Emerging Technology Apprenticeships Announces Three Key Leaders as its Board of Directors
Emerging Technology Apprenticeships, a non-profit school operating a nationally registered and accredited program that attracts, develops, and certifies new people for the OT jobs critical to smart infrastructure, announces board of director members.
Joining ETA as Chairman of the Board is Automation Strategy & Performance founder and president Melissa Boutwell. Also joining the organization on the board of directors are industry leaders, Rick LeBlanc and Nichelle Grant.
Boutwell, LeBlanc, and Grant all have storied careers in the smart infrastructure industry.
Grant currently leads diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives for Siemens USA and serves on the HR Network Exchange and the Manufacturing Alliance Advisory Board.
Grant's commitment to driving diversity, equity, and inclusion has been a catalyst for growth and innovation for her employers, as employee advocacy and mentorship have been cornerstones of her 31 years of smart infrastructure experience. She has developed go-to-market strategies, focused on customer experience, and driven operational excellence with automation industry teams during her career.
“The creation of ETA as a formal school for our industry now is a strong step to help the critical infrastructure sector develop and find workforce talent that prepares us for the future,” Grant says. “I’m proud to serve as a board member and advisor to help guide outreach to a new labor force that is heavily needed by companies throughout the world.”
LeBlanc is a business development consultant and operating partner for Huron Capital’s commercial and industrial division.
He previously served 20 years at Siemens AG in various roles and subsidiaries. Most recently, with Siemens Building Technologies, Rick served as division president responsible for the Building Automation and HVAC Products Divisions. While at Siemens, Rick led industry innovations in DDC technology and wireless controls.
He has been a president or CEO of seven companies in different industries and has served on several boards and industry trade associations.
“I hope to contribute to ETA’s growing success in attracting new candidates to our industry to help fill the thousands of open positions integrators, engineering consulting firms, and building operators are facing with the rapid expansion of smart critical infrastructure systems,” LeBlanc says. “The apprenticeships ETA operates are significantly needed by companies throughout the world.”
“One of the greatest threats to the smart infrastructure industry is finding career seekers who can come into our industry and find new opportunities here,” Boutwell says. “The building automation systems industry is competing with every other critical infrastructure sector for talent that can design and manage automation systems, as well as protect them from threat of cyber-attacks. ETA’s mission is one I feel is so needed in the BAS industry to upskill, attract and train the new lifeblood of talent we need.”
Boutwell founded Automation Strategy & Performance in 2018 after a 30-year career in the automation industry as an operational leader, systems integrator, owners’ representative, and college professor. ASP is a strategic workforce solutions partner for employers in the smart infrastructure sector of the automation industry.
According to Boutwell, ASP solves the top five workforce problems facing employers in critical infrastructure, the top one being upskilling.
To learn more about ETA, representatives will be available at booth C5933 at the AHR expo.
