If you are planning to attend the NECA Convention and Trade Show in Austin, here’s a self-assessment tool to measure your preparedness and make the most of the experience. Think about the brand name of any supermarket you...
By 2030, it’s predicted that there will be a new name for “smart buildings.” They will simply be called “buildings.” By the end of this decade, all the hoopla about the internet of things components in buildings will go away...
From the beginning of our visit to ECSI, a subsidiary of Hunt Electric, Bloomington, Minn., there was no doubt we had landed in the midst of a very busy organization that fully aspires to be, as they describe it, “a team of...
“Who you gonna call?” That unforgettable question from “Ghostbusters” sprung to mind after our stop for coffee with Eichelle Thompson, marketing director at Lemberg Electric Co. Inc. in Brookfield, Wis. Thompson's mission is...
For most electrical contractors, the terms “workplace safety” and “occupational safety” inspire mental images of construction sites. The changing nature of work and home life dictates a need to expand our imagination. Today...
Fifty years after the five-season run of the TV show “Get Smart,” even folks who never saw a single episode of the original spy-spoof series will very likely recognize the silly image of detective Maxwell Smart making a call...
Americans spend more time inside buildings than some whale species spend underwater, according to Rich Corsi, dean of engineering and computer science at Portland State University. Imagine that. According to the Environmental...
Despite the many ways the soft and hard skills that service electricians must possess are so critical to the success of a service-delivery organization, sometimes electrical contractors do precious little to screen candidates...
No one believed we could do it. But we arranged an on-the-job interview with a service and maintenance electrician 100 years from now. When we arrived at the job site, we immediately encountered someone walking by who...
Many electrical contractors believe that having a competitive advantage means always having the lowest bid. However, business experts and academicians believe there’s more to it than pricing. They rate differentiation of...
The second wave of electrification is well underway, and a new era of opportunities in service and maintenance is coming with it. Electrification in the United States did not end when the lights were turned on in the last...
The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly impacted the electrical business in general. You may be among the lucky few able to remain working on a large new construction project. However, you have probably lost traditional service...
A lighting retrofit job completed 139 years ago contains two important reminders for today’s electrical contractors. First, we are going to lay out five new ways to win lighting retrofit work in 2021. 1. Team up with the...
Lisa Sun is the founder and CEO of Gravitas, a New York City-based company that has demonstrably set itself apart in the world of fashion with patented innovations and stylish solutions in women’s apparel. She is a highly...
By the age of 60, you’ve spent 54 years of your life inside buildings. Some of your fondest memories may be of great times outdoors. Nonetheless, researchers tell us that you’ve spent 90% of your life between four walls...
Manufacturers of many heavy-duty, engineered industrial products—such as gas turbines, electric drives, wind turbines and heavy trucks—derive most of their top-line revenues from their factory production, while the sweetest...
We asked a random group of electrical contractors one question: “What do you think the best service electricians all have in common?” It was amazing how strikingly similar their responses were. Before we get to their answers...
Traditionally oriented electrical contractors and highly trained electricians are in jeopardy of being shut out of future opportunities in what has always been a major part of what they do: the installation, service and...
Centuries of discovery, invention and science, achieved by countless generations of individuals with superior genius, great imagination or just plain luck, have advanced the electrical industry to where it is today. But...
Electrical contractors form joint ventures for many reasons: to improve their competitive position to win a contract that they have targeted, for new construction or for service and maintenance. No matter the motivation...
