The WireNut
Colorado Springs
(719) 623-2935
Denver
(303) 972-5158
Pueblo
(719) 623-2935
719-314-0536 Fax
service@theretoday.com
Bob
Urban grew up on a farm outside the small town of Bison, KS -
population 235. He began his electrical career in 1972. After just 4
years as an electrician he obtained a Master's electrical license and
started Urban Electric in 1977, out of his home in Great Bend, KS. For
the first few years Bob ran all service calls himself out of a 76 Ford
truck. At night he performed all of the bidding and estimating on
projects, both large and small. Urban Electric continually grew over
several years until one day Bob decided he wanted to relocate to his
birth state of Colorado. "There's nothing not to love about Colorado",
stated Bob, "I fell in love with the state the first time I saw it."
So, in 1987 Urban Electric relocated to Colorado. By 1990, Urban
Electric began to focus on industrial projects such as water treatment
plants and less on commercial and residential projects. However,
throughout his career he continually noticed that electrical contractors
considered working with homeowners a thing of last resort, something
they would do only to keep their electricians employed when they were
out of construction work or were in-between construction projects.
"Contractors would send construction workers into customers' homes
in-between jobs; they still do." Bob says. "Construction electricians
don't have the necessary training or mentality for this. They're used
to heavy physical work, not finish work. You can't just pull an
electrician off of a job and send him out to Mrs. Smith's house. The
electrician is accustomed to construction work so he'll be inefficient
at Mrs. Smith's house and he won't have the right parts. Things come
up
all of the time and construction trucks just aren't stocked for Mrs.
Smith's house. In the end, Mrs. Smith ends up getting overcharged for
the work because the electrician didn't have the parts or the experience
and charged by the hour. Besides, most guys I've seen over the years
just aren't house-broken. This isn't fair to customers or electricians.
The bottom line is: there's a big difference between construction
electricians and service technicians. You really need a specialist with
a van stocked for service work." There was a definite need in Colorado
for an electrical company that works solely with home owners. Bob saw
this need and was looking for the right person to help him "raise the
bar" in the electrical industry. Along came Rob...
Rob
Urban, the eldest son of Bob, grew up in Great Bend, KS. At the age
of 18 he joined the Navy as a Sonar Technician and traveled the globe
listening for Soviet submarines. During the final days of the Cold War,
Rob worked many long, hard nights diligently listening to and tracking
every twist and turn of allusive Soviet subs. Eventually, the Cold War
ended and Rob attended to the University of Colorado where he graduated
with a degree in Business. After college, Rob joined UBS (formerly
PaineWebber) as a financial advisor. At the height of the technology
boom Rob moved to San Jose, CA with his wife and joined Merrill Lynch.
Rob advised many senior executives and founders of numerous technology
companies. "I've always been interested in technology. Not
for what it
is, but for what it can do in the future. I'm always thinking 10-20
years into the future. This is what excites me. Moving to Silicon
Valley was a great fit for me." Eventually, Rob returned to Colorado
and joined Bank of America (formerly FleetBoston) as a Vice President -
Investments. Over time, Rob realized, as he watched his dad's industry,
that the electrical industry was about to change in a big way. "It
was
apparent to me that the electrical industry was about to make a shift
from the way things used to be. People are so busy nowadays that they
need an expert to help them. Times have changed too. When I was
young
we never locked the doors or windows. There was no need to.
Unfortunately, you can't do that anymore. You just can't invite
strangers into your home either. Those days are gone. Five years
from
now it won't be acceptable, or LEGAL,
to have a service technician who enters your home without being thoroughly
screened and background checked. We background-check all of our employees. They're
also tested
for things like honesty, dependability, and work-ethic. It's time to
raise the bar in the electrical industry. No more excuses. That's
why
we started The WireNut."

Colorado Springs
(719) 623-2935
Denver
(303) 972-5158
Pueblo
(719) 623-2935