Record 122 Tee Off at IEC’s 2023 Fall Golf Tournament By: Marie Thornton, IEC Atlanta/GA Communications and Marketing Coordinator
1st Place Team Tower Sales Corey Fritz, Stuart Sarratt, Nate O’Connor, and Kevin O’Connor
On Friday, October 27th, IEC hosted its Atlanta Fall Golf Tournament at Heritage Golf Links. This event had the highest turnout in the history of IEC Atlanta golf events with a total 122 golfers, four tournament sponsors and over 50 hole sponsors!
Participants started their morning with a full breakfast, teed off at 8:30am, and played aggressive rounds of golf. Heritage Golf Link’s 20-acre lake provided the perfect backdrop for a day of competition and networking!
After golfing, attendees had lunch and winners were awarded!
Congratulations are in order for the following;
1st Place- Corey Fritz, Stuart Sarratt, Nate O’Connor, and Kevin O’Connor with Tower Sales scoring 53.
2nd Place- Adam Akins, Kevin Baker, Mason Durocher, and Jason Faircloth with Southwire scoring 55.
3rd– Place- Michael Merryman, Chad Williams, Will Lemonds, and Michael McKeaige with Premier Electrical Staffing scoring 56.
Longest Drive winner at Legacy hole #1, Daniel Rice of GL West.
Closest to the Pin at Heritage hole #7, Chris Smith of DC Enclosures
Brooks Challenger of Hubbell got a Hole-In-One!
As with any fantastic event, sponsors are a very important part of it. Thank you to our Tournament Sponsors, Legrand, Smart Lighting Solutions, SESCO Lighting and Caldwell Electrical Contractors. IEC appreciates your support! See full list of our golf sponsors here.
1st Place Team Tower Sales Corey Fritz, Stuart Sarratt, Nate O’Connor, and Kevin O’Connor
2nd Place, Team Southwire, Adam Akins, Kevin Baker, Mason Durocher, and Jason Faircloth
3rd Place, Team Premier Electrical Staffing, Michael Merryman, Chad Williams, Will Lemonds, and Michael McKeaige
Closest to the Pin 1’10” Chris Smith, DC Enclosures
Augusta Shows Up for Annual IEC Golf Tournament By: Marie Thornton, IEC Atlanta/GA Communications and Marketing Coordinator
IEC Georgia Chapter hosted its Augusta Golf Tournament on October 6th at the Bartram Trail Golf Club in Evans, GA. We had 16 teams and a total of 66 guests in attendance for a continental breakfast, raffle prizes, lunch and Golf!
A huge thank you goes out to our Premier Sponsor Ireland Electric Corporation. You make the Augusta event spectacular! Tournament Sponsors, Graybar, CES and Mayer Electric Supply, thank you for your support! This event was made possible with the help of so many IEC members. Take a look at the full sponsor list here.
If you missed this event, then we hope to see you next year. See upcoming events here to see when you have another opportunity to network with the IEC community!
IEC Georgia Chapter celebrated the graduation of its in-person class for Savannah, Georgia on Friday, September 15, 2023.
The celebration started with Robbie Jones, VP of Coastal Electric of Georgia and GA Chapter President, introducing Rebecca Benton, Mayor of Pooler, Georgia. Ms. Benton welcomed graduates, contractors, guests and mentioned the positive impact that the trades, specifically electricians, have on the local economy. The festivities continued with a fine meal and a rousing key note from 1st District Congressman, Earl “Buddy” Carter sharing his connection to the electrical profession.
IEC celebrated six graduates from Coastal Electric of Georgia and Industrial Technical Services. One graduate who was unable to attend graced the graduation with a “Shout Out” virtually while vacationing in Hawaii.
In every graduating class you have those that receive top honors. Congratulations to the top honor recipient;
Perfect Attendance – Christopher Ray Williams of Industrial Technical Service
Academic Excellence – Christopher Ray Williams of Industrial Technical Service
Thank You to Southwire, Milwaukee, CED and City Electric Supply for their generous donation of tools and prizes that rewarded these Capable and Qualified Electricians for their outstanding achievement and completion of the IEC Electrical Apprenticeship Program, Class of 2023.
IEC recognized Mark Breningstall for his time as an instructor and also thanked Christopher Smith for being an instructor. IEC needs instructors in Savannah, Columbus, Augusta, Atlanta and across the state. Please determine how you can help the next generation become Capable and Qualified Electricians. Contact Todd.Hawkins@IECATlantaga.org to discuss all the opportunities to be involved.
