CHRIS JOHNSON
Job Title: Project Superintendent
Company: Montgomery Electric, Inc.
Location: Dacano, Colo.
Age: 27
Years on the Job: 7
Interests: Watching hockey, football, basketball, and baseball and supporting the Colorado and Detroit sports teams
With no family or friends who worked in the trades, Chris Johnson wasn’t sure what he wanted to do after high school. His friend’s dad, who worked as a mason, suggested the possibility of he and his friend becoming electricians.
“I liked this idea, and I love to work with my hands, so I thought I’d give it a try,” he says. “Seven years after that discussion, and I’m now a licensed journeyman still with the company that gave me a starting chance.”
Johnson, who has lived in both Michigan and Colorado, began Independent Electrical Contractors Rocky Mountain’s four-year apprenticeship program in 2018. During the training program, he learned about the basics, theories, equations, applications, and codes. But when he started working on the job, he experienced hands-on training.
“I was constantly asking questions and just being a sponge to knowledge around me,” says Johnson, who maintains his work ethic sets him apart from others in the trade. For example, he’s often the first one at work and the last one to leave.
“I want to make sure everything is up to code and looks spectacular,” he says. “I like my jobs to be neat and clean, and I like to work smarter, not harder.”
As a project superintendent, he is responsible for assigning tasks to the crews, and, when possible, working out in the field.
“I’ll try to do a little bit of work myself, but most of the time, I’m being pulled in 20 different directions,” he says. “Doing layout, answering questions, and helping people out is what I do every day. I’ve gone from showing up to work being told what to do to being that guy that tells people what to do.”
In the future, he plans on working as an electrician at the same company.
“I’m pretty happy doing what I’m doing,” he says. “My favorite part of my job is being on a project from start to finish, watching something being built, and being able to say I was a part of it.”
