By the time Kyle Conley went out on his own, he was a foreman running big projects, from hospitals and schools to massive multifamily housing. He was also, he says, “becoming very unhappy with my career.”
He had been in the trade since he was 18 and had worked his way up. Leaving gave him freedom, he says, along with the stress that comes with it.
What he did with that freedom is the unusual part. KC Electrical Contracting is a small shop: Conley and one other employee. Running it taught him something about time. “It takes a lot of time to build a successful company,” he says. Eventually he started asking himself why he was spending so much of it building one when he could buy one.
He did his research and found mentors. Then he set up a second company, separate from KC, to acquire electrical contracting companies around New England. That work is under way. KC is still the business he runs day to day, and he says the long-term plan is to grow it and, if possible, keep it in the family.
The work at KC is mostly residential, a mix of remodels and new construction, with some light commercial work that Conley is trying to expand. From its base in Leominster the company covers Central Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. Much of the job list is the kind older houses call for, such as moving a 100-amp service up to 200 amps, and the company handles the permits and inspections itself.
Conley writes on the company’s site that his early years shaped how he works in houses. He started in commercial and industrial settings, including hospitals and food and beverage plants, where code, safety procedure and documentation left no margin for error. He says he brings that same discipline into homes and small businesses.
One homeowner described a job that shows it. He wanted a TV mounted over the fireplace, where there was no outlet. Conley cut into the drywall, ran power, then patched and painted the wall. The customer later wrote that no one could tell the wall had been opened, and that Conley had shown up 10 minutes early.
Showing up is something Conley talks about without prompting. He calls himself “a late 80s child” but places himself in “that old school generation,” where “your word is your word.” The rule, as he puts it, is simple: “If you say you’re going to do something you should do it. And if you’re not then just say you’re not.”
He says he has never failed to show up or been late for a time he committed to. Things happen, he allows, and to him “communication is the number one thing.” When something comes up, he picks up the phone himself. “I always call the customer,” he says. “I’ll let them know, hey, something came up, I’m running a few hours behind.”