Happy Earth Day 2024! As many of you know, my professional career started with a focus on environmental and energy policy issues when I was a congressional liaison at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Washington, D.C. While at EPA, I managed toxic substances, Alaska-specific challenges, the Kuwaiti oil fires, and emergency response federal policy efforts. I then went to the National Association of Homebuilders with a position as Legislative Director for environmental issues and continued working on these important matters. And since, throughout my career, I have continued ..read more

A new year can mean a new start, depending on how you view the change in calendar year. For me, the new year is time to review and refresh activities in both our personal and professional lives as needed. And after reviewing the NEII blog series, we decided our blog needed a refreshed identity. POINT/BLANK is now the name of my official blog and for those who know me, it fits me perfectly. I tell it like it is. This approach has served me well throughout my career and during my tenure at NEII, even if it hasn’t always been easy to discuss difficult issues. For the last 100+ years, NEII’s ..read more

When an elevator or escalator breaks down or is out of service, who’s to blame? With misinformation everywhere, it’s time to separate fact from fiction. By Amy J. Blankenbiller, Executive Director, National Elevator Industry, Inc. Fun fact #1: There are more than 1 million elevators and escalators between the U.S. and Canada that make more than 20 billion trips every year. Fun fact #2: Building transportation systems are the safest form of public transportation in the world, and they are also the most used. With the vast number of miles ridden annually, it is only natural that regular ..read more

TOPEKA, KS (June 26, 2023) – National Elevator Industry, Inc. (NEII), the premier national trade association providing advocacy, codes, safety expertise, and industry research for the elevator and escalator industry, in partnership with the National Elevator Industry Educational Program (NEIEP), participated in the SkillsUSA Techspo Trade Show, which was held June 20-22, 2023, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. The elevator industry leaders co-sponsored a booth with hands-on simulations to help students visualize a day on the job as an elevator and escalator technician ..read more

Modern elevator emergency communications address an important industry challenge – communication during entrapments for visual-, hearing- and speech-impaired passengers  By Amy J. Blankenbiller, Executive Director, National Elevator Industry, Inc. The elevator industry has numerous processes and procedures in place to ensure a speedy and safe resolution to entrapments. ” Elevator emergency communications systems have been around since the 1950’s; however, there have been several changes and improvements along the way.  Every elevator built today is equipped with a means to co ..read more

NEII celebrates the commitment of its members and industry to protect the environment on Earth Day and every day. By Amy Blankenbiller, Executive Director, National Elevator Industry, Inc. The year 1970 had no shortage of drama. The Beatles broke up. There was the Apollo 13 non-moon-landing mission. And there was the invasion of Cambodia that led to fatal student protests. The decade that gave us disco and the Brady Bunch got off to a rocky start to say the least. But one U.S. Senator was doing something positive and taking a small but significant step in a fight very few people at the ti ..read more

NEII carries on the work of its predecessors and plays a key role in the development of model safety codes By Amy Blankenbiller, Executive Director, National Elevator Industry, Inc.    On May 25, 1914, the Elevator Manufacturers Association (EMA), a predecessor to NEII, met for the first time to begin development of a U.S. elevator safety code.  Only three years later, The Uniform Regulations for the Construction and Installation of Passenger and Freight Elevators were published in 1917. EMA was also a key contributor to the first American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASM ..read more

Working to advance DEI efforts within the building transportation industry By Amy Blankenbiller, Executive Director, National Elevator Industry, Inc. According to a recent article on CNBC, for the first time since 2017, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) progress in the workplace stalled in 2022. I am happy to report that for the elevator industry, however, 2022 was a year of DEI promise. DEI has been a NEII priority for several years. It was clear that diversity within the building trades needed to improve and that progress could be made to ensure that all workers are treated fair ..read more

From the halls of our nation's capital to the elevator industry, how I went from surviving to thriving in a male-dominated world. By Amy J. Blankenbiller, Executive Director, National Elevator Industry, Inc. When most children grow up, they want to be like their parents. That was certainly the case for my sisters, who went on to become a teacher and architect like my mom and dad. But not me. I wanted to be like… my neighbor. She was a judge and had been one of only a few women in her law school class. She was also politically connected and was an advocate for various issues. She helped me ..read more

[Originally published in Building Operating Management; May 15, 2019] Every time we turn on the news we see the devastation caused by natural disasters, whether it is an earthquake, blizzard, hurricane, or other extreme weather event. Sometimes, building managers will know far in advance that a threat is heading their way; but other times, as was the case in the recent tornado that hit parts of Alabama and Georgia, ten minutes is all the warning they received. In either case, preparation, training and practice can be the difference between life and death for building occupants. Is your f ..read more