NECA Announces Senior

Leadership Promotions

NECA today announced several employee promotions and a reorganization of its labor relations operations:

• Gen. Ronald Bailey has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Industry Development. Bailey is a national leader who joined NECA in 2020. He works on creating executive training programs, expanding the scope of leadership development, implementing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging strategies, creating partnerships with institutions of higher learning, and leading the charge on recruitment programs that bring new, skilled workers into the industry. This work includes a focus on recruiting ex-military personnel to NECA member companies and various Chapter positions. Bailey retired from the U.S. Marine Corps after 40 years of service, on September 1, 2017. 

• James (“Jef”) Edward Fagan, III has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Labor Relations and Risk Management. Fagan was appointed as NECA’s first General Counsel in 2019, and in addition to shaping the internal legal functions at NECA, he built out its Risk Management Team in 2020. As a 30-year labor, employment, and litigation attorney, he possesses the proper skillset to lead NECA’s labor relations in its unique position as a bargaining partner representing the association’s 4,000 signatory contractors to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). Fagan has extensive experience in traditional labor matters and risk management, and his mature and measured leadership style sets NECA up for success as he assumes this role.

• Marco Giamberardino has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Government and Public Affairs. He supervises numerous program areas, including legislative and regulatory advocacy, political fundraising, communications, marketing, and ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR magazine. He joined NECA in 2012, where he shaped the association’s legislative, regulatory, and political strategy. Giamberardino is a longtime trade association professional and is widely considered to be one of Washington, D.C.’s top lobbyists.

• Pete Mastrorocco has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Education, Events and Partnerships. Since joining NECA in 2019, he has supervised numerous program areas, including education, meetings, events, the NECA Show and annual convention, and sales and partnerships. Mastrorocco started his career with NECA in 2012 serving as the Executive Director of the Long Island Chapter, NECA. He also spent 12 years at 1-800-Flowers.Com serving as Vice President of Fulfillment Operations where he was responsible for the $365M Floral Fulfillment division for the $1.4B global gift retailer.

"These promotions recognize the dedication and hard work from our executive leadership team members who have been instrumental in NECA’s growth and success," said David Long, Chief Executive Officer. "We are very proud of this outstanding team that continues to grow its areas of expertise and make invaluable contributions to the association as we prepare for a new era in the electrification of our nation."

In addition to the internal promotions, NECA announced a restructuring of its Labor Relations operations. The following staff changes are detailed below and all will report directly to Jef Fagan in his capacity of Senior Vice President, Labor Relations and Risk Management.

• Kevin Tighe has been named Vice President, Employee Benefits and Industrial Relations. During his tenure, Kevin has served NECA as the North Florida Chapter Executive Director, Southern Region Field Representative, Executive Director of Workforce Development, and Executive Director of Labor Relations. Tighe also serves on the Council of Industrial Relations, is a Co-Chair of the NECA-IBEW Family Medical Care Plan and 401(k) Plan. In 2019, Tighe was selected for the Robert L. Higgins Association Executive Distinguished Service Award and was inducted into the NECA Academy of Electrical Contracting. In 2021 he served as President of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP).
  
  
• Steve Krieg has been named Vice President, Field Labor Relations and Services. Krieg has been with the organization since 1999, when he joined NECA as Field Representative. In 2013 he was named Executive Director of the Midwestern Region 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. 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, worked as an estimator, project manager, and in the design/build areas of the commercial and educational levels of the technology industry, and taught at the NECA/IBEW Joint Apprenticeship Training Program in South Bend.

• Ryan Courtney is rejoining the organization and has been named Executive Director, National Labor Relations. Courtney started with NECA as a Staff Associate in the Southern Region Office and transitioned to Kansas to serve as the Executive Director of the Kansas Chapter for just over four years. He previously worked with the association as Director of Labor Relations, eventually serving as Executive Director, Labor Relations. Most recently he has served as Assistant Executive, Southern Line Constructors Chapter, NECA.

• Tracy Landers has been named Labor Relations Specialist. Landers joined NECA in 2021 and has worked as Field Representative in the Southern Region and previously served as the Executive Director of the Gulf Coast Chapter, NECA. Landers extensive career in the electrical industry began when he started his career as an Apprentice in the Montgomery Electrical JATC, completing the program in 1992. He worked as an Assistant Business Manager at IBEW Local Union 443, based in Montgomery, Alabama, and served as the Training Director and instructed apprentices for the Montgomery Electrical JATC.

"We are very excited about the rebuild of our labor relations team with these exceptional hires across the association," added Long. "We know the extraordinary talent we have with these team members, and I look forward to them implementing their shared vision for growth and strength for our contractors."