IBEW Names Fife Union's National Instructor of Year
WARREN, Ohio -- Union electrician Steve Fife has been named the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers’ Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee’s “Instructor of the Year.”
Fife, a journeyman wireman for Joe Dickey Electric of North Lima, teaches the fifth-year apprentice courses at the Trumbull County local in Champion Township, the final year before students take the journeyman’s exam.
Fife also teaches continuing education courses on photovoltaic technology to IBEW journeymen as well as a state of Ohio fire alarm license course. His coursework at the Local 573 training center includes instrumentation, high-voltage safety and splicing, and solar and wind technology.
Local 573 President Kevin Miller nominated Fife for the national award.
Fife, a 20-year veteran electrician, has been an instructor 11 years. He’s the first Mahoning Valley winner of the award sponsored by "IBEW Hour Power," an online magazine that connects IBEW members across the country. "His command of the concepts he’s teaching and his ability to relate his experience from the field into the classroom help differentiate union electricians as the most qualified electrical workers,” Miller said.
“I’ve always had a passion for teaching, and I particularly enjoy working with the fifth-year apprentices,” Fife said in a prepared statement. “It’s very satisfying to help them become well-rounded electricians, watch them pass their journeyman’s exam and know that they’ve made it in a great career field.”
Adds Pat Leonard, project manager and Fife’s supervisor at Joe Dickey Electric: “He’s run some high-profile projects for us because of his abilities and experience, including a solar array installation at the Liberty Walmart and the Garrettsville water treatment installation.”
The Champion Township resident is a graduate of Jackson-Milton High School and Kent State University.
Fife will be recognized formally in April at the IBEW’s national Construction and Maintenance Conference in Washington, D.C.
A celebration in his honor was held at the IBEW Local 573 Joint Apprenticeship Training Center Champion. This summer Fife will accept his award at the IBEW’s National Training Institute in Ann Arbor, Mich. The institute is a training resource available to all National Electrical Contractors Association and IBEW-signatory contractors and their employees.
NECA-IBEW Electricians serve commercial, industrial and residential customers throughout northeastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania and beyond.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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