Every day seems to bring changing and contradictory economic news. But for the IBEW, the most important economic indicator isn’t the Dow Jones Industrial Average. It’s work on the ground. And as we will talk about at this month’s Construction and Maintenance conference, right now there is plenty to go around.

Across North America, we’re seeing a surge of new construction investments. Customers are looking to spend more than $2 trillion on nearly 20,000 projects.

Utilities are looking to spend $1.4 trillion on the grid over the next five years, planning to expand power capacity and add additional battery storage.

And even as the Trump administration canceled renewable projects and pulled back funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, the industry continues to take an all-of-the-above approach to energy — investing in solar, wind, natural gas and nuclear, as well as clean coal — to meet growing customer demand.

For the energy industry, “all of the above” isn’t about politics. It’s about common sense: tapping every available resource and investing in the most advanced energy technologies are how the United States and Canada can maintain their economic edge.

And AI continues to fuel a data center boom, which is creating IBEW work across the continent while forging partnerships with major tech firms like Google and Microsoft to support our training programs to help them meet their workforce demands.

Not every jurisdiction is seeing this level of work. But demand is hotter than ever in many others, and we need to make sure we’re pursuing every opportunity.

Since becoming international president, I have been saying the IBEW’s No. 1 challenge is to target and staff these projects. This moment is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build back market share to levels not seen in five decades.

And that means organizing harder than ever. Last year, we organized more than 27,000 workers — the IBEW’s best year since 1969. And we’re doing even better this year.

Right now, we have more journeyman wiremen, linemen and apprentices than at any time in IBEW history. But meeting this moment means we have to keep breaking records, because we can’t do the work without the workers.

That’s why I have worked to develop new organizing and growth tools to help each district and local meet their targets.

These include four-year apprenticeships, which get workers on the jobsite faster than ever; the 12,000-hour rule, which gives us the ability to organize every worker in the electrical industry; and organizing plans for every district.

If someone is doing electrical work, then they belong in the IBEW. Period.

That’s the only way to ensure that we’ve got the workforce needed to fill jobs and grow market share.

Because if we’re not doing the work, you’d better believe the nonunion competition is.

The labor movement in the United States and Canada is on the move, and the IBEW is leading the way.

Let’s seize this moment and continue to organize as we power a brighter future for every working person.