3RD QUARTER—2005

Golf Tournament 2 - 3

FBI Citizen’s Academy

4

Extreme Makeover 5

IEC e-campus 6

Emergency Construc-tion Response Trailer

7

BICSI Class 7

Estate Planning 8 - 9

Associate Members 10

Graybar’s Octoberfest 11

Electronic Update 11

INS IDE THIS ISSUE:

WATTS UP MID-SOUTH INDEPENDENT ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS, INC.

“It was a site for all to see.” Starting 9/10/05, over 5,000 American Flags were proudly displayed along Germantown Parkway here in Memphis, TN. Each flag represented a person that died on 9/11 and those that lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. To put this type of project together takes a lot of volunteers. However specifically one volunteer stepped forward that lead this task from a dream to reality. This person is our own IEC Contractor Member, Bob McBride of State Systems.

The Healing Field is a 501 (c) 3 charitable foundation established in March of 2003. The work and mission of the Healing Field Foundation spontaneously emerged from a patriotic desire of citizens in Sandy, Utah to honor the memory of the victims of the September 11th tragedy with a symbolic field of U.S. Flags. Response to this first Healing Field flag display from around the nation was so overwhelming that The Healing Field Foundation was formed to help other communities organize and present Healing Field flag displays in honor of Patriot’s Day, and other patriotic causes to help raise awareness and money for worthy charitable causes.

The IEC is very proud to have members like Bob McBride. Your country, the community and all of those families that lost loved ones thanks you. We are also very proud of our IEC contractor members that donated to allow the Mid-South IEC to be an “All American Sponsor” of this event.

Mid-South IEC Contractor Member Has Positive Impact Within The Community

Walt Czyrnik the Executive Director of the IEC on left with Bob McBride (right) the Chairman of the Memphis Healing Field. IEC announces the

association's newest member benefit, IEC POWERPLUS Health Benefits Program. This exciting associa-tion program will pro-vide every IEC mem-ber with superior health benefits at a savings of up to 15%.

Watch you e-mails for upcoming details !!!

PAGE 2 3 RD QUARTER– 2005

IEC Golf Tournament a Success

On September 28, 2005 the 7th Annual IEC Golf Tournament was held and was a great success. The weather was terrific, the food was good and the competition was excellent. All in all, it was identified by one of the IEC Contractors as “the best tournament ever”.

Who would have thought that we would have “three” winners in the putting contest

(in alphabetical order) was Wayne Atkins, Ben Lorence and John Pinueu.

In 2nd Place of the 1st flight shooting a 57

(in alphabetical order) was Kevin Fleming, Floyd Massey, Graham McBride and John Pinueu.

Winning 1st Place 2nd Flight was

John Boswell, J.W. Hudson, Greg Johnson and John McDoowell.

“Tournament Winners" shooting a 56

(in alphabetical order) was Cole Dennis, Bob Garabaldi, Gerald Hutcherson and Cliff McGowan.

WATTS UP PAGE 3

IEC Golf Tournament a Success (cont.)

What also made this year’s golf tournament a large success was the number of Hole Sponsors that we had. We would like to thank and recognize the following companies for sponsoring the IEC Golf Tourna-ment:

A very special thank you goes to Gene Mathis from Menard, Gates and Mathis for sponsoring the insurance for the hole in one prize which was a new Harley Davidson and thanks to Bumpus Harley Davidson for bringing the Harley to the tournament.….no one won it this year...maybe next year.

