Our President on Presidents Day
Presidents Day is recognized in celebration of two of our country’s greatest early leaders – including George Washington and Abraham Lincoln – and the innovation and progress they bestowed our nation.
We felt today would be appropriate to recognize the innovation and forward thinking of City Electric Supply President and CEO Thomas Hartland- Mackie and kick off our newest monthly blog series: Mackie Monday!
“My first job in the company came when I was 18 years old. I was assembling furniture at the Fort Worth group office while we were expanding and opening new branches.
For four months, I helped the group manager get the new branches set up and ready for business by stocking inventory and getting their computer systems up and running.
It was an exciting time; as you might know, we grow purely organically, not through business acquisitions. Our goal as a company is to find and grow the right talent internally for the right positions, which allows people to be promoted through the ranks.
It’s quite inspiring; all members of our senior management team started out at the branch level, some as a driver or a clerk at the counter. This ground-up promotion enables the management team to better understand what it truly takes to run the business, having done it successfully themselves for many years prior.
The fundamental reason my family does it this way is because if you’re not willing and understanding of the jobs you’re asking others to do, how can you appreciate what they do for you and ultimately for the company?
I enjoyed all of the roles I worked in whilst on my apprenticeship; many of the lessons I learned at the branches, factories and supporting departments remain applicable in my role as CEO today. I would say one of the most insightful roles came from working on the factory production lines both in the USA and the UK.
That is such an important role; it is a job some of our employees, like Miss D and Rita for example, have worked for 15-plus years. It can be a monotonous and demanding job, but if not done effectively and efficiently, the branches and their customers would not be supplied a quality product.
It’s definitely a tough job! It’s hard to keep up with that production line!
I am extremely blessed to now serve as president and CEO of the fantastic company my Grandfather started 64 years ago. Our employees are our success. My day-to-day responsibilities, no longer allow me to visit as many of the branches and factories as I would like.
That’s one reason I’m so excited to kick off Mackie Monday – I think this will be an opportunity to help stay connected and directly communicate with the team at the branch level of our organization by sharing a personal message from me to you every month.
My grandfather always said, “What happens at the branch level is what’s most important. At the end of the day, all of the success of the business occurs at branch level. Everything above that in the management structure is there to support them – it’s a necessary overhead really. We are a company that instills local autonomy to make local decisions catering to their local customers. That has been a successful business model for us, and there is nothing that can change that!”
We look forward to continued expansion this year with a projected 25 new stores in 2015. We have better relationships with our suppliers than ever before and they are equally excited to see what this fiscal year brings.
I look forward to seeing you on our next Mackie Monday!”