, starting out as a Journeyman Wireman in 1987 at the South Bend, IN Joint Apprenticeship Committee. He worked as an Electrician, Foreman and installed voice, data, and video media-retrieval systems for large technology systems integration projects. Steve also worked as an estimator, project manager, and in the design/build areas of the commercial and educational levels of the technology industry. Prior to joining NECA, Mr. Krieg became Director and taught at the NECA/IBEW Joint Apprenticeship Training Program in South Bend, Indiana and later worked for the electrical training ALLIANCE (etA) as Director of Technology Curriculum for systems integration. There he was responsible for the curriculum development of the Three-Year Installer/Technician Apprenticeship, as well as journeyman level courses related to low-voltage systems offered by the etA. He served there until 1999, when he was named Field Representative in the NECA Midwestern Regional Office. In 2013, Krieg was promoted to Midwestern Regional Executive Director, where he spent a great deal of time building partnerships with the IBEW and intensely focused on increasing market share in the region, which covers ten states in the 4th and 7th Districts of NECA.