2005 HOLE SPONSORS

American Home Inspectors Ideal Associated Products Jackson, Shields & Yeiser AZ Lightning Protection Liles Engineering Byron Carson MAPCO CED Menard, Gates & Mathis Cummins Mid-South Memphis Lighting Cutler Hammer NES DSC Datacomm Perkins-Everitt Lighting & Controls Dyna-Bright Lighting of Memphis Ram Tool Eagle Sales RSC Factory Sales Simplex Grinnell GE Industrial Systems Siemens GE Supply Square D Graybar Electric Company The Lighting Source Two Bill Supply

THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING COMPANIES FOR DONATING DOOR PRIZES

BUMPUS HARLEY-DAVIDSON CUMMINS MID-SOUTH

EAGLE SALES EXCLUSIVE CLEANERS

FAST FRAME FIRST FINANCIAL GROUP

GRAYBAR HILTI NES

RAM TOOL SQUARE D

THE LIGHTING SOURCE

SPECIAL THANKS TO THOMAS & BETTS FOR THE GENERATOR THAT GOT AUCTIONED FOR THE RED CROSS

3 RD QUARTER– 2005 PAGE 4

The Mid-South IEC’s Executive Director, Walt Czyrnik recently graduated from the FBI’s Citizen Academy in Memphis TN. The academies of the Citi-zen’s Academy give business, civic, religious, and community leaders an in-side look at federal law enforcement in general and the FBI in particular. Their overall goal is to foster relationships and understanding between an FBI field office and its community - and so improve the Bureau’s ability to solve/detect crimes... and help citizens' make their communities better and safer place.

Walt Czyrnik was asked to say a few words at the graduation ceremony and he identified; “Having organizations such as the IEC par-ticipate and complete the FBI Citizen’s Acad-emy can only help increase the security within the nation. Since attending the acad-emy, I now understand more of what the FBI is facing to aid in the security of the country. Additionally, the FBI now has an electrical construction point of contact, the IEC, to help them in the Memphis area. If a threat should occur and the FBI needs assistance in reading wiring diagrams of local construction pro-jects, that the IEC would be there for them.” Czyrnik continued, “This type of partnership

between the security arm of the Federal Government and the private sector is not emulated in most countries and I for one am extremely proud to be a part of this type of program.” Results show that the Academies work. In 1996, when 16-year veteran SA Chuck Reed was killed in the line of duty during an undercover drug buy in Philadelphia, one of the first phone calls to the Philadelphia Office offering assistance came from a citizen who had re-cently graduated from the office’s Citizens' Academy. Today, FBI Citizens' Academies have established requirements, goals, and a curriculum. Each session is open to about 20 business, civic, religious, and community leaders who have been nominated by a Bureau employee or a previous Academy attendee. These “students” must be at least 21 years old, with no prior felony convictions, and must live or work within the jurisdiction of the field office. The SAC selects the participants, who must then undergo a background investigation in order to obtain an interim security clearance.

IEC’s Executive Director Graduates from the FBI Citizen’s Academy

Shelby County Mayor AC Wharton (left) and Special Agent in Charge, My Harrison (right) presents the gradua-tion plaque to Walt Czyrnik (center)

WATTS UP PAGE 5

COLORADO SPRINGS, Co. - ABC-TV's hit reality series, Extreme Makeover: Home Edi-tion is in Colorado Springs, Colorado this week to film the construction of a new home for the well-deserving family with six children. The IEC Southern Colorado Chapter contrac-tors and industry partners will be providing the workforce and material to wire the new home. "Our Chapter was approached by one of our members to see if IEC would be willing to take on this project," said Dan Wilson, Chapter Executive Director. "He simply didn't have the number of people that it was going to take to pull this project off." The two-story, 4,000 sq. ft. house would normally take 124 days to build. It has to be built in 96 hours. The IEC Southern Colorado Chapter will need to rough-in the electrical in three hours. They have also been given three hours to complete the electrical trim. Beside the house, there's a three car garage and a separate schoolhouse that must be wired within that time frame. Square D, an IEC Platinum Partner of National IEC, is supplying the electrical gear for the project. Plans call for a 400 AMP meter socket to be installed with a 200 AMP panel for the house and a 200 AMP panel in the schoolhouse. Another IEC Platinum Partner, Graybar Electric Company, is donating some of the material for this project. Graybar along with other local electrical supply houses, (All-Phase Electric, CED/American Electric, and Rexel Electric and Datacom) will be on standby around the clock to supply the IEC electricians with any additional material after regular store hours. "I am proud to see IEC contractors and industry partners working together to put IEC's best foot forward and make this project a resounding success," said Larry Mullins, IEC National Executive Vice President. "I would also like to thank Mike Riley from Cimarron Electric and Bob Schmidt from Precision Electric for spearheading this project for the IEC Southern Colorado Chapter." Over 125 IEC electricians have volunteered their time to get the electrical phase of the con-struction completed on time. They will install the underground service on the afternoon and evening of July 12. The rough-in wiring begins at 5:00 p.m. on July 13 and the trim work will begin at 5:00 p.m. on July 14.

