This special NETA section of the magazine is a compilation of interviews conducted at the 2023 PowerTest Conference where we interviewed board members and thought leaders with great insights into NETA as it embarks on several strategic initiative, including adding the “I” for International. When I attended my first NETA conference over a decade ago, I have been impressed by the way members, who are often competitors, come together in a more collaborative way to make our industry better, safer, or reliable and resilient.

Alan Ross:
My next guest Dan Hook is the president of CBS Field Services. Dan, thank you for joining me.

Dan Hook:
Thank you.

AR
So first of all, go a little bit into your background and your role at CBS Field Services. You actually created the field services group right?

DH
Yes, after my time in the US Navy, I went to work for group CBS with a partner of mine, Craig Archer. And our charge was to build a field service division accompanying the other group CBS companies. And the goal, the initial goal was to become NETA accredited and to gain that recognition and that immediate gravitas.

AR
And you're on the NETA board, correct?

DH
I am. Just a few days ago was elected as the first vice president. I've got about another year in that role and then I'll do my turn as the president for a two year term.

AR
Okay. And we're going to talk a little bit about one of the parts of NETA that I really want to promote and that is the apprenticeship program that you all are working on with the Department of Labor. But before we go there, okay. What I really want to talk about is
obviously when you looked at the need for field services because the CB's group, group CB's was primarily equipment, if I understand it. Yes. That's a whole sea change to say we're going to take that equipment out in the field, we're going to add human element to it and now we're going to talk about why you did that and what were some of the challenges of doing that.

DH
It appears on the surface maybe that it is a sea change? But it's somewhat of a natural progression if you're willing to take that avenue. Group CBS is 40, 45 years old, something like that. The expertise that they have in shop kind of leads customers to say, “Well, I can't bring it to you. Can you please come out on site and help me with this challenge?” And the breaker shops do that type of support. But we also found that as we have an effective NETA accredited field service group, you're the first one to know that there may be equipment problems and you can provide solutions by bringing customers equipment back to the shop and performing those types of services in the shop. There's a great synergy between field service and the equipment industry. But they do have their unique challenges, for sure.

AR
The industry is changing and NETA is changing as a result of that. You must be involved with the apprenticeship program that you are working on with the Department of Labor. Talk a little bit about that because I think that's a game changer.

DH
It is a game changer because it's an opportunity for us to do this as an industry. NETA is 51, 52 years old now and we've worked together for a long time and obviously we put on a great conference and all those other things, but it's been a challenge with workforce development and a little bit of robbing Peter to pay Paul, so to speak.

AR
Poaching.

DH
Yeah, a little bit of poaching. You know, there's many terms for it. This is an opportunity to help the industry as the whole industry, as we come together and see the greater good and see how this is going to help all of us, and it can help all of us simultaneously. It's not a zero-sum game. Maybe that's the best way to say it. This is about bringing more people into the industry. So we are not just poaching from each other. We're not just trying to trade the highest talent depending upon what year it is and how many dollars an hour someone makes. This is a way to, somebody said many years ago, “enlarge the pie”. And so that's what's exciting about this. And Steve Newton has done an excellent job of spearheading this, and he should be very proud of what he's accomplished so far.

AR
You are the first vice president. You'll become president and have a two-year term. What's your vision for NETA?

DH
Yes, one of those things is that it started as national and fairly quickly, even before my time, we wanted to broaden our reach beyond our own borders, so we called it international, but it's known as NETA, and it has been for so long. We kept the logo, kept the name, and so we're NETA, but we are international.
Ten or 15 years ago, our international footprint was Canada and the United States, so technically, we were international. I grew up in Canada, North America centric for sure. Since I've been part of NETA and been part of the board, we have South American, Central American, Caribbean, Middle Eastern companies as members. We have a gentleman visiting from Australia this year who is in the application process and looking very, very promising for growth there. My vision is our membership group has done such a great job of starting to scratch the surface of putting the eye in international electrical testing association. We really need to leverage that. I don't have to tell anybody that the world's getting smaller, and it has been for a really long time. It's time for NETA to catch up with the globalization, although that's the bad “g” word sometimes currently, but in our globalization, it's just focused in our industry.
That's a good thing. Yes, that's an absolute good thing.

AR
Thanks so much Dan, I look forward to seeing where NETA goes in your leadership tenure in the future. My next guest is David Huffman.

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