Subject Matter Experts
We’re happy to share our expertise! To arrange an interview with any Electrical Alliance subject matter expert, please contact Heather Ireland at (202) 618-4305 or heather@mdg.agency.
Jonathan “JT” Thomas
Executive Director, Washington, D.C. Chapter of NECA
As executive director of the Washington, DC Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), Thomas leads the chapter and works closely with the board of directors and IBEW Local 26 leadership, via trust fund operations and more.
Most recently, Thomas served as executive director of the Maryland Chapter for 10 years. Under his leadership, the chapter earned numerous membership recruitment and retainage awards as well as the Executive Director’s membership Recruitment Award. In total, Thomas has been involved with NECA for more than a dozen years. Throughout his career he has focused on building and maintaining strong labor-management relations and provided value-added services to the association’s members.
In addition to his involvement in The Electrical Alliance, Thomas is also involved with the VOLT Leadership Academy through the Electrical Training Alliance where he serves as an alumnus on the Advisory Board. The VOLT Leadership Academy is the first experiential, professional education and coaching program offered exclusively to emerging and high potential leaders in the electrical industry.
Thomas is also an integral part of NECA’s Chapter Executive Leadership Institute (CELI). CELI strives to train and educate NECA executives with an intense focus on concerns NECA professionals have in common. It provides these executives the tools to address the significant issues they face currently and to overcome future challenges.
Locally, Thomas has served as a member of the Board of the Directors for the Children’s Cancer Foundation through mid-2018, he remains involved with the charity. Mr. Thomas holds a Bachelor’s Degree in economics from Emory & Henry College.
Andrew Porter
Advisor to The Electrical Alliance
Andrew Porter embraced his role as the spokesperson for the electrical contracting industry for 36 years. As executive director of the Washington, DC Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), Porter worked to make electrical contracting businesses more successful by fostering relationships within the industry; interacting with organized labor; and providing education on the latest trends and technology.
Porter holds a Master’s in Business Administration with a Human Resources Specialty from Virginia Tech and a Senior Professional of Human Resource (SPHR) designation from the Society of Human Resources Management. He used his expertise in this area to help found the Labor Management Cooperative Committee between NECA and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 26 (IBEW), known as the Electrical Alliance in the Washington, DC, suburban Maryland, and Central and Northern Virginia regions. Porter now serves as advisor to the trustees on the committee, bringing perspective from the contractor’s world to benefit the industry.
In addition to his involvement in the Electrical Alliance, Porter is a founder and director of the Mid Atlantic Healthcare Cost Containment Coalition; a trustee to the Electrical Welfare Trust Fund as well as advisor to all of the Board of Trustees Local plans; and a founding member of the Alliance for Excellence in Construction.
Tom Myers
President of IBEW Local 26
Tom Myers began his electrical construction career upon graduation from the Washington, D.C. JATC apprenticeship in 2004. He spent years working for several of the region’s top electrical contractors including Power Services, J.E. Richards and Kelly Electric. Myers has worked on important projects around the region including Smithsonian Castle, University of Maryland College Park Campus and the U.S. Commerce Department. After several years working in the field, he became a night instructor at the JATC and eventually full time instructor, positions he has held for the past 10 years. Myers taught motor control, OSHA and renewable energy classes, among others.
As president of Local 26 he appoints trustees and committee members; runs IBEW’s meetings; is responsible for funds; and ensures a strict adherence to constitution bylaws and contracts.
He holds a DC Journeyman’s license as well as Maryland Master Electrician and Anne Arundel County Master Electrician licenses. His areas of expertise include power distribution, switch gear and motors.
Training
Chris Cash
Director of Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee
Cash started his career in electrical construction nearly 27 years ago. After attending college for two years, Cash switched gears; applied for the apprenticeship and was accepted into the 5-year program. He graduated from the Washington, D.C. JATC Inside Wireman Apprenticeship in 1995. He had tried out the profession by working as a summer helper prior to applying, a strategy he highly recommends to others considering a career in the field.
After graduating as a journeyman electrician, he spent 12 years as a foreman or subforeman on dozens of projects out in the field around the Washington, D.C. metro region. In 2003, he started teaching at night for the JATC’s Manassas training center. In 2007, he accepted a full time day teaching position in Manassas, and by 2014 had become the school coordinator in Manassas. In the fall of 2016, Cash was appointed JATC director.
As JATC director, Cash maintains a program that provides tuition-free electrical training to hundreds of apprentices. The program graduates more than 100 highly-trained apprentices into the region’s electrical construction field each year. The graduates have studied the core tenants of electrical construction as well as cutting-edge energy efficiency and green technologies. Cash’s primary focus is on keeping Washington, D.C.’s JATC program among the best in the country.
Cash holds Virginia and Charles County (MD) Journeyman’s licenses.
Safety
Jerry Rivera
Safety Director of Washington, D.C. Chapter of NECA
Jerry Rivera is safety director for the Washington, D.C. Chapter of National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA). Rivera has worked in the field of electrical safety for more than 15 years. He formerly led safety efforts at NECA National where he oversaw the development of its safety resources and served as a liaison between member contractors and regulatory agencies to improve safety practices. Most recently, Rivera served as regional safety director for a large electrical contractor where he was responsible for the development of safety related work practices for its Mid-Atlantic division.
As safety director, he conducts continuing education trainings for employees of NECA contractors. Training focus on Electrical Safe Work Practices based on NFPA 70E; Confined Space Training for Entry, Attendant and Supervisory Personnel; Aerial Lift, Scissor Life and Forklift; Fall Protection and OSHA 10 and OSHA 30. He also authors articles and blog posts and oversees messages related to electrical safety for the association.
Rivera holds a masters of engineering, advanced safety engineering management from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and an undergraduate degree in business administration from Interamerican University.