08/21/2026

ECA Young Professionals 8th Annual Leadership Conference (8/20/26 - 8/21/26)

Journeyman Hotel -- Milwaukee, WI

Thursday, August 20, 2026 - Friday, August 21, 2026
ECA Young Professionals 8th Annual Leadership Conference
Journeyman Hotel
Milwaukee, WI

The ECA Young Professionals 8th Annual Leadership Conference was held August 20 - 21, 2026 at the Kimpton Journeyman Hotel in Milwaukee, WI.  Nearly 40 attendees were able to participate.

The Conference began with a tour of the Rehlko (formerly Kohler Energy) Facility in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.  The facility tour included an educational session that covered a high-level view of Rehlko as a business, including their history, product offerings, the different spaces they work in, and future outlook.  Rehlko works to strengthen its ability to deliver high-performance, resilient power solutions to hyperscale data center customers amid sustained growth in AI-driven workloads and digital infrastructure.

The Leadership Session presenters included:
Seth Davies, Executive Vice President of Competitive Solutions, Inc. – “Process Based Leadership;”
Jessica Cardenas – ELECTRI International update and overview; and
Carl Britton – Iron Thread Consulting – “AI for Project Managers.”

Highlights / Discussion -- Process-based Leadership:
Characteristics of high-functioning leaders; Importance of effective communication;
Not effective if only concentrating on Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and Emotional Intelligence (EQ)…
Process Intelligence (PQ) needs to be incorporated -- Creativity, Consistency, Clarity;
root cause of conflict is unclear expectations; meeting ground rules; Ideal behaviors give ideal results.

Highlights / Discussion -- ELECTRI International update:
All have access to the many resources that ELECTRI has to offer, including:
There are four webinars a month:
1) Council Room Sessions
2) IT & Technology
3) Service & Maintenance
4) Offsite Construction

30 years of research includes:
Workforce Development & Culture; Technology & Innovation, Emerging Markets & Electrification, Operations & Efficiency, Industrialization & Modern Construction; Chatbot on website, as well.

Newer research / tools available / other activities include: Built to Sell research for contractor use; Incentive Pay Utilization; Examining 4 x 10 Workweek, Research Engagement Hub, Industry Benchmarking Tool, Business Coaching Program, Electrical Construction Interactive Career Map, Resource Library, various meetings throughout the year, Electrical Contractor Innovation Challenge (ECIC), among many other areas on website:  www.electri.org.

Highlights of “AI for Project Managers”:

• Talking to AI;
• Building a GPT;
• Building Projects;
• Set up a Claude Project;
• Creating Workflows, among many other areas.

We appreciated the time the Rehlko representatives afforded the group, as well as all of the presenters sharing their expertise. 

We thank all that were able to attend!

Pictured from left to right are:
Carl Britton, Iron Thread Consulting,
Seth Davies, Executive Vice President of Competitive Solutions, Inc., and
Jessica Cardenas, ELECTRI International.

Pictured below are photos from the Pre-Tour/Rehlko Tour:

Pictured below are photos from the Opening Reception at the Journeyman Hotel:

Pictured below are photos from the Leadership Session:

Pictured is Neil Parish, ECA Director of Operations,
as he opened up the session.

Pictured is Seth Davies, Executive Vice President of Competitive Solutions, Inc.

Pictured is Jessica Cardenas, ELECTRI International.

Pictured is Carl Britton, Iron Thread Consulting.