The recruiting, hiring, and on-boarding process is no cheap task. Improving your retention rate will lead to reduced hiring costs, and overall productivity for your company. With the challenges of the current workforce, we are increasingly focused on how we can better recruit talent, but that is not enough to alleviate these symptoms. We must also be focused on how we can keep the talent we bring in. How do we convince a new employee to continue working for us? Below are a few examples of policies, practices, and procedures that have helped companies improve retention:
Electrical training: Apprenticeship, Skills Based Installer Program, and CEUs
Leadership classes.
Ensuring your employees are engaged with the work they are doing. Do they understand their contributions on the job site?
Benefits: Insurance, 401k, PTO, sick days, etc.
Financial aid resources for employees.
Practices and policies that produce and maintain a clear vision for career progression.
Exit interviews (identify any core issues employees are having).
Be explicit about any Hidden Rules on the jobsite with new employees.
Family Day
Emphasized awareness of work-life balance and how it affects your employees.
Improving retention is no easy task. Buy in must be generated at every level, starting with your leadership. With these policies, practices, and procedures in mind, I leave you with a few questions:
What can you and your leaders do to ensure that your employees are eager to come into work?
Do your employees feel recognized for their contributions to the company?
What specific practices are you and your leaders doing to improve your retention rate?
Each business will have their own way of improving retention, feel free to let me know what methods work out for you. If you would like to learn or discuss more about recruitment and retention, join your IEC recruiters and contractor members at our monthly Workforce Zoom meetings, the last Friday of each month.
2023 Columbus Golf Tournament IEC Georgia Chapter hosted its Columbus Golf Tournament on June 16th at the Maple Ridge Golf Club in Columbus. There were 92 golfers and 10 tournament sponsors ready to golf rain or shine.
Congratulations to the tournament winners;
1st place Team Brumfield Electrical scoring 55 Dwayne Morris, Shannon Lott, Ricky Wilson, Randy McDonald
2nd Place Team Fuller Fire & Safety scoring 55 Cain Fuller, Matt Waller, Dan Kirkland, Phillip Psalmond
3rd Place Team Interstate Electrical scoring 56 Tracy Hurst, Justin Gordon, Brandon Summers, Taylor Simpson
The day was perfect, especially with the Sponsors adding in their extra touch throughout the event. Thank you to Tournament Sponsors Metropower, SM Ellis Company, Smith Gray Electric, Interstate Electrical, NetPlanner Systems, MarshMcLennan Agency, Mayer Electric Supply, Jordan Electric Company and Lowe Electric Supply. Net Planner was onsite with brats, dogs and beverages at their hole. BenSource and SM Ellis both provided drinks and snacks, Lowe Supply offered biscuits, subs, drinks, t-shirts and hats, Legrand and Federated provided goodie bags and IEC finished it off with raffle prizes and fireball shots!
IEC Georgia Chapter held its Seventh Annual Savannah Golf Tournament on May 19th at The Club at Savannah Harbor Westin golf course. The course, which has been called an 18-hole masterpiece, was the perfect backdrop for IEC’s networking and golf experience. 85 golfers entailing IEC members, partners and guests were in for a beautiful, and competitive day.
With a tee off of 9am, by the end of the tournament, four winning teams prevailed. Congratulations to the teams and golfers that came out on top!
1st Place- Team South Way Crane, with Shan Crosby, Trey King, David Koneman and Lyn Leebern scoring a 59.
2nd Place- Tied by team Eaton with Steven Huppe, Capers Martin, Trey Storm and Aaron Von Lehmden and team 5 with Charlie Burkett, Steven Crout, Tom Kobe and Tommy Rushing. Both teams scored 60.
3rd Place- Team ACE with Kevin Cowart, Greg Ferrar, Dale Flyth and Cole Young scoring 62.
Closest to the Pin- Congratulations to Greg Farrer of Ace Electric.
Longest Drive- Congratulations to Trey Storm of Eaton.
Great work by all the golfers!
IEC is honored to work closely with those who are invested to make IEC and IEC events a success. A huge thank you goes to the Presenting Sponsor, Coastal Electric of Georgia and thanks to Tournament Sponsor Ardd & Winter. Additional sponsorships include the following;
Drink Tickets Sponsor- Ace Electric/ CED/Legrand
Longest Drive- Coastal Electric of GA
Closest to the Pin- Energy Systems Southeast
Driving Range- CED/Legrand
Hole Sponsors- Ardd & Winter, BenSource, Capital Electric, Coastal Electric of GA, Eaton, SESCO Lighting, Southway Crane & Rigging, Yancey Brothers
Thank you for creating the environment to network and connect on and off the golf course! Partnering with our sponsors create successful events and these events keep members engaged.
