http://www.ncelec.com/blog/nces-big-blue-blog Latest blog entries from NCE's Big Blue Blog en-us Mon, 20 May 2013 20:49:33 PDT Mon, 20 May 2013 20:49:33 PDT NCE http://northcoastelectric.com/blog/nces-big-blue-blog/pasco-prepares-to-celebrate-nces/ The 30 day countdown starts today for the Pasco Service Center's 100 year anniversary open house/counter day event scheduled for June 6th! A lot will happen between now and then as the Service Center prepares for its 100 year bash! Pasco Associates have chosen to support a charity in their community and tie in the 100-year theme to their community support efforts that will benefit the Tri City Union Gospel Mission. Now through June 6th, Pasco Associates ask their community to help them gather much needed clothing and other necessities for families in need. The Service Center's goal is: * 100 Pounds of food a week, for the next 4 weeks * 100 Pairs of socks * 100 Pounds of laundry detergent * 100 Personal hygiene items (disposable razors, shave cream, soap, shampoo, deodorant, hand lotion, tooth paste and tooth brushes)…the basic necessities! Customers who bring in a donation will receive a promotional item for their charitable kindness. ... Mon, 06 May 2013 13:04:00 PDT http://northcoastelectric.com/blog/nces-big-blue-blog/nces-lil-blue-meets-nwcs/ NCE's Inventory Management Team joined forces with the Tool and Energy Solutions Divisions to collect coats for Northwest Center.  NCE's 'Lil Blue Tool Truck met NWC's Big Blue Truck to make the hand off.   In celebration of our 100 year anniversary, 100 coats were collected through closet clean out and other donations!  Nice work everyone! ... Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:43:00 PDT http://northcoastelectric.com/blog/nces-big-blue-blog/put-little-spring-in-your/ Run, Walk, Jog or Crawl! To Celebrate the Arrival of Spring and the Irish in us all! NCE is proud to be a co-sponsor of the Detlef Schrempf Foundation’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Dash on St. Patrick's Day Sunday, March 17th. It began 28 years ago as a race between bars and as a training event for an Irish Olympian. Now it’s Seattle’s largest single-distance run/walk, jog or crawl where the winners cross the finish before the last person starts. The Dash covers nearly 4 miles of city streets with a 17,000 person ribbon of green. The St. Patrick’s Day Dash is a family event with something for everyone. There are young athletes racing to be the first across the Finish Line, and the middle-age, former jocks racing to be the first in the beer garden. The Dash is filled with plenty of people who started as kids, dashing down the Viaduct to the Kingdome. They’re still running or walking with mom or dad, and, now, are pushing strollers as part of three generations of St. Patrick’s Day Dash participants. To continue interest by young Dashers, we start the morning with the Leprechaun Lap for wee lads and lassies (10 & under). The Dash benefits the Detlef Schrempf Foundation in support of Northwest children’s charities. We are directing funds to four worthy Northwest children’s organizations: Camp Fire USA Puget Sound Council, Seattle Children’s Autism Center, Rise n’ Shine, and the Healing Center. To register for the Dash go to http://www.stpatsdash.com. If you can’t make the Dash but would like to donate to one of our North Coast Electric Teams, visit the Detlef Schrempf website at and click on DONATE. ... Thu, 14 Feb 2013 15:46:00 PST http://northcoastelectric.com/blog/nces-big-blue-blog/gift-thanks/ NCE Seattle coordinated a toy drive benefitting the YWCA and also a food drive benefitting Northwest Harvest. With the support and generosity of NCE’s customers, we were able to meet and exceed our goals providing help to those in need during the holidays. We recently received a big Thank You from the YWCA and it deeply touched our hearts so we thought it would be great to share the letter of gratitude with everyone!   