NECA has announced that Jim Brown – the trades instructor at the College of Electrical Training in Western Australia – is the 2014 winner of the Trade Teacher Award.

Jim will be presented with his award at the NECA National Excellence Awards later this month in Melbourne.

Jim has worked in the industry for over 50 years.  As he approached the end of his career he thought it would be fitting to spend a short spell ‘giving something back’ and a training role seemed the best way to do just that.  And that was more than thirteen years ago.

The judging panel – led by Wes McKnight (the former President of NECA), were so impressed by Jim that they asked him what advice he would give to young people entering the industry today.

“Just be yourself and focus on your clients,” was Jim’s answer. 

In addition, for anyone involved in promoting a career in the electrical contracting industry, Jim’s additional advice is that people should “sell the reality of the job to better meet expectations”.

“We were very impressed by this year’s candidates,” said Wes McKnight.

“So much so that we also awarded a runner-up.  Kyle Praprotnik – a lecturer at Durack Institute of Technology, was highly commended for his enthusiasm and commitment to the industry.  Kyle is clearly an up-and-coming star and it’s great to see young people with his potential taking such an active part in training the next generation of electrical contractors.”