The Publisher's Note

March 1, 2003
Who will be voted off the electrical dot-com island? Only time will tell which electrical dot-coms will survive. This month's cover story, The Dot-com

Who will be voted off the electrical dot-com island? Only time will tell which electrical dot-coms will survive. This month's cover story, “The Dot-com Survivors,” provides you with an update on what more than 20 electrical and construction dot-coms are doing to survive. It doesn't make any predictions on which portals will endure, but it does take a look at what each site has been doing and where each purports to be going. Of course, at the jet speed e-businesses move, this could change even in the short time span it takes to print this magazine and have it arrive in your mailbox. A dot-com with chinks in its armor must move quickly to fill them, or it will perish.

In another of this month's features, Managing Editor Sarah Tobaben takes a look at two electrical distributors who have implemented advisory boards to help strengthen their companies. Both Colonial Electric Supply, King of Prussia, Pa.; and Omni Cable Corp., West Chester, Pa., use their advisory boards to obtain outside perspectives. “We want to look at what we're doing from a lot of different angles that we wouldn't necessarily consider on our own,” said Steve Bellwoar, Colonial Electric's president. If you've been thinking of implementing a board of your own, the article will guide you through the process step-by-step.