The Kelly Challenge

Following up on my “From the Top” column in the January/February issue of Powerline, where I touched on my goals for the EGSA Technician Certification Program, I would like to present the Kelly Challenge. The goal of this challenge is to further establish EGSA’s Generator Technician Certification Program as the national standard of excellence in the On-Site Electrical Generation Industry.

As many of you know, dealers who value high standards are sometimes faced with bidding on service contracts only to find another  company bidding at a price that is far lower than everyone else. It becomes apparent that the low-priced bidder does not utilize highly-trained, qualified people. There is no objective way for the contract officer to know any better – other than by asking for technicians with specific qualifications. The challenge is for the membership to actively influence the writing of service contract specifications to include the requirement for any winning company to employ EGSA certified technicians. This challenge has particular importance for distributor/dealers.
As more RFPs that contain this requirement hit the street, there will be a huge incentive for companies who are serious about the generator service and maintenance business to have their technicians certified. This may also have the added benefit of enticing more companies to join EGSA.
With the Kelly Challenge I am reaching out to both member firms and individuals to help to further establish EGSA and the EGSA Technician Certification Program as the industry standard. I ask that both firms and individuals initiate a “full-court press” to jumpstart this initiative and, in doing so, raise the standard of quality within the On-Site Electrical Generating Industry as a whole!

The Kelly Challenge will consist of the following guidelines:
$25 EGSA Bucks will be awarded to individual EGSA members (up to a maximum of $200 per member) for each specification that is written and distributed that prefers or requires the use of EGSA Certified Generator Technicians. EGSA Bucks do not expire and can be redeemed for any EGSA product including: Registrations, reference books, membership renewal dues, etc.

The Kelly Challenge and EGSA’s increased marketing to end-users [through our new relationship with National Facilities Management Technology (NFMT) in the form of the EGSA Power Source Pavilion at the NFMT Conference & Expo in 2012] partnered with other marketing initiatives should create additional momentum in tech certification. The key to success is for member companies to make it part of their culture to identify with EGSA and the value that technician certification brings to our industry. The result of these efforts is increased prestige and awareness of EGSA (and consequently EGSA members) and as an added benefit, increased membership.
As always, I welcome any new ideas to help promote EGSA and the EGSA Technician Certification Program.

Please email your ideas and suggestions to EGSA at e-mail@egsa.org.

I look forward to having further discussions on this subject at the fall conference in Baltimore, MD. See you there!