Training – Earth, Wind & Hire As renewable industries grow, so too does training By Bill O’Leary, EA Associate Editor  Strength in numbers Professional groups are helping young women navigate the skilled trades By Bill O’Leary, EA Associate EditorBusiness Management – Does your employee make more than $47,476? Taking care of business, and workin’ overtime By Charlie Barks, EA Assistant EditorMaintenance -The fire ant menace How this threat to electromechanical gear is spreading—and what you can do about it By Richard L. Nailen, EA Engineering EditorAccounting -The problem with slow-moving inventory Tips for getting your inventory management up to speed By William H. Wiersema, CPA, EA Contributing EditorFast Forward – Hey, who needs training? A needs assessment should be the first and most important step in the training process By Bill O’Leary, EA Associate EditorSafety & Health – Shedding light on workplace dangers A look at OSHA’s Severe Injury Reporting Program By Joseph S. Hoff, EA Associate EditorScroll down for more content from this month’s Departments and Columns

Editor’s Comment   In this issue: Inevitable changes in energy and personnel… Coming in December: the new overtime rule… Suppliers taking their show on the road……Kevin Jones

Let’s Solve Your Problem  In this issue:  Changing aluminum bars to copper bars … What’s a ‘sucking fi t’? … Outlet air versus winding temperatures … The meaning of ‘corrosion-resistant’ … Converting wound-rotor motor to synchronous … VPI vs. ‘hard coil’ insulation system … .. Edited by the EA staff

Business Briefs   In this issue:  Dyne Systems bought by Taylor Dynamometer  … Baldor gearbox plant marks safety milestone  … Tests by Advanced Energy demonstrate Overly Hautz motor base energy savings potential … Edited by Kevin Jones

Associations, societies & government activities   In this issue: American Society of Safety Engineers criticizes new OSHA recordkeeping rule… Safety Equipment Institute becomes a subsidiary of ASTM International (both are members of the American National Standards Institute)… New standard published by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association covers Smart Grid management… Electrical Generating Systems Association offers Columbia Southern University tuition discount… New enhancements to EASA’s website… Registration open for National Electrical Contractors Association convention…… Edited by Kevin Jones

EA reader profile   In this issue: John Griffin of Gaddis, Inc. learned the importance of customer service during his first career, when he owned and operated Jump & Phil’s Bar and Grill, a Hilton Head staple, for 21 years.   By Charlie Barks

Know Your Industry   In this issue: The Association of American Engineering Societies … by Charlie Barks

Training Briefs   In this issue: Ball State University dedicates new management center  … ABB’s Electrification Products division donates breakers and switches for training to the electrical training ALLIANCE … Weil-McLain launches a new School of Better Heating HVAC program… ELANTAS PDG improves and expands its insulation training sessions …… Industrial Careers Pathway and the National Association of Electrical Distributors join to promote electrical distribution… Edited by Bill O’Leary

Utilities   In this issue:  Kansas’ Great Plains Energy and Missouri’s Westar Energy utilities plan to merge … Georgia Power hosts STEM summer school… PG&E sponsors portable solar kits for students to benefit Free the Children. FirstEnergy offering STEM education grants… Strata Solar and Crowder Construction Duke Energy solar facilities are approved by the North Carolina Utilities Commission … Edited by Kevin Jones

Pumps  In this issue:  Webinar series on water and wastewater from A.W. Chesterton Co. … Shell and FMC Technologies buy Sulzer sub-sea pump technology …. Weir opens new Malaysia safety relief valve plant … Wilo USA introduces three new pump build centers … Xylem introduces ‘intelligent’ wastewater pumping system … Edited by the EA staff

Say it right   In this issue:  Avoid the ‘sin of omission’:  Brevity in communication is good, but it can be taken too far …By Richard L. Nailen, EA Engineering Editor

Renewable Energy   In this issue:   the Portuguese Renewable Energy Association and the ZERO System Sustainable Land Association report that Portugal has set a record for renewable energy use… Hawaiian Electric Co. makes renewable energy proposals … Hearing on Clean Power Plan is postponed by the U.S. Court of Appeals ... WEG announces plans for Brazil wind farm … American Wind Energy Association marks Global Wind Day …By Charlie Barks, EA Assistant Editor

Names & faces In this issue: Ranbar Electrical Materials, Inc.’s Burt Hermanski … Appleton Group’s Dane Dreher, Russ Kerstetter, and Harish Shinde … Danfoss’s Gregory Handzel … Rea Magnet Wire’s Pablo Leguina … HIMA Paul Hildebrandt GmbH’s Alexander Horch … TE Connectivity (TE)’s Al Ghelani , Thomas Schmidt, and Peter van Loo … … Edited by Bill O’Leary

Deaths In this issue:  Ron Bullock, Bison Gear owner and chairman… James R. Thompson, owner of T&R Electric in Colman, S.D. … Werner Ricardo Voigt, co-founder of (and the “W” in) WEG… Edited by Josh Hoff

Calendar briefs  In every issue and updated on the web. See our online calendar for current offerings.

Puzzle  In this issue:  What’s in a surname? Look for the solution at http://barks.com/puzzles… The Editors

Direct and Current  In this issue:  Animal mayhem – one monkey takes down the entire electrical grid of the country of Kenya, on the heels of a similar disruption at CERN, the European organization for nuclear research … Siemens exec Sami Atiya moves to ABB … Fatal mining accident in Mississippi… US dams are in distress from deteriorating infrastructure, reliability and efficiency problems … Motors are being smuggled across Middle Eastern borders for terrorist purposes … …. The Editors

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And, in every issue:  Classified Advertising (Equipment, jobs, businesses for sale, business opportunities and services), Advertising Index, and your favorite cartoons, Motorhead and Generatorhead (illustrated by Mark Ziemann) and Cy’s Super Service (illustrated by James Estes)!