Today we’d like to introduce you to Jack Arnold.
Jack, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
18 years ago after graduating high school, I enrolled in a 5-year apprenticeship program through the IBEW. I was following my father’s and brother’s footsteps and became a licensed journeyman electrician. Each year as an apprentice we would get rotated to a different contractor so we would have the ability to see various types of work and experience time on different job sites applying what we would learn in school. Our apprenticeship classes were 2 nights a week during a regular college year and contained lab work where we learned tasks like bending conduit combined with learning electrical theory in the classroom setting.
As an apprentice, the work came to me quickly and I was soon a foreman managing various sized projects from new custom homes to new retail projects like Jewel stores all the way to government work such as library and school projects. There is not too much that I haven’t seen out on the job and in the office. Along the way, I earned a City of Chicago Supervising Electricians license and City of Elgin contractors license. This gives Arnold Electric the ability to work anywhere in the state of Illinois. Shortly after obtaining these licenses my wife Sara and I incorporated Arnold Electric Services, Inc. in 2008.
We literally started the company with no money and no clients. We started going door to door during the worst recession since the Great Depression and built the company from the ground up. We went from a husband and wife teak in an office in an apartment we were renting and using my Scion XB as a work truck to a 3000 square foot warehouse and office, a fleet of vans and trucks and a great team of office staff and technicians. We have built our reputation to be the number one rated service electrical contractor in the City of Chicago.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Initially, when Arnold Electric Services, Inc. started out we wanted to capture all aspects of the industry. Meaning we wanted to go after electrical construction jobs in the commercial and industrial sector that consisted of new work from the ground up or large scale additions and remodel jobs of commercial and industrial buildings as well as residential housing projects and service work… There is such a huge barrier to entry for a new contractor with no money to get into this space. We tried it for a while and were successful in making relationships and have done a handful commercial and industrial projects along with way.
Our biggest issue with that type of work is that we were never in front of the end user. We only had relationships with the construction managers or the general contractors on those jobs. We felt the product we were providing was not what it could be if we could have a direct relationship with the owner of those projects. While noticing the barrier to entry in this portion of work we were also noticing a void that needed to be filled in the residential sector in that there are not enough reliable contractors who work directly with homeowners to perform jobs as small as changing light bulbs or switching out outlets. So we have overcome these challenges in our industry by adapting to what works for our company and how we want to be able to service our clients on the highest level while not sacrificing our work or our integrity.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Arnold Electric Services, Inc. is a residential and light commercial repair, replace and service contractor. We specialize in servicing, repairing and replacing existing electrical systems in homes and businesses. At Arnold Electric Services, Inc. we always put our clients, the electrical code, and safety first. We do jobs as small as providing and replace light bulbs to installing and serving 480 volt systems.
We offer a 5-year warranty on all labor and a 5-year warranty on all parts that we provide and install including light bulbs. We are proud of the work we do and the products we recommend and provide to all of our clients. This combined with our superior communication is what is allowing us to pull away from our competition. We offer 24-hour service and answer the phones 24 hours a day giving us an edge on our competitors as well.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I always enjoyed working with my hands, riding my bike and playing sports. I was always building forts in the woods near our house or helping my dad around the house with projects or tagging along with him on one of his jobs. I am one of 4. I have a twin sister Erin, an older brother Pat and younger sister Bernadette. My twin sister and I would always keep each other company, I always look up to my brother and work hard at leading by example for Bernadette.
As a youth, I enjoyed playing sports. I wrestled, played football, and baseball. In high school, I focused on working, studies and playing football. I actually wanted to be a chef in high school and for the first 4 hours of the day in high school during my Jr and Sr year, I went to a technical campus in Lake County, IL to learn about culinary arts as part of my education and earned credits. I still enjoy cooking to this day but ended up not perusing that line of work.
BMX biking was huge in the neighborhood I grew up in. I’d wake up in the morning during the summer, eat breakfast and be gone until dinner time. There were three wooded areas that had trials and jumps. Each set of jumps was in a different neighborhood and it was almost like a BMX competition when we’d meet up with other kids at their set of jumps and trials. It was a ton of fun.
Pricing:
- Dispatch/Diagnosis of an electrical issue starts our at $89
Contact Info:
- Address: 6575 N. Avondale Suite 100 Chicago, IL 60631
- Website: www.arnoldelectricservices.com
- Phone: 773-647-1120
- Email: office@arnoldelectricchicago.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Arnold-Electric-Services-Inc-271147401061/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/arnold-electric-services-chicago
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