Note from Liz Mills of YWCA: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for North Coast Electric’s fantastic support of our YWCA. We used all of your huge box of donations for our YWCA Adopt-a-Family Program. We had some gifts arrive late and some families that needed help right before Christmas so it was great to be able to use your toys, games, stuffed animals and other items to make sure that every family had gifts. With the help of the North Coast Electric, homeless and low-income families received wonderful holiday gifts and the knowledge that the community cares about them. Working with our staff, these families are engaged in building a better future for their children through our employment, health, domestic violence and shelter programs. You helped us serve our highest number of families to date ��" 1,518! On behalf of all of the families from YWCA Adopt-a-Family Program, our staff and our Board, we thank you for your help this year. We thought you might enjoy the attached notes which are a collection of our favorites from this past holiday season. Thanks again for your generous support. Liz Mills Advocacy and Policy Director NCE encourages its Associates by promoting and supporting volunteer opportunities. Creating a better world starts at the local level and our Associates are active participants in our communities.Visit our Community Support page for a complete list of our activities. ... Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:47:00 PST http://northcoastelectric.com/blog/nces-big-blue-blog/nce-credit-group-supports-customer/ NCE Credit Supports the Service Centers on Deliver on the Promise t-shirt day! Meet our friendly Credit group and who said that Credit doesn't have a sense of humor! Left to right: Vanessa Lamb, Andy Young, Theresa Kroll, Gary Hoy, Tari Knoblauch, and Tammi Scher. (not pictured Christine Petersen & Patrick Moore) ... Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:58:00 PST http://northcoastelectric.com/blog/nces-big-blue-blog/dont-mess-with-nce-vancouver/ The Vancouver Service Center doesn't mess around when it comes to customer service! They Deliver on the Promise AND they Guarantee it! Challenge them to fill your orders with 100% accuracy, to always have our top 300 items in stock, and to have your will-call order ready in 25 minutes from the time you call it in! Visit them on February 19th from 7AM - 9AM for their breakfast counter day. They'll be featuring T&B and Lutron....and serving breakfast burritos! Pictured left to right: Ray Young, Bret Dodson, Mark Oster, Eric Ballou, & Tim Franklin. ... Fri, 08 Feb 2013 11:19:00 PST http://northcoastelectric.com/blog/nces-big-blue-blog/nce-spokane-here-we-grow-1/ NCE continues to grow by opening a new Service Center in Spokane, WA and we are excited to be part of the Spokane Business Community. Our new 18,000 sq. ft. service center will be open and ready for business on Monday, February 4th. The Spokane location is also backed by the NCE Central Dispatch Hub System with access to over 50,000 sq. ft. of warehouse products for efficiency in expediting and delivering your orders, large or small. Stop in and meet the crew or take a tour of the Service Center! Will Call is open 7a - 5p, Monday - Friday NCE - Spokane #330 4216 East Main Avenue Spokane, WA 99202509-328-1020 phone 509-328-2107 fax ... Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:46:00 PST http://northcoastelectric.com/blog/nces-big-blue-blog/dedication-to-safety/ North Coast Electric is the proud recipient of the Award of Excellence presented by the Millennium Captive Insurance group. HR Manager, Ann Webb accepted the award in 2012 on behalf of NCE at a Risk Control Workshop in Chicago, Illinois. The Millennium Captive Group is made up of various companies who band together to purchase insurance. As a member of the group, it is the responsibility of NCE to ensure we maintain a high standard of safety practices to reduce risk, particularly in the areas of Worker Compensation and Safety. NCE was one of eight members who received the award for outstanding safety performance with a score of 890 out of a possible 1000 awards program points. The Award of Excellence is a testament to the dedication of all North Coast Electric Associates to maintain a safe work environment. Congratulations to all! ... Thu, 17 Jan 2013 11:03:00 PST http://northcoastelectric.com/blog/nces-big-blue-blog/happy-100-years-north-coast/ This story was submitted by Allen Kreymer, Kreymer Electric. Allen is the Founder of Kreymer Electric and has been an electrician for over 50 years. He worked with his father, who was also an electrician and decided to follow in his father's footsteps. Mr. Kreymer joined the Air Force and became an aircraft electrician. When he left the service he worked for Boeing as an electrician and a few years later he couldn’t resist the urge to start his own business. At the young age of 82, Mr. Kreymer is still an active electrician and in his spare time writes stories.  