CISCO Acknowledges Two Individuals, Public Body with Honors
February 12, 2025
CISCO’s 2024 Construction Advocate of the Year
BURR RIDGE – As part of CISCO’s Project of the Year program, CISCO’s Executive Board acknowledges outstanding achievements for individual awards for 2024’s Construction Advocate of the Year, Educator of the Year and Public Body of the Year. This year, Bill Heffernan, Kevin Walters and the City of Evanston, respectively, were selected for theses prestigious honors.
As co-founder of ScreenSafe, Bill Heffernan has devoted his life to improving workplace safety and workers’ lives by implementing drug-free workplace testing programs. As a licensed counselor, Heffernan is a leading expert in Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) and workplace safety.
For more than 20 years, ScreenSafe has worked side-by-side with businesses in every industry throughout the country, to support creating and maintaining safe, drug-free workplaces. Much of that work has been alongside organized Labor and signatory contractors to connect services, counseling, life balances and lifelines to Union members struggling with stress, substance abuse, depression and other challenges.
“Bill shares information, but he neither expects, and he rarely receives, any acknowledgement for help he’s provided,” said Plumbing Contractors Association of Greater Chicago Executive Director SJ Peters, who is also a CISCO Executive Board Officer, while he introduced Heffernan at CISCO’s event.
Peters reminded attendees that businesses have become so familiar with ScreenSafe’s drug testing programs that it can be easily overlooked how easy and efficient ScreenSafe’s system works. “These programs work because they have been planned out well. Talented and skilled professionals continue to make it happen with little fanfare. Bill a key component in creating a crucial and relied upon resource that we can comfortably trust,” Peters explained.
Many in attendance at CISCO’s event have attended a seminar or class instructed by Heffernan, or contacted ScreenSafe with a referral or to ask questions. If this happened, Peters said he felt confident no one was left disappointed. “Bill is always here to quietly, patiently and consistently answer your call, and that is why today’s honor is a way of saying, ‘Thank you’ to Bill for all he’s done and continues to do,” Peters added.
While accepting his award, Heffernan recounted a story that has always reminded him that although ScreenSafe’s primary purpose is workplace safety, it also has a profoundly positive impact on many people’s lives.
He recalled a man whose intravenous drug use resulted in a debilitating illness, and he wasn’t expected to live much longer. His many non-negative results in his Union program required evaluation and treatment, a path which led him from active addiction to recovery. The man said through ScreenSafe’s programs and caring persistence, he reconnected with his wife, and rebuilt a loving relationship with his children, from whom he had been estranged.
Addressing CISCO, Heffernan said, “I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for this recognition. It means a great deal to me.
Death by suicide within the construction industry 2.5 x greater than it is for the general population, a statistic that makes Heffernan stress the importance of more work to do. “Ask your assistance programs to provide training – including mental health first aid. Learn about suicide prevention and create a culture that protects and promotes safety,” Heffernan said.
CISCO’s 2024 Educator of the Year
Chicago Hope Academy on Chicago’s West Side is highlighting careers in the Union trades with its Trades Pathway, taught by Career and Technical Science (CTS) instructor Kevin Walters. He teaches basic requirements of general building construction, and prepares students to enter an electrical Union Apprenticeship to apply their learned knowledge and further their skillset to become journeyman Electricians. This effort has earned Walters CISCO’s 2024 Educator of the Year accolades.
Walters is an experienced Union electrician with more than 20 years of experience in residential, industrial, and commercial electrical installations, maintenance, and repair. He has a proven track record of successful projects and various infrastructures with a commitment to safety and efficiency. His goal at Chicago Hope Academy is to prepare students for a registered Apprenticeship program by offering structured Pre-Apprenticeship training.
Walters said it is an honor sharing his knowledge with students who have never heard of the Union Trades, and to share with them the importance of a possessing a skill set. “A lot of students are interested in philosophy or playing a sport. But I try to instill in them that a skill set is something that’s going to be with you for a lifetime,” Walters explained.
Chicago Hope Academy has launched its trades program in partnership with the Operating Engineers, Laborers and Electricians. With hands-on learning experiences, Walters aims to dissuade students from believing a successful and meaningful career requires a college degree. Eighty Chicago Hope Academy freshmen took the course in 2024. As of January 2025, 95 juniors and seniors are currently enrolled in the class.
Walters believes if students can work with tools and projects at an early age, they will be more confident in pursuing successful careers in the Union Trades. “By exposing them to the Trades, my hope is they come away from the classroom confident in using tools for hands-on projects,” he said.
CISCO’s 2024 Public Body of the Year
When it comes to making tough decisions, City of Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss meets those decisions head on, which is why the CISCO Executive Board selected the City of Evanston as its 2024 Public Body of the Year. The bold action Biss took in casting the deciding vote in 2024 for the construction of the new $840 million Ryan Field is tangible proof. The stadium is slated to open in 2026 and will be the largest stadium project in college football history. CISCO Executive Director Dan Allen reminded guests that no taxpayer money will be used in construction of the Ryan Field, a model similar to organized Labor’s JATC training.
“Mayor Dan Biss understands the value Union partnerships provides to taxpayers: on time, on budget, high quality, and middle-class careers for his community and beyond. He also has been supportive in the efforts to bring a much-needed Responsible Bidder Ordinance (RBO) to Evanston,” Allen explained.
During public comment hearings, Allen attended several late-night sessions regarding Ryan Field to express CISCO’s support. “Mayor Biss suspended the time curfew, allowing every voice be respectfully heard past midnight,” Allen reported. “Biss never ducked responsibility, instead, he heard everyone, providing full transparency.”
“Educators can educate, and JCTC instructors can train thousands of trades men and women, but we rely on elected officials who value signatory contractors and skilled Union trade workforce partnerships to create middle-class careers. Mayor Biss is that partner,” Allen said.
After accepting the award on behalf of the City of Evanston, Biss said he feels two things brought him to the moment he accepted the award.
“First of all, I think our communities ought to grow. And second, I think that when our communities grow, we ought to do it with the dignity, and security, and career opportunities that comes with Union jobs,” Biss said to applause.