“Congratulations Colorado Springs IEC Chapter”

IEC Goes Prime Time with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

PAGE 6 3 RD QUARTER– 2005

IEC Now Has On-Line Educational Opportunities IEC University (IECU) is pleased to announce the opening of e-Campus, online training for electrical contractors looking for opportunities to im-prove their professional skills and contribute to their companies’ bottom-line success. With more than 250 courses, IECU’s e-Campus makes learning easy by offering a wide variety of technical, safety and human resources titles to IEC member companies such as Defensive Driving, Electrical Safety, Electronic Circuits, Industrial Electricity and Customer Service. Designed by learning specialists, IECU's e-Campus complements a wide variety of live seminars and workshops provided by IECU and IEC chapters nationwide. For IEC member companies who do not have time to spend in a classroom, IECU’s e-Campus courses can be taken on any computer with an Internet connection, at any hour of the day or night; and students may start, stop, and resume their courses at their leisure. Courses include audio and video components and generate certificates upon successful completion. IECU’s e-Campus courses are reasonably priced from just $12 to $59 each and volume discounts are available. Courses can be completed on an individual basis or a participating company can des-ignate an e-Campus administrator to assign courses to employees and track their progress. All courses are in English but many are also offered in Spanish. To access IECU’s e-Campus, IEC members can click on “IEC University E-Campus” at www.ieci.org website homepage. An IEC members’ only login will be required. If you have not already ob-tained an IEC members’ only login, contact IEC National at (703) 549-7351 or email: info@ieci.org. IECU offers its thanks to the IEC National Safety Committee, the Apprenticeship and Training Committee, and the Education Committee for their support in building e-Campus. SOME of the courses that are offered on-line are:

In Safety: • Back Safety • Defensive Driving • Electrical Safety • Fall Protection • Lockout / Tagout • Scaffold Orientation • Accident Investigation • Fire Safety • Forklift Certification

In Electrical: • Electronic Circuits • Industrial Electricity • Motor Controls • Motor Drives • Mechanical Electrical

Systems • Programmable Logic

Controls • Using RSLogix

In Human Resources: • Customer Service • Diversity in the work-

place • Legal and Effective Inter-

viewing • Performance Appraisals • Sexual Harassment • Supervisory Skills

WATTS UP PAGE 7

IEC Member develops an “Emergency Construction Response Trailer”

One of the Mid-South IEC’s Associate Members, Eagle Sales, has developed an “Emergency Con-struction Response Trailer” to help the contractors keep their jobsites running. Eric Marley will be the outside salesman pulling the trailer from job to job. The inventory consist of general construction supplies such as drill bits, blades, power tools, anchors, screws, etc. He will be able to generate the order on the spot whether it be a purchase order or credit card. This will help elimi-nate possible downtime on the job. Eagle Sales Co., Inc. is always open to any sugges-tions. If you have any ideas that would help us make your job easier on the job site, please let us know. If you have a fast pace job and would like to have this trailer visit your job on a routine basis, please contact Randy Hoard at Eagle Sales Office at (901) 202-4766.

Great Idea Eagle Sales !!!

