Report from Colorado: How the service economy is faring

Electrical Apparatus, Jun 1999 by Satrom, Megan E

High-tech growth, changing markets, a skilled labor shortage, and diversification are changing the electromechanical business

DENVER-As the U.S. economy continues to race forward, Colorado's fast-paced computer and telecommunication industries help the land-locked state close the international business gap with port cities, making Colorado's economy one of the nation's leaders. And the high-tech environment shows no signs of fatigue.

Colorado's energized economy is giving electrical apparatus service shops a boost. Shops in and around Denver have a steady flow of business due to the area's high-tech industry, which relies heavily on electrical service companies for support.

With a heavy demand for work and a low unemployment rate, many companies leave routine tasks to outsiders so they can focus their resources on what they do best.

A typical entrepreneur

Bill Thielman Sr., who owns service shops in Boulder and Fort Collins, describes the Colorado market as light industry, commercial, and residential. "Along the mountain front here, business is prospering," he said. "[There are] a lot of high-tech companies, and new companies are starting up and doing very well."

While the market has changed since Thielman first moved to Colorado from Montana in 1958, the key to owning a business remains the same. "Sometimes it's a matter of being in the right place at the right time," said Thielman.

After working for a diesel engine company for 15 years, Thielman realized he could run his own business. He said his boss kept giving him more responsibility until he became a partial owner. "Other guys left. They wouldn't stick with him. So, he put me in charge," Thielman said.

In 1975, when the opportunity arose to buy Boulder Electric Motor Co. in Boulder, Colo., Thielman sold his part of the diesel company and went into business for himself. Two years later he bought Larimer Electric Motor Company in Fort Collins, Colo.

If that opportunity hadn't arrived, Thielman said, "I might not have amounted to much."

Boulder Electric and Larimer Electric have nine and three employees, respectively. The companies have remained small due to their locations, Thielman said. "There just aren't that many big motors running in Boulder or Fort Collins."

For the same reason, both compaCOLORADO SHOPS continued from 40 nies stock and sell a lot of smaller motors. When a customer brings a motor in for repair, Thielman said, "we can fix it, or sell them a new one on the spot."

Getting and keeping employees While he has no complaints about the abundance of business brought by the thriving economy, Thielman joins other small shop owners and operators in one struggle-finding employees and keeping them happy.

Thielman said he offers his employees what he can afford. "I can't compete with larger companies as far as wages and benefits, so I do it a different way," he said. "I've made a conscious effort by being fair and impartial and creating a team environment."

Thielman feels his efforts have been successful because, he said, he's been able to hang on to the employees he has.

According to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, the unemployment rate for counties in the Denver metropolitan area was at 3.2% at the end of 1998, and the state's unemployment rate in March 1999 sat at a low 2.7%. This is good news for job-seekers, but for small shop owners like Stacey Tullar, it makes the job tougher.

"I'm really busy," said Tullar, who owns and operates Tullar Electric in Arvada, Colo. "I'm having a hard time getting the work out and a hard time finding someone to help."

Tullar's father started Tullar Electric in 1955 with only $2,200. "When I was a boy, I'd go to the shop [with my father]," Tullar said. "The dirtier I got, the harder I thought I was working.... I don't know if I ever did anything."

Today, five years after his father died, Tullar brings his son to the shop. His mother, Waiva, helps him with bookkeeping. Tullar has one part-time winder who helps him in the shop, but, Waiva Tullar said, "[The winder] could leave here and get a job anywhere in the U.S. because [winders] are in demand."

Tullar, who generally handles small motors, said keeping employees is a problem. He believes it comes down to money. "There's no way I could compete with the big shops," he said. "Twelve bucks [per hour] is about as high as I can pay."

Although the wages he offers are below average in a high-tech market, Tullar does offer a positive working environment. "I don't push them," he said. "I've worked in shops where they pushed me. Push someone too hard and they'll make mistakes."

Tullar also offers his employees a cash bonus, when he can afford it, as an incentive for employees to stay. "If I can't afford it, I just compliment them," he said. "That doesn't happen in shops very often."

"It's a workers' market," said Dale Schmitz of Bob's Electric Motor Service, Inc., of Denver.

"It's not easy finding people, because there are so many options for them," Schmitz said. "The pay scale is better in the service industry, so people with electrical knowledge become plumbers and electricians."