With baby boomers retiring by the thousands, finding enough qualified workers presents a constant challenge. Electric Supply Co. Inc. of Sioux Falls, S.D., has developed several strategies to keep up with demand for skilled workers. 

Finding Qualified Workers

Electric Supply has made itself a familiar presence at career fairs held by technical colleges and area high schools. It also gets the word out about employment opportunities through social media, industry partner referrals and word-of-mouth. In addition, it works with industrial arts programs at local high schools to set students up with paid summer internships. 

“This summer, we had four high schoolers working in our prefab shop,” said Matt Jarding, vice president of operations for Electric Supply. “Working in the prefab shop exposes those individuals to basic materials and methods.” 

Last summer, other high school students learned to dig trenches to install PVC. Some worked with an electrician preparing to pull wire.

Electric Supply also participates in different scholarship programs offering scholarships applicable toward earning an electrician associate degree from Southeast Technical College in Sioux Falls. 

“Some of the scholarships are for a full ride,” Jarding said. “After recipients complete their associate degree, we sponsor them as third-year inside wire apprentices.” 

Jaylen Kemp completed his two-year electrician degree at Southeast Technical College, then entered the Dakotas Area Electrical Apprenticeship program. He now works full-time as a third-year apprentice for Electric Supply.

Beyond these recruitment efforts, the company also direct-hires employees through a NECA-IBEW agreed-to unindentured worker memorandum. 

“We’re fortunate in our market,” Jarding said. “We’ve had leadership from IBEW and NECA that saw we needed new ways of getting people in. We’ve been able to direct-hire for some time now, through an unindentured worker classification agreement.”

That flexibility has helped other electrical contractors in South Dakota fortify their workforces while generating greater market share, Jarding said. 

“For all direct-hire, entry-level positions, we make sure new hires get the chance to see if they enjoy working in the field,” he said. “If they like the work and we see promise, then we invest in their training.” 

Low-voltage Work

Some hires end up pursuing low-voltage/telecommunications work. A lead technician with BICSI certification and five years on the job can earn pay equal to a journeyman. In 1990, an Electric Supply client asked if the company could do telecommunications installations. 

“There wasn’t anyone doing that type of work at the time,” Jarding said. “That’s basically what started the telecom training program for Local 426.” 

Since then, low-voltage/telecom work has come to include network and cable, fire alarm, paging, patient monitoring, security, camera systems, campus-wide distribution of fiber networks and more.

About six years ago, Tyler Bialas came on board as director of low-­voltage systems for Electric Supply. Back then, about 4%–6% of the company’s work was low-voltage. Now it’s 15%, and the company works as a subcontractor doing this work for other contractors, Jarding said. 

“At any given time, we have 10–15 employees working on low-voltage jobs,” Bialas said. “The apprentice program is three years with the Dakotas’ Electrical Apprenticeship. We supplement that with hands-on training and manufacturer certifications, which usually involves computer presentations, but occasionally a manufacturer will send a trainer.”

Low-voltage products come with warranties, so the manufacturers sometimes inspect work to make sure it’s done correctly. 

“It’s all taken very seriously,” Bialas said.

Electric Supply provides OSHA 10 safety training for all new hires. It also pays for low-voltage apprentices to earn BICSI certification at an authorized training facility in Des Moines, Iowa. To qualify for BICSI training, applicants must have 2–3 years of on-the-job experience. Electric Supply has four BICSI-certified techs who lead its low-voltage teams. 

Header image: Electric Supply Co. Inc. foreman Caleb Chedester, left, instructs Jaylen Kemp, a third-year apprentice.

Electric Supply Co. Inc.