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The apprentice: in Michigan it's Scott Daly of IBEW 58

Date Posted: November 11 2005

The Michigan Apprenticeship Steering Committee Inc. (MASCI) 2005 Apprentice of the Year award goes to… Scott Daly of IBEW Local 58.

The fifth-year apprentice took the top honor for his skills, attendance, grades, leadership qualities, productivity, safety on the job and community service activities. The MASCI award involves a statewide competition in those areas among all the trades.

"Winning the award is a reflection of Scott's good work, and it's a reflection of the work that we do as a union apprenticeship program," said IBEW Local 58/NECA Electrical Industry Training Center Director Gary Polulak. "Scott is a product of the education and training that we provide, which is the glue that holds labor and management together. Our contractors can't make money without a skilled workforce, and our people can't make a living without the education and employment opportunities that are provided by our contractors."

Daly, a fifth-year apprentice, received a plaque of recognition and $1,000 on Oct. 18 at the Michigan Apprenticeship and Training Conference in Lansing. Kathy Devlin, an instructor at the training school, recommended Scott for the award.

"It's a pretty big honor," she said. "He's obviously a good worker, he's very dependable, he has a great attitude and he's well-thought-of by his employers. This was the first time we entered someone in the competition, so we didn't know what we were up against."

Devlin said in determining Local 58's top apprentice, she and Polulak started by examining apprentices' grades and attendance, and then went on to the interview process. Daly stood out at Local 58's apprenticeship school, and then with the evaluators at MASCI.

IBEW Local 58 Business Manager Joe Abdoo noted Daly's attendance of union membership meetings, participation in Habitat for Humanity efforts and union blood drives. "He is a team player and a true leader," Abdoo wrote in a letter of recommendation for Scott.

The MASCI Apprentice Award, in its fourth year, provides a venue to recognize Michigan's skilled workforce and "to assist in re-energizing pride in craft achievement and job integrity."

"I was honored just to be chosen for the Local 58 portion of the competition," said Daly, 29, an Air Force veteran. He is currently employed by Edgewood Electric.

Clyde Jones, owner of Centerline Electric and chairman of the Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee, said: "we're an industry that puts a lot of effort into educating our people. It's very gratifying to have one of own win this award."

MASCI TOP APPRENTICE Scott Daly (seated, with trophy) is backed by members of the IBEW Local 58/NECA Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee. They include: (l-r) Training Director Gary Polulak, Instructor Kathy Devlin, and JATC members Clyde Jones, Kevin Wieczorek, Shawn Crump, Dave Nesbitt, Mike Moran, and Dan Tripp.