Page 26 - BusinessWest June 9, 2021

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only one to one and a half are going to make it past five years,” he went on. “So there’s a big-time shortage, and it’s going to get worse and worse.”
As one way to counter that trend, “I have lon- ger-term goals of creating more education within our company,” he explained. “I’d like to bring a sheet-metal school in house, not necessarily from us, but probably third-party, using our facility; that’s going to help attract some people.”
“When a customer calls, we know what they have already, and we know the right tech to send to the right job.”
Meanwhile, “we have ads out on different internet platforms, and we’re trying to recruit internally too. Everyone who works with us knows we’re looking for at least one or two more service techs on top of other positions as well. We have been hiring — four people in the past month and a half — so we’re definitely growing, and we’re on a trajectory of more growth as well.”
Investments in the Future
One key to achieving that growth, Cernak said, is not being afraid to invest in the kinds of things that will attract top talent.
“I’ve got an eye for talent — and I’m not afraid to hire the best and pay for the best, that’s for sure,” he told BusinessWest. “I provide the best tools, the best training, we have new, well-
equipped trucks, and we’re working on getting even more trucks. So all our peo- ple have the right tools, the right trucks, and the right infrastructure to do their jobs.”
In addition, “I’ve invest- ed heavily into software and IT systems to organize how we do our work and how we bill for our work and how we store data
and how we access data,
which is a huge part of the
industry that people gen-
erally overlook,” he went
on. “We’re not fumbling
through file cabinets to
find the customer’s history.
With a couple clicks, we’re
there. Same thing with our
guys in the field — they
have access via tablet or
smartphone to access any of our customers’ his- tory. When a customer calls, we know what they have already, and we know the right tech to send to the right job.”
What it adds up to is efficiency, which both employees and customers appreciate, Cernak said. “We’re very good in the service department, dispatching, getting people there. We have quite a backlog sometimes, but we’re also very good at prioritizing emergencies.”
Scott Cernak said his company is growing and hiring, even though his industry is challenged by a slow pipeline of young talent entering the field.
— at the kind of success his mentor, Jim Moran, enjoyed for more than four decades. It’s why, when he saw an opportunity to build upon his experience and set out on his own, he took it.
“Sometimes,” he said, “you’ve got to go with your gut and know what’s right and do it.” u
We Built That.
Creating efficient systems and investing in Joseph Bednar can be reached at better resources may not bring an immediate [email protected] payback, he added, but he’s looking long-term
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Healthcare Engineering
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26 JUNE 9, 2021
CONSTRUCTION
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