JOHN BURNETT
Title: Service Manager
Company: Interstates
Location: Fort Collins, Colo.
Age: 28
Years on the job: 4.5 years with Interstates; and 5 years of prior experience
John Burnett grew up ranching and farming in Colorado and Texas. With few intentions to go to college, he instead started working for an electrical contractor immediately following high school graduation. The Ault, Colo.-based company paid his way through a four-year electrical trade school program with the Independent Electrical Contractors. At the end of his fourth year, he won the “Wire Off” competition at the state level, and then competed at the national level. As the grandson of an industrial electrician, Burnett says he enjoys the technical and hands-on part of electrical work.
“In grade school, I just wanted to be outside, but after I started trade school, I began to enjoy school because it was more hands on,” he says. “I like that it is a challenge, and the trade always keeps me wanting to learn more.”
Burnett has enjoyed every stage in his career — from installing conduit to pulling wire and making terminations in control cabinets to now leading employees. Four-and-a-half years ago, he started at Interstates as a journeyman electrician, and worked his way through the ranks as a service technician, foreman, and superintendent. Josh Barber, regional manager for Interstates, says Burnett has an ability to connect with customers to better understand their needs and create a customized solution.
“He truly cares about his employees’ personal and professional development,” Barber says.
Burnett now serves as a service manager at Interstates Construction in Fort Collins, Colo., and leads a team of more than 40 employees. In this position, he enjoys the opportunity to develop leaders, build strong relationships with clients, and work as part of a team to solve daily problems for customers.
Through his experience at Interstates, he has learned that respect is not given — it’s earned. He started as a production journeyman, and during his first day on the job, he was tasked with digging six holes that were 3 ft deep. He had no issue jumping in and doing whatever was asked, which showed his humbleness and willingness to do whatever it took to prove himself.
“We tend to say, ‘it doesn’t matter where you came from or what you did, all we ask is that you show up and show us,’” Burnett says.
Hard work makes people honest, he says, but at the same time, managers should never ask employees to do something that they wouldn’t do themselves. By working alongside his employees in the field, he’s able to create a long-lasting bond.
“I have worked in the trenches with the majority of my team,” he says. “We have worked through 30 degree below to 100-plus degree weather, and a lot of the time the only thing that kept us going were the people by each other’s sides.”
To save time in the field and improve efficiency for his team, Burnett embraces technology. For example, on projects, he interacts closely with material and product manufacturers to provide his crews with the latest information and training on new products. He also uses a significant amount of prefabrication to limit field time, which increases productivity and safety on the job site.
“We used to build electrical racks in the field but are now building them in a controlled environment in our fabrication shop,” he says. “This leads to increased production and efficiencies.”
He uses GPS to communicate job-site locations, iPads to reduce paperwork, and mobile MiFi for Internet connectivity in remote locations. He also implements custom-fabricated tool trailers for mobile conduit and bending threading stations. In addition, Interstates has created a custom job management and time tracking system to break out smaller jobs into tasks to manage the overall project, track time, monitor work hindrances, and track material.
“We are always trying to find better ways of doing things here at Interstates,” he says.