Here is an NCE story typed by Mr. Kreymer and written in his own words:      If you look at the timeframe of this old North Coast Electric catalog cover, you can’t help but come to the conclusion that the early electrical industry was like striking gold. It took off in such a few short years, like a runaway freight train, but was well organized. In fact so well organized that that the catalog includes a 1915 National Electrical Code. It is amazing how similar the format of this code is today. It has tables for wire, conduit size, (and fill), grounding, and formula for almost every aspect of the electrical standard.      What really makes me wonder? Is how North Coast opened its doors in 1913 and grew to the size it would take to have a hard back catalog, 752 pages, with every electrical item known to the industry, in just three short years! Bear in mind their warehouse had every item in this book, and it all had to be shipped from the east by slow ship or train, then organized in the warehouse, and out to the customer.      HG Hardtke, the old electrician from whom the catalog came, must be North Coast’s oldest known customer. Can you visualize the challenge of moving material at that time, from downtown Seattle, down to Sumner, out to Orting, and finally to McMillin?! There was a railroad, or fast moving team of mules, but I am guessing four days to travel the distance and back. Hardtke remained in business until his death in the late fifties, and I will always be grateful to his family for giving me the catalog when they cleaned out his shop.      Over the years the book has been in my possession I have collected items listed and pictured in the pages. The items are too many to list here but I am compiling them now and will send the list with picture at a later date. The test equipment I have, almost for sure came from North Coast, are Thompson Alternating Ammeter and a West Direct Current Voltmeter, housed in their own wood carrying case. The instruments are made of polished brass, mounted on a beautiful walnut base. Washington Waterpower of Spokane, cleaned out an old warehouse, and these were rescued. Back before 1920 it is unlikely any other supplier in the west, but North Coast Electric would have stocked these.  To share your NCE story, send it to media@ncelec.com.  To keep up on our latest 100 Year Anniversary events and promotions like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter. To read more NCE stories from Mr. Kreymer and others, subscribe to our Blog. ... Wed, 02 Jan 2013 12:23:00 PST http://northcoastelectric.com/blog/nces-big-blue-blog/north-coast-lighting-express/ The first North Coast Lighting EXPRESS store recently opened and is currently servicing customers in the Bellingham area and beyond. North Coast Electric Bellingham is the first NCE Service Center to add a North Coast Lighting EXPRESS to their business model. It is a complete lighting showroom inside of a store! With 610 sq ft of space, the NCL EXPRESS showroom houses over 200 fixtures to satisfy your shopping needs. NCL Associate, Joel Young, staffs our beautiful showroom. Joel has been in the Sales Trainee Program for the past several months and has had the opportunity to learn about and experience the culture behind our business. By bridging the gap between NCE and NCL, Joel is in a position guaranteed to succeed! “Looking forward to success with Express!” says Cory McCulloch, Executive VP of Sales. Visit North Coast Lighting EXPRESS: 1836 Racine Street Bellingham, WA 98229 360-671-1100 ... Mon, 17 Dec 2012 10:58:00 PST http://northcoastelectric.com/blog/nces-big-blue-blog/energy-solutions-summit-at-summit/ Suncadia, WA - July 12, 2012 - Members of the North Coast Electric Energy Solutions Division, from Washington and Oregon, held the first ever ESD combined meeting in Suncadia, WA. Judged a “Big Success” by ESD Manager Jeff Jensen, the group exchanged ideas, reviewed processes and procedures, and found synergies in product solutions. According to Jensen, “The team was enthusiastic about the structure, the movement toward a streamlined process, and the emphasis upon energy efficiency measures directed at how we can best utilize our available resources and individual strengths to benefit the customer. Jensen adds, “This is truly one of the most qualified and capable