ELECTRICAL SERVICES IN THE TRI-STATE AREA OF PENNSYLVANIA, W. VIRGINIA AND OHIO

CREATIVE AND COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTIONS

Proactive approach to addressing client needs distinguishes Tri State Electric, Inc.

Since 2011, Tri State Electric, Inc. has installed lights on the buildings surrounding Pittsburgh’s Market Square as part of this city’s BNY Mellon Season of Lights. This annual holiday celebration begins in late November and lasts through the first week of January each year.

When Charles E. Kennedy Sr. (Chuck) founded Tri State Electric, Inc. (Tri State) in 2008, the company name aptly described its regional reach. Tri State initially did business in its home state of Pennsylvania, plus West Virginia and Ohio.

“Then our clientele—Gabriel Brothers, now Gabe’s, in particular—asked us to get licensed in seven additional states: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Delaware and Kentucky,” Chuck says. Tri State now provides electrical contracting services throughout all 10 states, including installing, repairing and upgrading electrical, low-voltage electronic, energy management and lighting systems, troubleshooting problems and providing expert advice.

Family Priorities

Chuck serves as President, but he is quick to point out that he’s had help growing the company, especially from his wife, Robyn Kennedy. “Robyn has been the backbone for everything,” he says. “She manages our licensing information and is also our comptroller. She was behind me 100 percent when I decided to start my own company. She’s always said, ‘Just do what you need to do, and we’ll be fine.’”

This faith proved important when two family emergencies arose in the early 2000s. Chuck owned a different electrical company at the time.

“We were doing all the electrical contracting for McDonald’s restaurants throughout Pittsburgh,” he says. “Then my father became very ill and had to have a quadruple bypass. He ran a mortgage business in Las Vegas, and asked if I could come out and help him run this while he recovered. Robyn’s mom was sick at that time, too. So, we decided to move to Las Vegas.”

Five years later, when his father was better, Chuck and his family returned to Pennsylvania, and he opened shop in Belle Vernon. “I couldn’t wait to get back to the electrical business,” he says. “It was like I’d never left. I was able to land on my feet and keep on moving.”

This was due, in large part, to how happy his former clients were to have him back.

“I was doing business with Chuck when I worked for Gabriel Brothers—before he left for Las Vegas,” says Andy Berdar, now a project manager for Tri State Design & Consulting. “It was very honorable for him to take care of his father. Still, I was anxious to work with him when he returned. He is extremely knowledgeable in all facets of electrical work. He’s one of the highest respected professionals I’ve known.”

Well-Qualified Staff

The high standards Chuck sets for himself naturally influence his staffing decisions. Tri State has nine employees now but staffed up to 40 in 2017, when it had nine retail stores to complete for Gabe’s between June and October.

“The project schedule was 12 weeks, but we only had an eight-week window to finish our work at each store because the client started moving things in after that,” Chuck says. “We’ve never missed an opening date.”

Achieving such rigorous project goals means that Tri State’s core group of employees must be well trained, knowledgeable and experienced.

“I insist that employees get their journeyman’s license when they come to work for me,” Chuck explains. “This way I know that I’m sending qualified people out to each job. I don’t have to directly supervise my electricians’ work because they have the knowledge, experience and training needed to work with electricity.”

Troubleshooting

Tri State’s electricians like to help when people have problems with electrical and lighting systems. Chuck says clients such as Chastity Everly, Property Management Coordinator for Gabe’s, often call him whenever an issue arises related to electrical, emergency medical services (EMS) or lighting systems.

In fact, she recently called Tri State when an exhaust fan wasn’t working in a store’s bathroom. He sent Justin Weasenforth, the firm’s service manager, to Ohio to troubleshoot. “He figured out that the problem was in the HVAC system,” Chuck explains. “He knew to climb up on the roof and check the motor to make sure the fan had power. It didn’t. So, he started tracing the conduit back and so on. He learned there had been a power outage about two weeks earlier. The exhaust fan runs on a timer and its time slot was off. He adjusted this and fixed the problem.”

Of course, Tri State prefers to prevent problems from occurring in the first place. While working on a project at the AMETEK Specialty Metal Products plant in Eighty Four, Pennsylvania, Chuck found a way to improve the electrical system design and to save his client some money.

“AMETEK wanted to start making stainless-steel spray paint,” he says. “The company’s engineer designed an explosion-proof room for this and put a special electrical panel in it—one that didn’t allow sparks to escape because these could ignite the fumes and blow the whole place up. That panel cost $20,000.”

Chuck suggested installing a standard panel outside of the explosion-proof room instead. “I told the engineer if we did this and sealed the openings where the pipes went through the walls, we could save AMETEK 15 grand. He liked the idea. We wound up designing and building the electrical system for the entire plant as we went.”

Andy, with Tri State Design & Consulting, says Chuck’s company has also helped him in various design-build situations. “The standard is to hire an electrical engineer who draws up what you want, and then you put it out for bid,” Andy says. “Often, when I work with Chuck, we brainstorm the most cost-effective way to accomplish something in the field. Then he works hand in hand with the electrical engineer to make sure that the plans are drawn to show this.”

Innovating and Advising

Chuck continually strives to make Tri State a one-stop electrical and lighting shop for clients, who often ask for his expert advice.

“One of my clients owns a strip mall in Washington, Pennsylvania,” he says. “When a discount store broke its lease, he was having difficulty finding a new tenant for the vacant, 10,000-square-foot space. He asked what I recommended.” Chuck suggested that the large space be split into four sections, each with its own electrical service. He gave the client a quote for electrical work and arranged for a quote for HVAC and plumbing. The client now has reliable information on which to base a decision.

Chuck has invested in bucket trucks and other specialized equipment that have helped Tri State build on its lighting installation expertise to offer commercial lighting maintenance and retrofit services.

To help clients dispose of T8 fluorescent bulbs properly, Chuck did some research and found an inexpensive solution. “I found a company that would pick these up if you packed them in a box,” Chuck says. “It was ridiculous how much they charged. So, I went a step further and found a lamp disposal system called a ‘bulb eater.’ It sits on top of a 55-gallon drum and will crush 1,200 4-foot T8 bulbs, then safely store these for transport.” The system includes a gasket and HEPA filter to prevent mercury from escaping. After the bulbs are crushed, a disposal company picks up the barrel. What would normally cost a customer about $1,000 costs about $450 instead, Chuck says.

Jim Barger, property manager for West Place Real Estate Services, says he values how proactive, thorough and reliable Tri State is. “I have worked with Chuck for about 25 years on retail store and shopping center projects,” he says. “Tri State has done everything from re-lamping lights in parking lots to changing these over to LEDs. If Chuck is out working on a job and he discovers another issue, he’ll let us know and make sure it gets taken care of while he’s there.”



-- Quoted from The Blue Book Network, article by Heather Beal