CES Hayesville Is Lighting up the Streets
City Electric Supply Hayesville in Hayesville, North Carolina, worked with the city of Cherokee to place street lights along the main highway. Cherokee is a popular tourist destination in North Carolina, and it’s home to the Cherokee Indian Reservation, which has seen rapid growth. CES Hayesville began phase one June 2018, and the large project is nearing its completion.
Even though several larger stores were approached to complete the project, the CES quotes department helped the Hayesville branch make a competitive bid. Shortly after they submitted their offer, they won the bid and quickly got to work.
Road Blocks
Branch Manager Kenneth Booe and his team came across several challenges when working through the first phase of the project. Redirecting traffic through a busy major highway meant the team had to work as smoothly and quickly as possible. Making early-morning and late-night deliveries were necessary so they could still serve their customers while avoiding a work stoppage on the highway project.
“With a branch crew of just four people, this was quite a challenge,” Booe said. “We had to juggle all the responsibilities of running the branch while still hitting the deadlines. First and foremost, we had to provide the level of service our customers expect; we worked hard building those relationships. After that, we put all of our time and energy into the highway project.”
During the first phase, the team put together and helped install 40 poles and 40 lights. Even when some lights came in the wrong color, Booe handled the problem quickly without missing a step.
“At one point, six out of 40 pole lights were shipped in the wrong finish,” he said “After a flurry of conversations between myself, our District Manager, the manufacturer, and the customer, we arranged to have the poles powder coated in the correct shade and still got them in time to continue hitting all of our deadlines.”
Future Phases
The team is currently working on the third phase of the project and plan on installing 78 more poles and lights over the next few months. After about a year of working the highway, the Hayesville branch has made a great impression and helped keep everything running smoothly in Cherokee.
Exciting Growth
According to Booe, the most exciting part of the entire project has been seeing some of the growth the Cherokee Reservation is going through. Becoming a part of this growth has been a blessing for Booe and his team.
“Watching this place grow from a low-income community and seeing what they have been able to accomplish as a whole has been really fulfilling. Any branch can help make a difference in their community, and it’s very rewarding seeing it firsthand,” he said.
CES Hayesville is nearing completion of their large project, and we couldn’t be happier with the progress they’ve made on the project and the accomplishments they’ve made in their community.
