IBEW Local 71 (Southern Ohio) Contractor Flourishes from Small Beginnings

Back to: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041129/BUSINESS03/411290329 Article published November 29, 2004

Utility contractor sees high-voltage results
Perrysburg-based firm is 3rd largest in region

Photo
Stanley and Kathryn Chlebowski are co-owners of U.S. Utility Contractor Co. and Reliance Rental & Leasing Co., both of which are headquartered in Perrysburg.
( THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH )


By JON CHAVEZ
BLADE BUSINESS WRITER

When he was a teenager, Stan Chlebowski was sure of two things: he wanted a secure job one day and working at a factory job was boring.

So, he opted for a job with more sizzle. He became a "high voltage" man, building power lines for a national electrical contractor, Myr Group Inc. of Chicago.

The move suited him well because two decades later Mr. Chlebowski and his wife, Kathryn, are co-owners of U.S. Utility Contractor Co. The Perrysburg-based electrical and telecommunications contractor has six offices in four states, 345 employees, and $30 million in sales in 2004, he said.

Along with a second firm, Reliance Rental & Leasing Co., which owns a fleet of more than 300 cranes, aerial bucket trucks, and other heavy equipment, the couple has succeeded way beyond even their own expectations.

Added Mr. Chlebowski: "I'm still just having fun."

"We said when we hit $3 million in sales we were going to take it to easy," he said. "But then sales hit $5 million, and the next thing we knew we were at $8 million. We said, 'Let's see if we can reach $10 million,' but then we were heading towards $20 million."

U.S. Utility, which began in 1989, does a lot right now. One of the three largest electrical contractors in the region, the company's bread and butter is installing and hooking up electrical poles, having wired or connected thousands of miles of voltage lines for utilities from Ohio to the East Coast and to the southeast United States.

Over a third of its workers have been in Florida for three months, helping to repair hurricane damage there.

Locally, the firm is the largest local electrical contractor working on the Maumee River Crossing project, charged with installing 18 miles of plastic pipes, 130 miles of wiring, and 900 permanent lights.

But the company also handles fiber optic and regular phone line installation and has worked for 10 major telecom firms.

This month, SBC Communications Inc. hired it to remove 1.3 million feet of unused lines in Ohio over a six-week period. The job will be finished early, Mr. Chlebowski said.

"Low price really kinds of drives our market, but [U.S. Utility] is also very capable," said Vince Strazzo, vice president of operations at Cleveland-based Great Lakes Construction Co., a general contractor. It has hired the Perrysburg firm to install heavy-electrical rail-transit lines and towers in Cleveland and to relocate electric cables on a bridge there.

"We've had a long relationship with them. They're a good firm," Mr. Strazzo said.

Mr. Chlebowski said timing and opportunity are how his company grew so large. But the couple never would have begun a business if both had not been savvy about electrical contracting.

In the 1980s, they worked for an area contractor that since has gone out of business. Mr. Chlebowski was a supervisor; Mrs. Chlebowski unofficially was an office problem solver whom supervisors sought for advice.

After he finished a job in Maryland in 1989, officials at Baltimore Gas & Electric suggested that Mr. Chlebowski start his own firm. He said he'd think it over. He did, and they gave him a contract.

The couple started Reliance Rental in 1984 and owned a small crane and two other pieces of equipment. They sold all three for $35,000, using the cash to start U.S. Utility and working out of their basement.

The thought of bankruptcy scared them, they said, but Doris Richards, a bookkeeper at the previous firm, had taught them fiscal prudence.

And from his days as a supervisor, Mr. Chlebowski said he knew to stress safety and quality work.

"There are times we refuse a job if we know we can't handle it," he said.

Mrs. Chlebowski, who is a licensed electrical contractor, is president of the company. She got to know the business by following her husband to job sites for 11 years.

As co-owners the two make decisions equally.

Small Business Profile is a weekly feature on local companies. To be considered, send information about your company to Small Business Profiles, Business News, The Blade, P.O. Box 921, Toledo, Ohio 43697-0921.

Contact Jon Chavez at: jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.

IBEW Local 53 (Kansas City) VOLUNTEERS trim back trees for patriotic display

Clearing the way for the flags to fly
Sunday, November 28, 2004
(Photo)
PAR Electric, which provided the tools and equipment, and IBEW Local 53, which provided the manpower, teamed up with Judy Knowles to trim the branches overhanging some of the utility poles along Austin Boulevard in Nevada on Friday. Work went quickly thanks to fair weather that day. The heavy growth of branches made it hard or impossible for Knowles, known as the Flag Lady, to get the United States and POW/MIA flags installed on the poles. Larry Steuben and Ronnie McGlade worked Friday to get the poles ready for Knowles and her crew to install the flags. "I couldn't do this without all of the people who help, Knowles said.
From the Nevada Daily Mail

IBEW Local 429 (Nashville) Recognized for Partnering with WorkForce Essentials and Nashville Community College

Nashville Electrical Joint Apprenticeship & Training Committee received a 2004 Partner of the Year Award during the annual Customer and Partner Awards Luncheon of WorkForce Essentials. Individuals and businesses that participate in sponsored programs of WorkForce Essentials are recognized for outstanding achievement. The NEJATC program was recognized for its apprenticeship training programs and partnerships with Humphreys County Board of Education, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Nashville Community College (Humphreys County Center) and WorkForce Essentials/North Tennessee Workforce Board.

Local 449 (Pocatello, ID) collects for the less fortunate

IBEW Local 449/NECA Holiday Drop-off Trailers November 27, 2004 - December 18, 2004 The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local # 449 and the National Electrical Contractors Association is again helping less fortunate families in our area this holiday season. The IBEW/NECA is collecting your nearly new coats, gently used household items, blankets and new toys and canned goods at their gift trailer. Come enjoy a Free cup of hot chocolate or coffee on us and drop off your items. The IBEC/NECA trailers will be at the following locations: Sat. Nov. 27th - Rexburg Albertsons, 490 N 2nd E...Sat. Dec. 4th - Idaho Falls Albertsons, 590 E. 17th Street...Sat. Dec. 11th - Blackfoot Albertsons, 1295 Parkway Blvd...Sat. Dec. 18th - Pocatello Albertsons, 330 E. Benton. Hours for each location are 10am to 6pm. For more information, please call Laurie at 357-5320.

IBEW Local 481 (Indianapolis) Collects Holiday Cards for the troops

Thank The Troops By Sending A Letter

(Indianapolis -- November 28, 2004) If you want to thank the troops overseas, there's a new way to do it starting monday.

The same people who brought us the Circle of Lights Celebration downtown are putting together an effort to get thank you cards in the hands of to U.S. troops.

Nanci Fields of Quality Connection says their goal is to send 25,000 thank you cards to troops overseas. Every Monday they will encourage folks to come down to the circle right in front of Emmis and where there will be a drop box from 11am to 1. There will also be a drop box at the IBEW office, and people can come by anytime of the day and drop those off between now and December 13th. The IBEW office is at 1828 North Meridian.

Blank cards will be available in the lobby of the Emmis building on Mondays around the lunch hour. All cards will be collected by December 17th and then shipped overseas.