groups of people I have ever had the pleasure of working with. I am very excited about the future of the Energy Solutions Division and the value we can bring to North Coast Electric customers.” Need an energy solution for your business? Contact Jeff Jensen for more information: greensolutions@ncelec.com Photo L to R: Evan Farris—Sales Trainee, Jen Arnold—Technical Support, Rob Miller— Technical Support Manager, Sheila Back—Technical Support, John Brubeck—Inside Technical and Sales Support, Kerrie Brand—Energy Efficiency Specialist, Bob Nietfield—Energy Efficiency Specialist, Stacy Hoffman—Energy Efficiency Specialist, Dave Kunesh, and Mark Osborne—Lighting Design Specialist. Photo by Jeff Jensen ... Mon, 23 Jul 2012 15:05:00 PDT http://northcoastelectric.com/blog/nces-big-blue-blog/nce-salem-makes-move/ The NCE Salem service center has packed up and moved into a new location. The move was complete the first weekend of June and the shiny new doors re-opened for business bright and early on the morning of June 4th! NCE Salem originally opened in 1998, serving local businesses and customers for many years. During that time, Salem’s customer base has expanded and they needed a space to better accommodate their growing contractor market. Chris Patten, Service Center Manager says, “The new location’s best feature is the large and bright showroom to display more product”…”we will have more opportunity for sales with our customers because we are now closer to the competition”. This new location, will re-fresh the NCE brand in Salem and geographically provide easier access for customers. The official Grand Opening celebration features a “Country Rib Picnic” on Thursday, July 12, 11a-2p with door prizes and tons of giveaways. If you are in the area, stop by and say hello to the NCE Salem team. New address: 2980 19th Street SE, Salem, OR 97302 NCE Salem Associates: Chris Patten - Service Center Manager Don Buckendorf - Warehouse Manager John Crum - Salem Projects Matt Eisele - Inside Sales Andy Strausbaugh - Counter Graham Peoples - Inside Sales ... Mon, 09 Jul 2012 08:50:00 PDT http://northcoastelectric.com/blog/nces-big-blue-blog/nces-accounting-group-supports-youthcare/ Once again NCE’s Corporate Support braved the rain and wind to load up their vehicles and serve lunch to homeless teens at YouthCare’s Orion Center located in downtown Seattle. As part of a quarterly commitment to give back, the Support Accounting group served BBQ pork sandwiches, garden burgers, Caesar salad, green salad, potato salad, apples, bananas, trail mix, juice, and cookies. In addition to the main feast, NCE prepared and donated peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for YouthCare’s outreach program which travels the area streets at night in hopes of building a relationship with the youth to get them off the streets. The teens were not shy about the BBQ pork sandwiches being a huge hit as they shouted, “you guys are awesome” and “come back soon”, from across the parking lot. Accounting Department Manager, Jennifer Broughton says, “It’s such a pleasure to see the teens enjoying the meal and how truly appreciative they are of our help…that makes it all worthwhile”. The Accounting group included the following volunteers: Theresa Richards - Monica LaFrance - Norlyn Palomar - Ira Zhuravel Jean Ford - Carrie Matheny - Kendra Victor - Jennifer Broughton Volunteering our time is part of the master plan to continually partner with and support the needs of our local community. In 2011, volunteers helped YouthCare serve over 24,000 meals to Seattle’s homeless youth. The Orion Center facility makes contact with thousands of teens each year providing meals, shelter, and training programs to prepare them for life off the streets. If you would like to help or to learn more about YouthCare, please visit their website: www.youthcare.org. ... Thu, 14 Jun 2012 14:19:00 PDT http://northcoastelectric.com/blog/nces-big-blue-blog/bright-ideas-for-business/ We are hosting the first of our "Brighten Your Business" events on April 19th at the Flowering Around flower shop at 200 Winslow Way W on Bainbridge Island. It's being held in cooperation with Puget Sound Energy and is an opportunity for businesses to receive "instant rebates" to convert their lighting to the latest energy efficient LED bulbs at amazingly affordable prices...