By staff of the Independent Electoral Commission
Nick Russell is a committed man. Merit store electrical contractors in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area of North Carolina are looking to grow their business thanks to Nick and the dedicated team of volunteers who led the charge to form Triangle IEC.
Following successful efforts during the interim status period, IEC granted full separation status to Triangle IEC in late 2024.
Nick’s journey
Nick, himself a graduate of the IEC Apprenticeship Program, fully believes in the IEC Program’s approach and comprehensive curriculum. This is based on his experience to decide what his career will be. He first went to college to pursue computer engineering, and knew he wouldn’t be satisfied behind a desk. After that, he took trade courses at a community college, while working a variety of jobs, to get some of the basics of becoming an electrician.
After moving to Texas from North Carolina, he found his way. Nick landed a job with Wired Electrical Services, IEC Texas Gulf Coast Member, which led him to IEC’s apprenticeship program.
“When I hired them, they asked me if I wanted to join the school’s apprenticeship program, so I jumped in,” Nick says. “I learned a lot in the program and that is why I feel it is so important that we have an IEC school here in North Carolina.”
He graduated from the program and a short time later he and his wife returned to North Carolina. They settled back into their small country lifestyle in Ellerbe, North Carolina, a short distance from their hometown of Hamlet and about 90 miles southwest of Raleigh. He worked in his brother’s car workshop at first.
“I helped my brother for a while, but I could tell something was missing,” Nick says. “I felt this pull to get back into the electrical field. I was out on my own as there were very few businesses here and most of them were residential. I wanted some commercial work. I also liked the idea of going out on my own.”
That meant searching for jobs in Raleigh, which Nick says started out slow and then took off. While doing some work at Rockingham Speedway (formerly known as North Carolina Speedway and a staple of the NASCAR circuit), Nick teamed up with another company. This led to the partnership that is now CDC Carolina Electrical, his current company based in Raleigh.
“Raleigh is the biggest market, so it didn’t really make sense to base our company there,” he says. “Normally, I’m in Raleigh Monday through Wednesday, and back in Ellerby Wednesday night to be with family. On Thursday and Friday I either work in my home office or head back to Raleigh for the day. It’s about an hour and a half to two hours drive depending on traffic.”
As CDC Carolina Electrical found itself in a position to expand, Nick sought to hire additional electricians. He was looking for those who were well trained, as was the case through IEC. The struggle to find that level of worker paved the way for Nick to volunteer to help start the IEC chapter.
The road to the IEC triangle
“I can add a lot of work to our load, but I’m limited by having enough people; “There’s more work than we can handle,” Nick says. “When I got an email last year from IEC about a meet-and-greet to gauge interest from people in the area in the IEC chapter, my heart kind of skipped a beat. I called my wife right away and said, ‘You’ll never believe what I just found out.’ I went to that meeting.”
Among the people he met were Jason Parks and Bethany Lerch, president and CEO of the then-newer branch, Greater Charlotte IEC. Hearing about their recent experiences encouraged Nick.
“From that first meeting, I knew it was whatever I could do to make sure we started a chapter in Raleigh that was what I wanted to do,” Nick says. “There were three of us present at that initial meeting and we selected the other two companies for our interim status shortly afterward.”
With guidance from IEC, Nick and the team got to work. After the five signed a letter of intent as board members wishing to start a chapter, they worked on chapter bylaws, dues structure, member recruitment, necessary forms and processes, obtaining approval of standards through their state to begin an IEC apprenticeship program, and recruiting apprentices. , establishing a training facility, hiring a coach, and the list goes on.
From left to right: Nick Russell, President, CDC Carolina Electrical; Eric Norby, Romanoff Residential Electric Company, Treasurer; Harvey Byrd, ACE Electric, Vice President; Ivan Hernandez, MSF Secretary for Electricity; and Alan Miller, Darby Electric board member. Today, Alan has moved into the role of secretary. Cray Burrell, Romanoff Electric Residential and George Williamson, MSF Electric are members of the Triangle IEC Board of Directors, replacing Aric and Ivan from those founding companies.
“We were learning as we went and putting everything together,” Nick explains. “IEC is one of those things that is near and dear to me. We all saw the value of having a school – a place where we could send new trainees to get the best training. Previously the only option we had was community college courses. He was one of my classmates in those classes class, and from the questions he was returning to me, it seemed to me that they didn’t cover a lot of ground in those classes and based on my experience at IEC Texas Gulf Coast, I knew we could do better.
Triangle IEC will open its doors to its first class of trainees in January 2025; Nick himself plans to send a number of his employees to this inaugural class.
“The IEC apprenticeship program has done a lot for me,” he asserts. “The evening classes combined with paid field experience on the job were a game changer. I could get my hands on what we were talking about in class, see it in action, and then ask questions of the instructor. IEC Texas Gulf Coast also held a great workshop to get Practical experience. My knowledge and understanding was greatest. People always tell me you really understand how to troubleshoot and make this work. It’s the basics I learned in an excellent training program.”
As a business owner now, Nick needs to be able to offer similar training experiences so his trainees have the same opportunities to learn, grow and thrive. He admits that he also wants to be part of changing the narrative that going to college isn’t the only path and that being part of the trades is a great place to be.
“Those considering an electrical career need to know that there are great places to learn the field. CDC Carolina Electrical can expand greatly as we get more trained people,” Nick says. “I know from talking with other contractors that I’m not I am alone in this need. Triangle IEC is trying to fill a major void in the region.
Is Nebraska next?
Just like the meeting Nick attended in late 2023 to gauge interest in a new chapter in Raleigh, the IEC held a meet-and-greet in Lincoln, NE, in October of this year. The interest and enthusiasm was high, as shown in these photos.
