NECA Victoria 2009 Apprentice Awards

The 26th annual NECA Victoria Apprentice Awards, held on 1 July, was once again an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the electrical sector’s most talented and committed senior apprentices, before they become fully qualified and embark on their careers.

Philip Green, NECA Victoria CEO said the prestige of the Awards provided the sector’s best apprentices with an added boost to their careers: “It’s vitally important to continue nurturing young apprentices to ensure a talented pool of qualified individuals is available in the future, despite the economic downturn. These Awards exist for that purpose. This is particularly the case at a time when Australia is experiencing significant skills shortages in key trade areas such as electrical, and yet many employers may be holding off employing new apprentices due to economic uncertainty. Without apprentices our industry has no future, so we need to foster that talent.

“Electrical trades provide an enormous range of career pathways and one where the technologies are constantly evolving, offering new opportunities for those who stay at the cutting edge. The government’s National Broadband Rollout will also open up a whole host of new opportunities for electricians.”

The winners and runners-up were:

Industrial automation & communications category

• First place: Christopher VanZanten, employed at PSE Communication and Electrical

Industrial category

• First place: Tim Vining, employed at O’Donnell Griffin
• Second place: Evan Kettle, employed at Transfield Services
• Third place: Sam Zivalj, employed at Nilsen (Vic)

Commercial domestic category

• First place: Richard Ryan, employed at Nilsen (Vic)
• Second place: Peter Georgiadis, employed at Nilsen (Vic)
• Third place: Shannon Kay, employed at Eagle Eye Power

The first-place winners are automatically eligible for the National Apprentice of the Year Awards, which will be announced 26 November 2009.