NEII Partners with Construction Inclusion Week

NATIONAL ELEVATOR INDUSTRY, INC. PARTNERS WITH CONSTRUCTION INCLUSION WEEK

In 2022, as a part of our efforts to increase diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within the building transportation industry, NEII has officially partnered with the organizations who created Construction Inclusion Week. The event is October 17-21. 2022.

The vertical transportation industry is committed to improving diversity, equity and inclusion throughout our workplaces.

To further share the scope of the elevator and escalator industry's commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace, below are some valuable resources:

Chris Gardner, author of Pursuit of Happyness, and DEI advocate recorded a message for our industry to encourage us to keep working toward improving inclusion. View and download the video message here.
Construction Inclusion Week has a variety of resources available for every day of the honorary week, including an Execution Guide for planning your participation. You can find the guide here.
The daily themes for Construction Inclusion Week are as follows:
- Monday, October 17: Commitment and Accountability
- Tuesday, October 18: Belonging
- Wednesday, October 19: Supplier Diversity
- Thursday, October 20: Workplace Culture
- Friday, October 21: Community Engagement
There are daily webinars to dive deeper into the content.
Don't miss a thing by visiting the Construction Inclusion Week website for complete details and to register as a partner if you are interested.

We will be sharing a lot of messaging about inclusion on NEII's social media channels, including photos of the teams from our member companies supporting inclusion during Construction Inclusion Week. Please follow us at Twitter and LinkedIn.

About Construction Inclusion Week

Construction Inclusion Week is the first effort to harness the collective power of general contractors, specialty contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers. The objective is to build awareness of the need to improve diversity and inclusion in the construction industry by providing content and resources.

We recognize and understand that each of our firms may be at different places in our diversity, equity, and inclusion journeys. The intent is that Construction Inclusion Week fosters conversations that create alignment and take us further on this journey for our people and industry partners. If we genuinely want to attract, retain, and develop the best talent for our industry and maximize the diversity of our suppliers, we must grow our industry’s culture to be truly inclusive.

About NEII

NEII is the premier trade association representing the global leaders in the building transportation industry. Its members install, maintain, and/or manufacture elevators, escalators, moving walks, and other building transportation products. NEII‘s membership includes the six major international companies – Fujitec America, Inc., KONE, Inc., Mitsubishi Electric US, Inc., Otis Elevator Company, Schindler Elevator Corporation, TK Elevator and several other companies across the country. Collectively, the NEII members represent approximately eighty percent of the total hours worked within the elevator and escalator industry, employ more than 25,000 people in the U.S. and indirectly support hundreds of thousands of American jobs in affiliate industries.

For more information about NEII, please visit www.neii.org.

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0 NEII Announces 2022 Board of Directors

TOPEKA, KS. (July 5, 2022)

NATIONAL ELEVATOR INDUSTRY, INC. ANNOUNCES 2022 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The Board of Directors will lead the National Elevator Industry, Inc.'s (NEII) mission as the organization continues to represent the global leaders in the building transportation industry through advocacy and code development.

NEII, the premier trade association representing the global leaders in the building transportation industry, announced the election of its Board of Directors and officers. The leadership team will serve a one-year term. The elected officers of the Board of Directors include:

Erik Zommers, President – Zommers is Senior Vice President/General Manager of Mitsubishi Electric US, Inc.'s Elevator and Escalator Division. He has been with Mitsubishi Electric since 1989 and oversees all U.S. operations for the division.
Kevin Lavallee, Vice President - Lavallee serves as the President and CEO of TK Elevator North America and global COO Field at TK Elevator where he has a history of over 30 years in both the U.S. and Canada with the company.
Jared Radabaugh, Treasurer - Radabaugh is the Global BU Controller at Prysmian Group, where he provides financial, analytical, and decision-making support to the Elevator Escalator business units.
Amy Blankenbiller, Secretary – Blankenbiller is the Executive Director of NEII and leads the staff team to drive the industry's objectives. She brings over 30 years of experience in public relations, government affairs and policy development to her role.

In addition to the officers, returning members of the NEII Board of Directors include:

Paul Bloom, Schindler Elevator Corporation – Bloom is the Chief Operating Officer and Interim Chief Executive Officer at Schindler Elevator Corporation, who brings 29 years of ground-up elevator experience to his role.
Jim Cramer, Otis Worldwide Corp. - Cramer has been with Otis for over 35 years and is currently the President of the Otis Americas region.
Gary Krupp, Fujitec America, Inc. – Krupp organizes and oversees the management of operations, engineering, manufacturing, sales and marketing and service across the United States and Canada as the President of Fujitec America, Inc. Mr. Krupp has over 35 years in the elevator industry and began his career with Fujitec in 1996.
Richard Parvesse, Draka EHC – Parvesse was appointed President of the Prysmian Group’s Elevator and Escalator Business Unit, Draka EHC in April 2022. Parvesse has been with the Prysmian Group since 2001.
Ken Schmid, KONE Americas - Schmid leads KONE Americas as Executive Vice President, also serving as a member of KONE's Executive Board. He has been with KONE in a series of successive leadership roles for over 36 years.

The NEII Board of Directors sets the strategic direction of the association to drive its mission to advance safety and innovation in the building transportation industry throughout North America.

“As the new president of the NEII Board of Directors, I look forward to continuing the work we have started to set some ambitious long-term goals to advance the industry and NEII as an organization," said Erik Zommers, President of NEII. “I have been incredibly involved in NEII for a long time and led its transition to a full-fledged trade association seven years ago. I am honored to continue to serve with this group of recognized leaders as we work to promote safety, drive innovation, and work towards a more inclusive labor force.”

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About NEII

NEII is the premier trade association representing the global leaders in the building transportation industry. Its members install, maintain, and/or manufacture elevators, escalators, moving walks, and other building transportation products. NEII‘s membership includes the six major international companies – Fujitec America, Inc., KONE, Inc., Mitsubishi Electric US, Inc., Otis Elevator Company, Schindler Elevator Corporation, TK Elevator and several other companies across the country. Collectively, the NEII members represent approximately eighty-five percent of the total hours worked within the elevator and escalator industry, employ more than 25,000 people in the U.S. and indirectly support hundreds of thousands of American jobs in affiliate industries.

For more information about NEII, please visit www.neii.org.

Mental Health Awareness Resources

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), construction has one of the highest suicide rates of any industry, with suicide deaths five times greater than all other construction deaths combined. Mental health in the construction industry is an invisible health hazard that the building transportation industry takes very seriously.

Long hours, physically demanding work and high stress in the industry are among the reasons there are higher suicide rates and mental health concerns in the construction industry.

Resources:

Center for Construction Research and Training Suicide Prevention Resources

Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Suicide Prevention Workplace Tools

OSHA: Preventing Suicides

Podcast: Suicide Prevention Awareness for Construction

Suicide Prevention Resource Center