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Many of their employees were from the
inner city and African Americans. Because this was a
construction business, all of the employees had to have the
aptitude to be able to learn how to perform technical work
as carpenters, plumbers, electricians, etc. Obviously,
their skill sets varied.
In my conversations with my brother,
approximately 30-40 percent of them required special,
focused training. Another thing about these employees was
that they were slightly unemployable. Unfortunately, many
of these employees had similar profiles to those that plague
inner city citizens today, specifically males.
They may have dabbled in recreational
drugs, were suspicious of authoritative figures and may have
had some type of criminal record (and this is the late
1960’s, early 1970’s). Ironically, Ed and Andrew had similar
profiles to their employees, as it relates to some of these
social issues vs the academic/intelligence issues. So their
family and friends strategy, while different than my
fathers, was similar.
They hired ex-felons and ex-drug users
who were family, friends and former classmates. The great
thing about that is that they were able to transform a group
of undervalued, disenfranchised African-American men and
women into well-oiled remodelers and electricians.
They had a short-term, successful run
where they got involved in urban renewal and built or
remodeled a number of residential properties. They were
fortunate to partner with the Minority Business Development
agencies and were pioneers in developing the local Minority
Contractors Association. However, the chickens came home to
roost.
Unfortunately, their human capital
strategy failed as a result of some unfortunate family and
friends’ dynamics. Specifically, my sister asked my brother
to hire her boyfriend. My father didn’t like him because he
didn’t think the boyfriend treated my sister with the
dignity and respect she deserved.
A vote was taken by the operating
leaders of the company, primarily my siblings and their
friends, that resulted in a recommendation to hire the
boyfriend. This decision made my father very unhappy and he
pulled his funding and support of the company. In less than
a year, the company failed.
Ed Jr. left the region to go work with
my Uncle Chuck as a Junior Project Engineer in Phoenix,
Arizona. Around the same time, his partner, Andrew Carter,
unfortunately died in a tragic swimming accident. The other
employees disbanded and found other employment. My sister
Sandra, the first African-American female to become a
licensed electrical contractor in the State of Ohio, and her
husband, Louis Bibbs, started their own electrical
contracting business.
Fast forward to the winter of 1977,
members of my family decided that there should be an
entrepreneurial reunion. Two of my mother’s brothers, Willie
and Chuck, convinced my brother and sister that they should
all reunite and launch a new electrical contracting business
called Consolidated Electrical Contractors and Engineers.
Again, this business was launched with family and friends.
To be continued in Part III -
Entrepreneurship – Who should you partner with or hire?
Entrepreneurship –
Who Should You Partner With or Hire? - Part I |
