Apple Electrical’s core values give them the big picture of work and family.
You may have heard about the guy who passed three bricklayers on a construction site one day. Curious about the project, the passerby asked the first bricklayer what he was doing. “I’m very carefully laying one brick on top of another,” was the answer.
The second bricklayer replied, “I’m building a very strong wall.” But the only third truly had the big picture. He smiled broadly and said, “We’re building a hospital where children with cancer will get the help they need.”
The big picture for founders Eddy (company president) and Theresa Shelton and everyone at Apple Electrical is like that. Much more than stretching wires or running conduit—it often involves going many extra miles to ensure that their work makes the whole project successful. And, bigger yet, making sure every worker gets home safely to enjoy family time.
Driving extra miles—sometimes literally—for customers has been the Apple way since its 1994 beginning with Eddy, Theresa and just four employees. In those early days a blaze at a gas-fired generation plant severed the cable tray containing some vital electrical connections, rendering the plant helplessly dead in the water. Already under contract for the electrical maintenance procedures, Eddy and his Apple crews rolled up their sleeves and got to work.
“We put all our resources—hired more resources—actually became the general contractor on the project,” Eddy recalls. Apple ran two crews in alternating 12-hour shifts, using a van to pick them up and deliver them on a 60-mile trek between Odessa and Big Spring for two months.
Before agreeing to become the General, Eddy had two requirements: “I eat lunch every day and I referee football on Friday nights. You let me do that, I’ll come and I’ll run this project.” Which was Eddy’s hope from the beginning—that Apple would do such a good job that they would be asked to oversee the whole project.
When it was over, while there were no group hugs, the plant has been loyal to Apple, contracting with them for the plant’s electrical maintenance for decades since then.
There have been personal challenges as well, from an Apple crew that witnessed another explosion and helped rescue burned workers, to the employee who went home from work one day to find his wife had passed away in her sleep. It’s no wonder that Eddy and Theresa have prayed for the company daily since the beginning.
Even the name, Apple Electrical, reflects the company’s core values. It’s not based on a computer or the Beatles’ record company.
Behind it there’s an unforgettable story that you’ll get in the next issue. You’ll also read about how Apple’s concept of value engineering can save customers money and improve the end product and how Eddy’s refereeing career has moved way beyond those Friday night lights.
