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Hiring the right people,
at the right time, and deploying them in the right
functions, at the right place, are vital for any business
organization to succeed. Additionally, selecting what person
and/or organization to partner with is critical as well.
In the previous articles,
Part I, II &III, I discussed how my father, Edward Parker
Sr., operated in the informal underground economy with the
many businesses that he owned and operated, and how my
oldest brother, Edward Parker, Jr., launched businesses with
a similar human capital strategy that was centered on hiring
and partnering with family and friends.
In Part III, I discussed
how Consolidated Electrical Contractors and Engineers (CECE)
was a business that was initially comprised of family
members as partners and employees. I also discussed how that
successful business model led to unprecedented growth that
required the CECE leadership team to move to hire employees
outside of the safety net of family and friends and
eventually become signatory to the local electrical union.
The strategic move proved
to be a poison pill.
CECE was unable to survive
the chaos that was caused from receiving a plethora of poor
employees from the local electrical union, on two sizeable
projects. Specifically, it is a shame that the foreman, a
non-family member on a project, missed key electrical
installations that required coordination with other trades
because he was SLEEPING on the job!! This compelled other
CECE personnel to leave other projects to come correct these
mistakes by chopping up concrete floors and block walls!
That decision to become
signatory not only created a chasm amongst the leadership
team, but it also accelerated the demise of CECE and
resulted in a Chapter 11 filing, reorganization of the
business and split up of the leadership team.
CECE had to turn over
control of several of the projects they had won to the
respective owners, which of course resulted in a huge
financial hit. However, they were able to continue to work
on and complete a wastewater treatment plant in Cridersville,
Ohio for Kirk Brothers, a general contracting business based
in Alvada, Ohio.
That project served as the
incubator and training ground for two key members of a
future business started by Edward M. Parker Jr., called
Parker Construction.
Soon after the
Cridersville project was completed in late 1982, Ed Jr. left
CECE. My sister Sandra and her husband, Louis Bibbs,
remained with the old CECE now reorganized and called simply
Consolidated.
Ed Jr. retreated to
searching for other business ventures. However, he did
re-wire homes now and then with his baby brother and some of
his friends. Then in the winter of 1983 he was asked by one
of the owners of Kirk Brothers to provide an electrical
estimate to construct a small wastewater treatment plant in
Hebron, Ohio.
Well wouldn’t you know,
Kirk Brothers won the contract and offered Ed Jr. the
opportunity to sign on as the electrical subcontractor for
the project. Ed was thrilled! However, there was one small
problem. He no longer had an official company, tools or
employees!!
So what did he do?
He went to a true and
tried method and called on family and friends to join him to
create a company to help build this wastewater treatment
plant! He then recruited one of his good friends from the
neighborhood that he played cards with - Willie Kight.
He also recruited my
younger sister, Edone, who typed over 85 words per minute,
but knew nothing about construction. He asked me if I knew
anyone and I suggested my best friend at that time, Carl
Booker Jr., who was washing cars and towing trucks.
He needed one more person
who had tight electrical wiring and controls skills to join
and round out the team. Oh, he also needed access to some
cash to purchase tools and equipment for the company.
Banks would not touch him
so he had to go with hat in hand to speak with Ed Sr. Ed Sr.
agreed to provide him the seed money and Ed Jr. launched
Parker Construction in January of 1984 with friends and
family … again.
Oh, by the way, that last
person who joined the team with ‘tight’ electrical wiring
and controls skills, learned at Macomber Vocational
Technical High School, is yours truly, aka KP Live back
then!!
This was the first of 14
wastewater treatment plants that Parker Construction wired
in the 1980s using the family and friends human capital
strategy. Again, there was an evil presence lurking in the
background that would eventually change the success
trajectory of Parker Constructions in the early 1990s.
To be continued in Part V
- Entrepreneurship – Who should you partner with or hire?
Entrepreneurship –
Who Should You Partner with or Hire? - Part III
Entrepreneurship –
Who Should You Partner With or Hire? - Part II
Entrepreneurship –
Who Should You Partner With or Hire? - Part I |