Thanks to everyone participating and we hope to see you in Columbus on June 16th for the next Georgia golf tournament. See pictures of winners and golfers here!
1st Place Team South Way Crane
2nd Place Team Eaton
Team 1 Awards accepted by Dale Flythe
Longest Drive Winner- Trey Storm
Closest to the Pin Winner-Greg Farrer (accepted by Dale Flythe
GA Chapter Savannah Golf Tournament Put Fun In Fundraising
Team Southway Crane- Lyn Leebern, David Koreman, Ben Robbins and Trey King
IEC’s Georgia Chapter hosted another fabulous event! Contractors, Partner members and guests enjoyed the 5th Annual IEC Georgia Chapter Golf Tournament. On Thursday, May 13th 7:30AM at The Club at Savannah Harbor, 20 teams teed off for some competitive fun and networking. As we adjust into the new normal, it is just as important to take time to connect with those in the electrical industry.
This golf tournament did more than just provide a networking opportunity; it proves to be a successful fundraiser as well. Funds were raised to go towards IEC GIFT, Georgia Industry Foundation for Training. Golfers purchased $1300 in mulligans and participated in a vacation raffle earning $2,170 in proceeds, which calculates a total of $3,470 donated to GIFT! Donations are used to provide scholarships to those students needing financial assistance to pursue their goal to be an electrician!
Congratulations to IEC apprentice Corey Neal of Glawson Electric for winning the Vacation Raffle. Cory is a member of the National Guard and is currently deployed, so he is attending classes online. When he returns he will be able to have a great vacation in Orlando, Florida staying at the Hard Rock Café along with 2 days at 3 theme parks!
At every IEC event there are the winners! We had a close game with a tie breaker needed between 3 of the teams. Let’s congratulate these skilled golfers;
Tie Breaker winners, First Place Team Southway Crane- Lyn Leebern, David Koreman, Ben Robbins and Trey King scoring 60.
Second Place Team ASI Lighting- Byron Pippin, Alan Tyson, Pat Walsh and Carson Strictland scoring 60.
Third Place Team Southwire- Bill Fowler, Shawn Johnson, Devon McCaskill and Bruce Quinn scoring 60.
Fourth Place Team Milwaukee Tool- Luke Bright, Brendan Doud and Andy Powers scoring 62.
Closest to the Pin Winner- Michael Wilson
Longest Drive Winner- Palmer Prescott
These golfers did a fabulous job, thank you for coming out!
Thank you to the supporters that not only make the event possible, they make it look good! Our first thank you goes to our biggest sponsor, the Presenter sponsor, Sesco Lighting. IEC is super appreciative of your support. Thank you to our tremendous Tournament Sponsors, ASI Lighting, City Electric Supply, Lowe Electric and Milwaukee Tool! Drink Ticket Sponsors are Ace Electric, Colony Bank, CED/Legrand and Lowe Electric Supply. Thanks to Coastal Electric of Georgia for sponsoring the Longest Drive and Closest to the Pin. Driving Range Sponsor is Choate Construction. Finally thank you to our hole sponsors listed below;
ASI Lighting, BenSource, Bobcat of Savannah, City Electric Supply, Cooper Lighting Solutions, EATON, Energy Systems Southeast, Inc./Generac, Ireland Electric Corporation, Lammons Construction Company, Lowe Electric Supply, Milwaukee Tool, Ralston Electric, Sesco Lighting, Southway Crane & Rigging and Turner Marketing & Consulting.
We also want to thank prize and goodie bag donations provided by Milwaukee, Legrand, Southwire, and Coastal Electric of Georgia.
Pictures from the IEC Georgia Golf Tournament can be viewed below. See you at our next golf tournament on September 24th at Maple Ridge in Columbus!
Team Southway Crane- Lyn Leebern, David Koreman, Ben Robbins and Trey King
2nd Place Team ASI Lighting- Byron Pippin, Alan Tyson, Pat Walsh and Carson Strictland
3rd Place Team Southwire- Bill Fowler, Shawn Johnson, Devon McCaskill and Bruce Quinn
4th Place Team Milwaukee Tool- Luke Bright, Brendan Doud and Andy Powers