Last Scheduled BICSI Class Of The Calendar Year The last certified BICSI class that is scheduled for this calendar year will start on 11/11/05. This class will be teaching the BICSI Technician Level Course the TE300. Many contractors may have training dollars that they may want to use be year end and this is the time to use them. So if you want to start the new year with a BICSI Certified Technician in your company, that many RFP’s are requesting, this is the time to sign up !!! For specific details of this course and how to register, contact the IEC office (901) 682-3546. Some of the topics that will be covered in the course will be:

I. Industry Orientation II. Structured Premises Cabling Systems III. Standards, Codes, and Methodologies IV. Plans and Specifications V. Media Characteristics VI. Connectors VII. Transmission Characteristics VIII. Grounding, Bonding, and Electrical Protection IX. Defining LANs X. Components of a LAN XI. Safety

XI. Safety XII. Professionalism XIII. Preparation for Installation XIV. Pulling Cable *(overview) XV. Firestopping XVI. Cable Termination XVII. Splicing Cable XVIII. Cable Testing XIX. Cable Troubleshooting XX. Retrofits and System Upgrades XXI. Miscellaneous Duties

3 RD QUARTER– 2005 PAGE 8

An Introduction To Estate Planning By John McDowell Many people are under the mistaken impression only the wealthy need to concern themselves with estate planning. However, this is simply not the case. Estate planning offers all individuals numerous benefits. First, an estate plan allows individuals to control how their property will be distributed at the time of death. If plan-ning is not done prior to death, the state, through a procedure known as "intestacy," will determine who receives your client's assets. Often, this can cause unintended results. This is especially true for: 2nd marriages Widows and widowers Those who have no children Those who have adopted children

Second, advance estate planning can reduce the cost of probate (and, perhaps, eliminate the need for probate al-together). Avoiding probate can mean: Avoidance of Personal Representative fees, filing fees and court costs. Lower attorney fees. Quicker distribution of your property.

Third, by planning their estates in advance, individuals can designate the personal representative who will be in charge of the disposition of their property and the payment of their debts and expenses. The Personal Representative is responsible for the management of the estate's property during probate. If individuals fail to select a personal representative, the court will be forced to do so.

Fourth, an estate plan allows individuals to select a guardian for minors or other incompetents. This is especially important for everyone with minor children. If the parents fail to select a guardian in advance, the court will be forced to make that choice. Many times this can result in bad feelings, disputes and in some cases protracted and costly litigation.

Fifth, by planning their estates in advance, individuals may be able to reduce wealth transfer taxes, which may otherwise be imposed at death. Sixth, a carefully structured estate plan may protect individuals' assets from government claims for long-term health care. Estate Planning Documents Wills In general, a Will serves 3 key purposes:

1. Governs disposition of probate property. 2. Nominates (not appoints) personal representative. 3. Nominates (not appoints) guardians for minors.

WATTS UP PAGE 9

During the testator's lifetime, a Will is fully revocable. An exception is a Joint and Mutual Will. A Will is valid only if the testator has legal capacity. Legal capacity to execute a will has two components: 1. Legal majority (age 21). 2. Testamentary capacity.

Must have testamentary intent; That is, the testator must understand and intend to execute a Will. Must understand and recall the nature and situation of his or her property; and must understand the

legal objects of his or her property.

Certain formalities of execution must be followed for a will to be valid: The Will must be in writing. The Testator (or someone on his or her behalf at his or her direction) must sign in the presence of two witnesses. The witnesses must sign in the presence of the Grantor and in the presence of each other.

Even if legally executed, a Will is invalid if at the time of execution, the person making the Will was: Subject to undue influence or abuse of confidential relationship. Existing when (i) a person who is in a

confidential relationship (ii) exerts such influence over the testator that the will is a product of the domi-nant party's desires, and not the Testator's. A victim of fraud. There are two types of fraud.

(1) "Fraud in Factum"- Using fraud to obtain signature to a document not known to be a Will or to a known Will containing an unknown provision.

(2) "Fraud in the Inducement"- Involves misrepresentations of facts so as to get the testator to make a Will that he or she would not otherwise make.

Suffering from an insane delusion, which is a belief, adhered to against reason, impossible under the circum-stances, which leads to an unnatural disposition.

Components of a Will Identification or Statement of Domicile and Revocation of prior wills. Nomination of fiduciaries.

Personal representative. Guardians. Testamentary Trustee.

