Angelica Brothers Electrical Contracting began as a pair of electricians in 1994, and has since become a pioneer of integrated contracting - offering everything from lighting to lightning-fast fiber optic cabling. The company's efforts to diversify its products and services have led to strong, consistent growth.
Jacks-of-afl-trades? Sure. But masters of none? Not likely.
John and Michael Angelica, founders of Angelica Brothers Electrical Contracting in Holyoke have heard all of the cliches as their electrical and telecom business grows and expands each year. They've been called everything from a one-stop shop to a technical catchall, and the terms don't faze them, as long as they get the last word.
"We're the one-stop shop, but we're also the real deal," said Michael.
Offering 'integrated service' in the areas of electrical contracting, telecommunications, and custom network services, Angelica Brothers - led by John and Michael and Telecommunications Division manager Bob Liswell - has seen exponential growth in recent years due to its all-inclusive, startto-finish approach to its three main offerings. With a client base that includes companies, municipalities, and individual homeowners, the first obstacle Angelica Brothers had to avoid was perception that the company might be stretching its expertise too thin.
Thus, the three men heading up the company have invested in extensive training, with the result being a workforce with diverse skill sets. And as the company's services continue to gain attention, those investments arc paying off, in the form of new and renewed contracts, strong customer feedback, and consistent new busi0 ness brought on by a string of referrals.
Angelica Brothers relocated from Monson to the former Reynolds Paper building on Main Street in Holyoke two years ago. Since then, the Angelicas and Liswell have noticed the advantages of doing business in an area with affordable real estate, just seconds away from the area's major highways. In response, they are focusing on building a reputation as a company that can help both individual enterprises and the overall economy through their services.
"Our options are cost-effective," said John Angelica. "We do the job from start to finish and we help people minimize their costs in many ways ... maybe we help them shut utilities off at peak times or look at monitoring options for their company. All of that plays into making money for everyone."
This month, BusinessWest looks at the short- and long-term forecast for Angelica Brothers, and how the company's approach to a fast-changing field has helped create an evergrowing client list.
Hot-wired
The principals at Angelica Brothers look at the evolution of their business as a natural progression in keeping with the technological advances of their craft.
"We're constantly reading up on the latest trends," John said, "so we can communicate them to the customer. Many companies would choose to focus on just one specialty, but we decided to focus on it all. Customers are always looking for ways to cut costs and make things more convenient. When we bring everything to the table, we're doing that for them."
John and Michael Angelica entered the electrical trade together in the late '80s, and started their own business in 1994. As demand for additional services grew, the brothers responded accordingly with new offerings such as design-build projects, utility construction, and lightning and surge protection.
Soon, that demand necessitated a new division within the company focusing on telecommunications. Liswell came on board in 2001 to head up the division, and helped the company gain speed in a myriad of telecom offerings, from fiber optics to voice, data, and video systems, and network installation.
Eventually, the two divisions began to intersect, creating a niche that set Angelica Brothers apart from other electrical contractors and telecom companies in the area; when a client requires both electrical wiring and data cables installed, that client has a choice of hiring two contractors to finish the job, or just one, because Angelica Brothers can handle all aspects of a project.
The wide range of services provided by Angelica Brothers has enabled the company to develop a large, diverse client base. Among its customers are the cities of Springfield and Holyoke, Westover Air Reserve Base, and Verizon. The company has also branched out across New England and New York.
"We've become an integrated contractor," Liswell said. "And therefore we can offer integrated solutions."
In keeping with that model, the company is now concentrating more on the third-tier of its business plan - the design and installation of customized network systems and 'lifestyle enhancements' which serves as a bridge between the electrical and telecommunications components.
Angelica Brothers markets the custom systems to both individuals and businesses, and offers Internet access and networking, multi-room video and stereo audio, and monitoring and lighting control systems, among other products and services. Once reserve consumers with plentv of cash to burn, customized home network systems are becoming more mainstream, said the brothers Angelica, and their company is poised to capitalize on that phenomenon.
"We think there's a market there that not a lot of people are paying attention to," John said, adding that the company paid to have all of its employees trained by Leviton Integrated Networks, one custom system provider Angelica Brothers works with, in order to offer a lifetime warranty to businesses and homeowners. The business gained further recognition when it became the only custom installation contractor for Yamaha in Western Mass.
"We made the investment to offer this service, and now we can build to people's needs, so things like surround-sound or monitoring systems become something they can afford. We can take different avenues, and not just offer the $100,000 systems."
The custom systems now comprise approximately 20% of Angelica Brothers' business, after only a few years on the company's formal list of products and services. They were put on display at the Western Mass. Home Show, said Liswell, noting that most of the visitors to the company's booth were typical homeowners, and the booth was crammed with people each day of the show.
As part of a large family, John and Michael Angelica said they grew up in a middle-class family and are excited about their company's ability to bring quality-of-life products to, as they put it, "the people that make it all happen."
"Everybody should be able to have this technology," said Michael. "And there are different levels now; we don't have to sell people 100 things - we can sell them two. A customer can get surround-sound in their whole house, or get it in just one room. They can get a black-and-white monitoring system, or one in color."
End of the Line
The wide gamut of choices that Angelica Brothers promotes is one reason for its success; community-minded business practices are another. Old-fashioned elbow grease never hurts, though, and hasn't gone unnoticed in this case.
"Whatever it takes, we'll get it done," John said. "We're three guys in our 30s and we plan on being here for a while. We want to work with people and do the best job; we can't do work that will make someone never want to see us again."
Their company was recently honored by the Holyoke Chamber of Commerce for their work with the Holyoke Street School, at which the company donated and installed all of the insidecabling needed for the school to access the Internet at all of its computer stations.
The night before the chamber breakfast at which Liswell and the Angelica brothers were to be recognized, they worked through the night to repair Holyoke Community College's fiberoptic system, which had been damaged, knocking out Internet service campus-wide at the peak of the spring semester.
Bleary-eyed, the trio was welcomed at the early morning event with a standing ovation.
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