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Andrew Porter
Executive Director, Washington, DC Chapter of NECA
Andrew Porter has embraced his role as the spokesperson for the electrical contracting industry for the past 26 years. As executive director of the Washington, DC Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), Porter has 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 Masters 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 IBEW, Local 26 pension plan as well as advisor to all of the Board of Trustees Local plans; and a founding member of the newly-established Alliance for Excellence in Construction.
David McCord
Director of JATC, Washington, DC
David McCord has held the position of training director at the JATC in Washington, DC since 1997. In his first year in the position, he developed, coordinated and implemented a new training approach of day school, with electives for Local Union #26 which is used today. He also graduated from the National Training Institute, sponsored by the NJATC.
McCord entered the JATC's residential program, became a member of Local Union #26 and completed the first year of classroom training in 1986. He was accepted to the Inside Electrical Apprenticeship in 1987 and graduated as Valedictorian in 1991. He obtained journeymen's licenses in Montgomery County, MD, Virginia and District of Columbia while in his fourth year of apprenticeship. In 1991, he became an instructor for the JATC. He also worked as a journeyman wireman (Fire Alarm technician). His last project was the Ronald Reagan building in Washington, DC that was over a million square feet.
In 1995, McCord accepted the JATC training coordinator position. His main duties were to increase recruitment and upgrade the hands-on training component of the apprenticeship and coordinate donations, which ultimately exceeded one million dollars.
McCord is a graduate of Prince Georges' College, with a major in biology. He also attended the University of Maryland from 1975 -1977 majoring in music performance. He holds Master electricians licenses in Maryland and Virginia. He has served as Treasurer for the Washington Area Apprenticeship Training Directors Association since 1997 and the National Electrical Training Directors Association since 2000. He served as a delegate at the International Convention in 2001, representing Local Union #26.
Sonia Vargas
President, VarcoMac Electrical Construction Co.
Chairperson, Labor Management Cooperative Committee
Helping her husband at his electrical contracting firm, Mac Electric, led Sonia Vargas to buy the firm and establish VarcoMac Electrical Construction Co. VarcoMac has grown to a $25 million company since 1994 and performs commercial electrical work in the metropolitan Washington, DC area at places like the Children's National Medical Center, Fort Belvior, University of Maryland and Doctors Hospital in Lanham, MD.
In addition to running her company, Vargas is an active member of the Washington, DC Chapter of National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA). She has been on Washington, DC Chapter of NECA's Board of Directors for eight years where she had held a variety of leadership positions and is now Governor. She describes her role as the voice of the Chapter for National NECA meetings.
Vargas is currently the Chairperson of Labor Management Cooperative Committee, known as the Electrical Alliance in the Washington, DC region and Central and Western Virginia regions, a committee she has served on for the past ten years. The committee works to recruit students to the field and expand business opportunities for member contractors.
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