Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local #96

Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local #96

IBEW Local 96 operates as a defined-benefit pension fund for union electricians in central Massachusetts, co-sponsored by the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) Central Massachusetts Chapter. Under Business Manager James A. Arthur and President David C. Martinelli, the plan runs a concentrated buyout strategy — deploying capital directly rather than through layers of intermediaries. The fund's real estate portfolio includes its 242 Mill Street union hall in Worcester, a commercial asset it self-manages alongside other operational properties in the region. The pension allocates across buyout structures and direct real estate, with a footprint concentrated in the Worcester-to-Boston corridor. While the plan does not publicly disclose individual portfolio companies, its Taft-Hartley governance ties it to local electrical contracting and infrastructure projects — the same ecosystem its members build. The fund participates in the broader Massachusetts building-trades investment community through affiliations with the Central Mass AFL-CIO and the Massachusetts Building Trades Council. Its investment posture favors tangible assets and private credit strategies that align with multi-employer pension liability profiles. The fund maintains lean operations run through the union's Worcester headquarters. Its business partnerships with NECA and its JATC electrical training program create an integrated labor-capital structure where pension assets support the same regional construction economy that employs its members. The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce membership places the plan's governance within the city's business leadership. Through Worcester Green Corps and the Worcester Regional Food Hub, the local extends its capital deployment philosophy into community infrastructure — workforce development and food-system real assets that complement rather than compete with its pension mandate. Unlike public plans, IBEW Local 96's Taft-Hartley structure ties investment governance directly to collective bargaining. Contributions are negotiated between labor and management, creating a built-in discipline around return targets: the plan must meet actuarial assumptions without taxpayer backstops. That architecture — a jointly trusteed fund deploying buyout and real-asset strategies within the same region where its members live and work — makes it structurally distinct from the endowment-led limited-partner model that dominates institutional investing in the Northeast.