Intel Selects NECA-IBEW Team for Electrical Construction of New Facilities
Hillsboro, OR (PRWEB) April 22, 2014 -- If you own any kind of personal computer, chances are good that it contains an Intel chip or other Intel-made components. In fact, the history of Intel (the name is an abbreviation for “Integrated Electronics”) dates all the way back to the 1960s, years before average consumers had even dreamed of owning personal computers.
Today, Intel is one of the largest manufacturers of semiconductor chips as well as memory modules (RAM). It is also the largest employer in the Portland, Oregon metro region, providing jobs for around 17,000 workers as of October 2012. As the company expands its semiconductor fabrication plant, it will be adding as many as 8,000 employees while spending somewhere in the neighborhood of $3 billion on construction and refurbishment. The first phase of the expansion, the DIX 1 Intel Expansion, has recently been completed as work on the next phase, DIX 2, goes forward. During the entire expansion process, Intel is realizing the benefits of hiring union craftsmen of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and their employer counterparts at the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA). The contributions and professionalism of the NECA-IBEW team and the high standards of union productivity are highlighted in Electric TV's most recent video documentary.
"We have very high standards at Intel," says Jill Eiland, who directs corporate affairs at Intel's Oregon plant, which is located in the city of Hillsboro, twenty miles west of Portland. “We want to look for partners who are going to be able to deliver that same kind of exemplary work product.” Because this new facility is the largest and most complex of its kind anywhere in the world, it is of paramount importance that the workers and contractors responsible for installing the vital electrical systems share that same commitment.
That NECA-IBEW promise, which has always been part of the ethical code of the union craftsman, has now been codified in an official written document called the “Code of Excellence,” an explicit and formal agreement between workers and contractors. It provides the employer (in this case, Intel) a written assurance that the job will be done to the highest principals of quality the first time, as well as outlining standards of electrical construction safety. “[It] provides the owner with a comfortable feeling that says, 'I know I'm going to get my money's worth when I pay these guys the money I do,’” says Bryce McLaughlin, a journeyman wireman for IBEW Local 48.
“Our electricians ... in Local 48 are top-notch,” says Mark Weinbender, Vice President of Oregon Electric, a Portland contracting firm hired by Intel to complete the expansion. “The Code of Excellence gives us standards, not only that the contractors expect, but that our customers do, too.”
“My construction colleagues...are consistently providing high marks to the IBEW folks,” adds Ms. Eiland.
Learn more about IBEW-NECA involvement in the construction of the new Intel expansion and the Code of Excellence by viewing the latest video presentation at ETV's YouTube Channel or at the ETV website.
ABOUT ETV: Electric TV is an ongoing project of NECA and the IBEW, producing short, online video presentations in order to educate the public on the positive effects of unions as well as current news on the latest energy and electrical technologies. To see how these electrical unions are making significant contributions to the development and construction of the field, visit ETV on the World Wide Web at http://www.electrictv.net/.
Dominic Giarratano, Electric TV, http://www.electrictv.net, +1 (303) 601-2982, [email protected]
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