An electric success For Joe Dickey, quality workers are key
Joe Dickey Electric has grown from a one-man shop to an company employing 109.
By ELISE McKEOWN SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NORTH LIMA — Sputnik was launched. Gunsmoke was a hit TV show, and a father of three young children bought a small electrical contracting business that he wasn’t sure he could afford.
Joe Dickey Jr. bought the one-man, one-truck M.D. Bush Electrical Co. in 1957 for $6,000.
“I was young and energetic and decided I’d like to be in business for myself,” Dickey said. “I really wasn’t financially able to do it, but the banks helped me. At that time, it was really inexpensive, though it seemed like a lot of money to me.”
Fifty years later, the business has grown to employ 109.
Early on, however, Dickey operated the newly-named Joe Dickey Electric out of his home’s basement by himself. His second year in business he was able to hire two employees.
To keep up with the growth of the business, Dickey built a 1,200-square-foot office on Woodworth-Springfield Road in 1960. He added a 4,800-square-foot addition to that building in 1962.
As the business continued to grow, though, Dickey realized that site wasn’t big enough and moved to the company’s current three-acre location on West South Range Road in 1970.
Dickey started as a residential contractor but moved into the commercial and industrial markets as the business flourished. He knew the move would work because of the capabilities of his employees.
Those employees are the secret to his success, Dickey admits.
“I think that we’ve always done quality work and hired the right people,” he said. “The attitude of our people is so great. They’re very sensitive to the customer.”
When he began working with commercial and industrial clients, Dickey didn’t want to abandon his residential customers.
The company’s 24-hour, seven-day-a-week, emergency service policy has served them well. Dickey even answered calls on holidays.
He remembers one Christmas morning when a man called and said his oven quit and his wife needed to cook their turkey dinner. Dickey packed up his truck, took a child along with him, and promised his own wife that he’d be home before their holiday dinner was done. Sure enough, he fixed the man’s stove and made it home.
This attention to customer service inspired customer loyalty. A few months later, Dickey notes, that same man had a business project where an electrician was needed, and he called Dickey.
“At the time, I thought it was just hard work and trying to make a living,” Dickey said. “But today I realize how important I was to all those people.”
As the business grew, so did Dickey’s family. The three children were joined by four more.
“Each one of the youngsters all got involved in the business,” Dickey said. “They all helped with counting parts and stuff.”
As the children have grown, they’ve made Dickey grandfather to 22. And some of those children and one grandson are involved in running Dickey Electric today.
David Dickey serves as president and chief executive. Joe Dickey III is vice president of residential operations. Patty Dickey is safety director and Joe Dickey IV is a journeyman electrician and wireman in the residential division.
Though Joe III and Dave have run the day-to-day operations of the business since 2002, Dickey is chairman and can be found in the office every day.
Together, they have made changes over the years, Dickey said. They’ve become adept at design and build projects, where they learn the customer’s lighting needs and discover the best way to provide them.
“The customer is No. 1,” Dickey said. “We go right to him and try to find out as much information as we can.”