MARATHON, Fla. — Nearly 40 years and over 500 U.S. branches after the company opened its first U.S. branch in 1983, CES is proud to announce the grand opening of its new store in the South Florida region, CES Marathon. City Electric Supply President & CEO Thomas Hartland-Mackie even joined in the celebration.
“My grandfather, Tom Mackie, opened the first U.S. CES branch in South Florida, which makes the opening of the Marathon branch even more meaningful,” said CES President & CEO Thomas Hartland-Mackie. “It is a privilege to carry on the tradition and continue to serve the Florida community.”
Marathon Mayor Luis Gonzalez and Vice Mayor Mark Senmartin were also at the event.
“I’m extremely glad to be welcoming CES to our community,” said Gonzales.
And it couldn’t have come at a better time. Senmartin said Marathon has been experiencing a great level of growth, development, and redevelopment.
“It’s a great opportunity for the city of Marathon to have another outlet to be able to get supplies for our growing construction industry that we have here,” he said. “Having a company like CES here gives all the contractors another option when it comes to getting work done.”
CES Marathon, which is one of 112 CES branches in Florida, is run by a hardworking team member who’s worked his way up to be where he is today.
“I started off as a driver for City Electric Supply. The company gave me all the opportunities and experience that I needed to excel. I worked really hard and worked my way up. And now, I’m running the branch at Marathon,” said Branch Manager Naranjo. “This grand opening means a lot; it’s us letting the community and the whole Florida Keys know that we’re here. We’re excited to provide electrical materials to everyone in the area. We’re here to help.”
CES Co-COO John Gray and CES Regional Manager Mike Bertone couldn’t be happier about the grand opening of CES Marathon.
“We’ve already accomplished a lot with our first location here in the Keys and are looking forward to expanding our network further,” said Gray.
“I have been coming down to the Marathon area for years with my family for vacation. I’ve always wanted to open a CES branch here as we are a family business that fits perfectly into this family community,” said Bertone. “We found the perfect location right on Overseas Highway, and we are very excited to be a part of the Marathon community and to show them what we are all about.”
The grand opening also marked the company’s fourth Make-A-Wish® fundraising event. The recent partnership with Make-A-Wish was made possible through City Electric Supply’s social impact program, CES Cares. As a proud partner of Make-A-Wish, CES supports its goal of granting life-changing wishes to children with critical illnesses, even during COVID-19.
“We have been pursuing new and creative ways to bring the power of a wish to kids because hope can’t wait. By holding fundraising events or asking for donations, you can become a champion for a child who is waiting for their wish to come true,” said LuAnn Bott, the vice president of revenue and partnership services for Make-A-Wish America.
CES is thrilled to share that the Florida branch raised over $2,000 at the grand opening event to help grant fishing-related wishes for children with critical illnesses in the local communities.
“We are excited about our national partnership and want to help many kids’ dreams come true! The Make-A-Wish Foundation has provided us information on a kid that wishes for a fishing boat and sea fishing experiences,” said Bertone. “This is the perfect fit for our Marathon location right here in the Florida Keys! We want to make sure the kid can go fishing whenever he wants. Our goal is to make it happen through this event and raise enough money to make dreams come true!”
“Make-A-Wish has been a very strong partner for our Canadian teams for some time now, and we are looking forward to seeing the same success with our USA branches,” said Co-COO Andrew Dawes. “The level of personal service that our branch teams offer each and every day aside from their day-to-day customer service duties is quite remarkable.”
And it wouldn’t be a local event without the participation of a local celebrity. Captain Don Dingman, the host of “Hook the Future,” donated 100 fishing rods and reels kids’ combos, sponsored by Carolina Skiff, which were handed out to kids that attended.
“I think it’s so great that a company like City Electric Supply is choosing a charity to help kids. For me, it’s just cool to be a part of something that I know is going to be right,” said Dingman. “It’s good people and a good event, and why not? I’ve got extra rods and reels. Because of COVID, we couldn’t do half the boat shows last year.”
And while the new branch in Marathon hopes to establish new relationships within the community, a special friendship has already been formed.
“I’ve known Bertone for more than 10 years now. He’s become like family to me,” said Dingman. “He’s just a great person. Every time he reaches out to me, it’s always for something positive and good. He’s true-blue good.”
The fun-filled day also included raffles for Engel 123 & 80 coolers, assorted promotional buckets, an F4P Bluetooth Job Site Speaker, vendor gift cards and so much more. Milwaukee, TAMCO, Generac, CES Renewable Energies, and Lutron are some of the vendors that were present.
Tagged with City Electric Supply