City Electric Supply (CES) recently announced it opened two new stores in July. The CES Hutto branch is the 29th branch in Texas, while CES Charleston Cross County joins 25 others in South Carolina.
CES Charleston Cross County Branch Manager Patrick Rourk and Operations Manager Job Carreiro, both South Carolina natives, have had to work through a number of obstacles caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic but have also had a lot of support from other CES branches.
“Bringing in stock during this time was a little challenging. About 40% of my stock had to come from other branches’ surplus material, but, thankfully, all of the other branch managers were understanding. They told me to let them know what I needed and that they’d do everything they could,” said Rourk in the release. “It’s been difficult with COVID, but we’re trying to take everything in stride and keep moving forward.”
Rourk began with CES seven years as a driver and then rising through the ranks. Since day one, he has prepared to take on the position of branch manager, and in January, he got the offer. It happened quicker than he expected, but he believes his experience will be helpful as he and Carreiro grow the branch team.
“I’ve held just about every position there is on a branch level, so I know what’s going to put us in a good position,” added Rourk. “There have been a lot of tough things in this process, and a lot of the time, we didn’t know what to expect. But, so far, we pieced things together, and I can’t wait to keep working and see what happens for us next.”
The Hutto branch, led by Branch Manager Buzz Carruth, was supposed to be wrapped up in 90 days, but it ended up taking six months to prepare due to the pandemic. Carruth’s team has more than 10 years of experience, and while he is new to CES, he’s been in electrical distribution his entire career.
“Electrical distribution is literally all I know,” Carruth said in the release. “I’ve been honored to work with some great companies, such as Leviton Integrated Networks/Controls, Schneider/Square D Lighting Control Division, and United Lighting Standards. Most of my career was serving as a Regional Sales Manager for manufacturers of lighting and lighting control systems.”
According to District Manager Mehs Ess, two of the greatest strengths of CES Hutto are going to be the location and the experienced team.
“Hutto is one of the fastest-growing construction areas in the Austin market, so expanding our network to more local contractors is going to help us become their preferred supplier,” says Ess in the release. “When you add everything up — the experience of the staff, the great location, and us being one of the first electrical distributors to set up shop in the area — we should have nothing but success.”
For more information, visit https://www.cityelectricsupply.com/aboutus.