To better help electrical distributors respond to the needs of their customers, each month tED asks electrical contractors to respond to questions concerning their relationships with distributors.
This month we talked to Jeremy Price, owner of Price Electric in Robins, Iowa, and Jared Kredit, co-owner of K2 Electric in Phoenix.
Q: What is your expectation for your business in 2017? What are your growth markets? Are any markets in a decline?
Price: We should grow 5 percent to 10 percent next year. This year has been a little flat, but the past five years has been 10 percent to 15 percent growth annually. The biggest markets that are growing right now in the Cedar Rapids and Eastern Iowa area are residential multifamily and industrial. We have five divisions in our company and we handle almost every sector of service.
Customer service is our strength and we complete our projects in a timely fashion, often finishing in advance of expectations. Our reputation precedes us and we get a lot of referrals and repeat business—this is a key factor in our growth. All electrical service markets in our area are stable or growing, and the contractors I know are positive about the future.
We’ve been hiring 10 to 15 people annually on average and they’re busy. Our best distributors are aware of our growth and are helping out as best they can. They ensure timely and frequent deliveries of materials so that our crews have the right materials when they need it.
Kredit: We hope to increase our business by 10 percent to 20 percent in 2017. We’re seeing a fair amount of investment in K-12 education spending and we do a lot institutional construction projects in the area. The other markets that we’re seeing growth in are commercial/retail and the construction of industrial buildings on speculation. We do a lot of construction work, and the growth of the Phoenix area has been positive for us.
While the past few years have been volatile, 2016 was a banner year for us—it was our largest revenue year—and we hope to repeat this next year. The majority of our work today is based on relationships that we have been developing over the past eight years. Our work ethic is appreciated and we meet all our project deadlines. Securing materials is a major challenge for us, especially with LED systems and smart technology. The big thing for our distributor partners is to provide us with project management services, such as storage and delivery, and we’re currently re-aligning the distributors we work with to maximize our efficiency.
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Do you have a question you would like to see answered by a contractor? Send it to tED Editor Misty Byers at mbyers@naed.org.
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