SYCAMORE, ILL. \u2013 <\/b>IDEAL INDUSTRIES, INC. concluded its seventh annual IDEAL National Championship in Tampa, Fla. on Saturday, Nov. 5. Out of 145 electrical trade professionals and apprentices who competed in this year\u2019s Finals, Tom Kennedy from Big Bend, WI, was crowned the professional champion, winning the grand prize of $60,000. Jordan Finfrock from Greenup, KY, took the top spot in the apprentice competition, winning a grand total of $40,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A surprise Teams Competition was announced on the last day of competition. Professionals and apprentice semi-finalists who didn\u2019t advance to the Finals were paired together and competed in a Pro-Am Team competition for one last chance of taking home cash and prizes. Team members Seth Agnew (Linn Creek, MO) and Justin Frick (Rapid City, SD) won the Pro-Am competition and won $10,000 in cash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think everybody who competed can say that the IDEAL National Championship is a great thing for our industry,\u201d said first-time winner Tom Kennedy. \u201cThis is a competition that proves that we know what we\u2019re doing and love doing it. I congratulate everybody who competed and tried to improve. This is awesome!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 2022 IDEAL National Championship Finals included four rounds of competition covering nine intense challenges. Favorites included an EV charger installation, hot tub wiring project, and solar panel install. The 2022 IDEAL National Championship was hosted by Chip Wade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Judging criteria was based on accuracy of work, workmanship, safety, and compliance to the National Electrical Code (NEC), which sets the foundation for electrical safety in residential, commercial and industrial occupancies around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A total of 145 professional and apprentice Qualifying Round winners from the U.S. and Canada advanced to the 2022 National Championship event in Tampa this year. They competed not only for over $180,000 in cash and prizes, but also to realize the distinction of being one of the world’s elite electricians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professional Results<\/u><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u25cf 1st place ($60,000) – Tom Kennedy (Big Bend, WI)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u25cf 2nd place ($25,000) Greg Anliker (Elgin, IL)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u25cf 3rd place ($10,000) – Josh Tower (Feeding Hills, MA)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apprentice Results<\/u><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u25cf 1st Place ($40,000) – Jordan Finfrock (Greenup, KY)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u25cf 2nd Place ($20,000) – Elliot Phillips (Wichita, KS)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u25cf 3rd Place ($10,000) – Luis Sanchez (Chicago, IL)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Team Results<\/u><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u25cf 1st Place ($10,000) – Seth Agnew (Linn Creek, MO) and Justin Frick (Rapid City, SD)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u25cf 2nd Place – ($5,000) Alec Perkins (Norwalk, IA) and Thomas Ladd (Mexico, NY)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 2022 IDEAL National Championship Finals event in Tampa can be rewatched December 9, at 8:00 p.m. EST on CBS Sports Network. Live streams of all the rounds of the 2022 IDEAL National Championship are available to watch on the IDEAL Facebook page (Facebook.com\/IDEALindustries).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Established in 2016, the IDEAL National Championship is designed to celebrate and honor the electrical trade and its hard-working men and women. The competition highlights the professional trades as an exhilarating, rewarding and in-demand career path that provides necessary skills to keep local communities thriving. This effort remains a priority for IDEAL as part of its commitment to support the trade and infrastructure communities overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The manufacturing industry faced a major setback after losing roughly 1.4 million jobs<\/a> at the onset of the pandemic. Since then, the trades industry has struggled to hire entry level and skilled workers alike, and the need for new hires is at an all-time high. Coming out of the pandemic the demand for skilled trades<\/a> have increased between 100% to over 300%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile no job is completely recession-proof, the skilled trades provide better job security than others during an economic downturn. You can make an excellent living in the trades without incurring student debt along with the satisfaction of knowing that you\u2019re contributing something vital to society,\u201d said Carmen Cardillo, VP\/GM IDEAL Electrical, North America. \u201cThe IDEAL National Championship is an exciting competition and a great celebration for Electricians and our way of shining a spotlight on an amazing career path.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Electricians from across U.S. and Canada competed for the title of Top Electrician at the 2022 IDEAL National Championship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":601,"featured_media":"aprimo:213180e25d644583a842b441010b2c5e","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ideal_industries_subtitle":"Electricians From Across U.S. and Canada Competed for Their Share of Over $180,000 in Cash at 2022 IDEAL National Championship","ideal_industries_page_buttons":[],"ideal_industries_color_scheme":"","ideal_hide_featured_image_in_document":false,"featured_image_focal_point_x":0.5,"featured_image_focal_point_y":0.5,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54495],"tags":[],"product_cat":[],"product-application":[],"industry":[],"product-series":[],"class_list":["post-30193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-company-news-announcements"],"yoast_head":"\n