It’s hard to explain what enabled Sullivan & McLaughlin (Boston) to surge from $2 million annual sales in 1991 to $50 million and growing. It can be summed up this way. The people who run the company like each other and their employees; their employees trust them and like them back. READ MORE
Joe Salimando
Freelance Writer
Joe Salimando is a Vienna, Va.-based freelance writer and frequent contributor to ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR. He can be reached at jsali@cris.com.
Articles by Joe Salimando
February 2003
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When it comes to moves, adds and changes, most customers can’t or won’t do what it takes to cut costs. As a result, many VDV contractors are surviving tough times thanks primarily to MACs work. Here’s a quote from Business Communications Review, by Frank Bisbee, a voice-data-video (VDV) industry expert: “The strongest incentive to better cable management is the need to control costs. READ MORE
January 2003
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For every sweltering summer there is a bone-chilling winter. In construction, contractors enjoyed tremendous growth and profitability during the late 1990s and early part of this new century. While it lasted, the ride generated widespread prosperity. However, those levels of growth and profitability couldn't last forever. READ MORE
January 2003
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In reverse actions, also knows as "online auctions," " e-sourcing," and "e-procurement," buyers use the Web to drive prices down. If this concept is new to you, it might sound weird. An auction might be held after a company goes bankrupt and sells off its possessions, including desks and computers. Where does "reverse" come into play? READ MORE
November 2002
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As the Internet progressed from "new" to standard operating procedure, the electrical and VDV construction industry has embraced the Web. Few may be buying online, but many industry people use it. Perhaps you might save time by using the Web to better effect. This column guides you to a few key, hopefully helpful resources--most of them free. READ MORE
October 2002
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The dot-com nuttiness is over. Were there doubt about that, it was confirmed at the A/E/C Systems 2002 show in June in Anaheim, Calif. There were a few dot-coms, but for the most part, exhibitors--and speakers at construction industry sessions--were moving on. That leaves an interesting question: Where to? READ MORE
September 2002
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At June’s AEC Systems event—the biggest annual technology show for architecture, engineering and construction—a presentation focused on the 5 1/2-year design and construction of the Seattle Seahawks’ new football home. Speakers were soaked in prestige: Two from Turner Corp. (largest U.S. general builder) and one from billion-dollar designer Ellerbe Becket. READ MORE
September 2002
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A renewed kind of electricaL contractor has been created—the successful entrepreneur who sold his company into a roll-up and then bought it back. That, and several large utilities that remain important on the contractor scene, is the residue of the 1996-2000 subcontractor roll-up craze. READ MORE
August 2002
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Let’s say there was a place you could go to get the latest information on lighting, including hard-to-find items and maybe even some decent prices. Considering the historic fact that lighting makes up about 25 percent of the dollars electrical contractors spend on the purchase of materials for installation, you’d probably take a look at least. READ MORE