Today we’d like to introduce you to Armando and Tina Rivera. Them and their team share their story with us below:
On May 4th 2020 -Armando, an electrician all his life was part of a covid19 layoff. He did not lose his job because he had covid19, but because his company was positioning itself to downsize for a projected recession. Armando held his role for 7 years as a foreman on commercial projects, this was his longest tenured job ever. In his career- he had never been laid off or fired. He was always a top performer and ideal leader.
After many conversations that started in March 2021 in anticipation of a layoff, Armando and Christina decided that they would try to start a business where Armando could work for himself. This was not a heroic act, but more a reactive act. Many employers were issuing less than favorable offers for employment due to the ever-growing pool of talent resulting from pandemic layoffs. One Facebook post changed everything. Armando was embraced by the community in is many ways. He worked hard to provide amazing service at a fair price.
On May 5th, he had a full day of work scheduled and two months in, he needed a helper. 5 months in and Tina resigned from her role of 13 years to offer him full time support and marketing. Together, they have been able to turn Arc Electric + Lighting into something really amazing. The one thing they take the most pride in is the fact that they are able to offer opportunity other electricians that lost jobs as a result of the pandemic. They created a family based work culture they hope to last for years to come, for generations to come.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The road has not been smooth by any standard. Armando and Tina have invested their life savings into their business and in fact, have not taken a paycheck from the business since employing others. That will soon change. Hiring the right talent and people who care as much about the vision as yourself can be a difficult task! We have been blessed with an amazing and stable and administrative team. We are thankful for the teams we have and know they will go far. It’s really hard to be in business with yuur spousem but it is also really rewarding.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Arc electric + lighting is a primarily woman owned electrical contracting business in Cypress, Texas. We service residential, commercial and multifamily customers on any project size. Most recently we have been able to offer back-up generators to our residential and commercial clients.
All of our team members are actual full time employees and NOT contractors or subcontractors and this sets us apart from many other larger companies. In May 2021, we introduced our charitable arm #lovearc as part of our commitment to give back to our community. Through love, arc, we have been able to donate over 12K to various community nonprofits, provide teachers with school supplies off their wish lists and send essentials to our neighbors in Louisiana affected by Hurricane Ida.
We are most proud to both be first generation business owners and to build a brand that our family can lead for generations to come.
We want readers to know that we are a small, hardworking team that is fully licensed and insured. We offer over 25 years experience on average and are committed to being your favorite electricians.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Owning a small business and then owning one in the middle of a pandemic is not for the faint of heart. Some of these days can and will get the best of you. You have to LOVE what you do, simply put. A characteristic that is pertinent in this industry is integrity, always do the right thing and don’t take advantage of others. Far too many companies before us have done this and given trades a bad name, we work every day to change that. We are not a construction company, we are a lighting and design company growing thanks to the support of our clients and community.
We are really people with boots on the ground, in the drenching heat or freezing cold, working really, really hard because it is all we know.
Our current lead time for generators for your home or business is 10 weeks, shorter than most companies around.
Contact Info:
- Website: arcelectricandlighting.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arcelectricandlighting/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arcelectricandlighting/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/arcelectrichtx
