Robert B. Cordeau
President
C&H Electric, Inc.
Waterbury, Connecticut
After 45 years in business, I still reflect on what my father, our founder, taught me in my first year: the value of developing and sustaining relationships. Taking the time to build strong relationships with everyone from apprentices and project managers to vendors and customers is essential for success. Building long-term relationships requires reflection on your interactions with others, understanding your role in the relationship and communicating effectively.
Through teamwork, education, mentoring and recognizing each employee’s contributions, they feel like a valued part of the team.
These relationships often allow us to exceed our clients’ expectations. We adapt our expertise to our customers’ needs by listening to their requests and requirements, and then identify what is necessary to deliver a successful project.
Our customers value our teamwork and nimbleness. Communicating thankfulness through words, a handshake and a smile is foundational to lasting relationships.
Brendan McAndrews
Chief Operating Officer
McAndrews Glass
Cincinnati
The most important thing that I learned in my first year of business was that I needed to surround myself with good peers—not necessarily coworkers, but industry people who had been around for a while who could help me navigate any pitfalls.
With that, I quickly learned that as a subcontractor, you sell both directions. Yes, we are always selling to the end user, whether it is a general contractor or owner, but we need to sell to our vendors as well. They should feel more like an extension of your company, not just a provider of goods.
This has resulted in great growth for our company, with vendors’ willingness to train us on new products and go the extra mile to win the project with us instead of with one of our competitors.
At the end of the day, there is nothing more important than hard work and access to capital in your first years.
You will also find relief in networking and building peer relationships so you do not feel like you are alone on this journey.
Jane Kaplan Peck
Chief Operating Officer
Kaplan Construction
Brookline, Massachusetts
I quickly learned about the importance of employee retainment. In the earliest days of the company, Kaplan’s former owners (my parents) focused on attracting and retaining younger people. Many of those recruits are still here today as part of our core staff, and have hit milestones of 10, 20 or even 30 years.
Today, I am part of a new generation of ownership, but our hiring goals remain the same: Find fresh faces, fresh ideas and individuals who aspire to make a career with Kaplan. We don’t want “lifer” to have a bad connotation. After all, Kaplan is a family business, and families are all about longevity.
When it comes to hiring leadership positions, we apply this same philosophy while looking for skilled individuals who have the desire to break the company out of the status quo. For these potential hires, it’s not just about doing the job well and blending in; it’s about leading the team to success.
In that regard, we don’t look for those who can assimilate into our existing culture; we look for those who can add to it.