Dispositive provisions. Specific bequests. Residuary bequests.

Tax provisions, debts and expenses. Survivorship provisions. Powers clause.

NOTE: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended for any particular person or circumstance. A competent tax professional, such as your lawyer or CPA, should always be consulted before utilizing any of the information contained in this article.

An Introduction To Estate Planning (continued)

PAGE 10 3 RD QUARTER– 2005

These Industry Partners Support the IEC as Associate Members! Please keep them in mind when making your next business decision:

American Home Inspector Training Institute

Brown & Associates

Carson, McDowell & Reid

CED

Computer Environment

Cooper Crouse-Hinds

Cummins Mid-South

Cutler-Hammer

Eagle Electric Sales

Federated Insurance

First Light Lighting

1st TN Bank-David Warlick

Fortier Loss Control Consultants

GE Supply

Graybar

Harris, Madden & Powell

HILTI

Industrial Automation Controls

Jackson, Shields, Yeiser, Holt & Speakman

Leviton Mfg.

Menard, Gates, and Mathis

NES

Perkins-Everitt Lighting and Controls

Ram Tool & Supply

Rental Service Corporation

Rhodes Electrical Sales

Safety Services Company

Siemens

Spectrum Lighting & Controls

Thomas & Betts

Thompson Power

TVESCO

WESCO

Welcome our newest IEC Associate Member

Cooper Crouse-Hinds Bill Barnette (615) 646-2080

IEC Web Updates Here is some updates on the electronic side of the IEC: • The Mid-South IEC is updating its chapter’s web address and e-mail ad-

dresses' extension from .com to .org Therefore our new website address is www.midsouthiec.org and our new e-mail addresses are walt@midsouthiec.org and vicki@midsouthiec.org • There is now an on-line chapter photo album of some of the IEC events. To

view these pictures, go to www.midsouthiec.org and click on “Photo Al-bum”

• Contractors….don’t forget that on the secure part of the IEC chapter’s web-

site, there are over 70 Toolbox Talks available for you to use, INCLUDING a sign-in sheet for your employees that receive these “Tool Box Talks”. You can go to www.midsouthiec.org and click on “Member’s Section” to see these Toolbox Talks. If you are not sure how to log in to the chapter’s web-site, contact the IEC at (901) 682-3546 for detailed instructions.

• The National IEC’s website has had a total facelift with many more features

than before. To see the new national website…go to www.ieci.org

WATTS UP PAGE 11

Graybar’s Octoberfest

Graybar will be hosting their Tradeshow and Open house on Thursday 10/27/05 from 5:00PM to 8:00PM. Also during this event there will be 40+ Electrical and Telecommunication Manufactures displaying the newest products available in our industry. Graybar is an Associate Members of the IEC and we encourage all contractors to visit with them during this event.

1474 Lamar Ave. Memphis, TN 38104

“Free Beverages And A Steak Dinner”

Mid-South Independent Electrical Contractors, Inc.

Mid-South IEC Officers

President Cole Dennis cdennis@denniselectric.com Vice President Tony George tgeorgeaec@bellsouth.net Treasurer Lloyd Chism lloydchism@bellsouth.net Secretary Brian Haines brian@pyramidelectric.net

Board of Directors

Bobby Carlock bobby@rtcarlock.com Larry Cooper arcelecco@aol.com

Randy Davis dmdavis1@aol.com Jay Dickey aelectr1@midsouth.rr.com

Karl Ekmark karl@ekmark.com Frank Fuchs ffuchs@concentric.net Ralph Gusmus ralph@gusmus.com Jay Weatherington jayvw@bellsouth.net

Staff

Executive Director Walt Czyrnik walt@midsouthiec.org Executive Assistant Vicki Czyrnik vicki@midsouthiec.org

"Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his

neck out."

James Bryant Connant

We’re on the Web! www.midsouthiec.org

2814 Stage Center Drive Bartlett, TN 38134

Phone: 901-682-3546 Fax: 901-682-4496

For a complete schedule of events, please visit our website at www.midsouthiec.org and click on “calendar”