(some are even FREE!) ... Thu, 29 Mar 2012 11:37:00 PDT http://northcoastelectric.com/blog/nces-big-blue-blog/fixing-dam-lights-1/ This is a story about upgrading the lights at a federal dam. I will try my best not too include too many dam jokes. (oops) The John Day Dam is one of 3 Hydro electric dams on the lower Columbia River which are owned and operated by the US Army Corp of Engineers. Their existing lighting consisted of 230 old technology 400w High Pressure Sodium (HPS) fixtures mounted at about 75ft. So, other than a constant loud humming noise from the old magnetic ballasts and the classic yellow-orange murky looking light from HPS, the system was great! ... Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:42:00 PST http://northcoastelectric.com/blog/nces-big-blue-blog/readysetrun-jog-walk-or-crawl/ Run, walk, or jog nearly 4 miles of downtown Seattle streets! NCE is proud to be a co-sponsor of the Detlef Schrempf Foundation’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Dash on Saturday, March 17th. The event is acutally on St. Patrick's Day!!!! Festivities include start line appearances by dignitaries and parading bagpipers. The Leprechaun Lap lets kids burn off energy with their own Dash at the Seattle Center. The Post Dash Bash entertains Dashers with live music, a costume contest, sponsor booths, awards ceremony and a beer garden! If you haven’t been to the St. Patrick’s Day Dash before you’ll see a diverse group of participants. Don’t be surprised if you’re passed by a human pot of gold, a 6ft 3in leprechaun, a 4-pack of Guinness cans, or a grown man in a tutu. With all of the costumes, it’s like a spring version of Halloween. Proceeds will benefit four worthy organizations: Camp Fire USA Puget Sound Council, Seattle Children’s Autism Center, Rise n’ Shine, & the Healing Center. Teams are forming and we predict some healthy (and friendly!) competition will take place between our Service Centers (& Corp Support?)! Rumor has it that Tony Robinson just formed "North Coast Electric Tacoma" and hot on his heels is Dan Pickard with "North Coast Electric Everett"....and Jeremy Steeb with North Coast Lighting.  We've just heard the Automation Group is plotting....Who will follow? If you can’t make the Dash but would like to donate to one of our North Coast Electric Teams, visit the Detlef Schrempf website at http://www.stpatsdash.com and click on DONATE. ... Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:42:00 PST http://northcoastelectric.com/blog/nces-big-blue-blog/boys-girls-annual-back-to/ NCE Salem Associates participated in the Boys and Girls Club 5th Annual Back to School Family Health Fair and stuffed over 2,000 backpacks that were distributed to local families!  Total volunteer time:  15 hours and it was time well spent! During the Health Fair: - Over 1,500 backpacks and school supplies were handed out to students - 788 children and over 443 adults enjoyed a healthy lunch - 75 vision and hearing checks were provided - 120 dental screenings were provided by local dentists - 500 child ID kits were issued by the Oregon State Police The Boys and Girls Club provides a safe place for kids to learn and grow. Helping youth become responsible, caring citizens and acquire skills for participating in the democratic process is the main thrust of these programs. They also develop leadership skills and provide opportunities for planning, decision-making, contributing to Club and community and celebrating our national heritage. http://www.bgc-salem.org/ ... Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:30:00 PST http://northcoastelectric.com/blog/nces-big-blue-blog/nce-energy-solutions-group-assists/ Members of the Energy Solutions Group participated in an “Extreme Makeover” type event at the Yesler Terrace Head Start Preschool building in Seattle. Dave Kunesh, Bob Nietfield, Rob Miller and Sheila Back donated their Saturday to help out with this project. The group racked up 36 volunteer hours and $6,000 in product donations!NCE team members received donations of lighting fixtures and controls from several key vendor partners, including; ERW/Harvco, Pacific Lighting Systems (PLS), Lighting Group NW and Lutron. NCE Seattle donated additional lighting fixtures electrical supplies to complete the installation. Electricians from Mckinstry and NCE employees installed new energy efficient suspended linear fixtures from Finelite in the classrooms along with Lutron occupancy sensors and new LED exit signs. Existing fixtures in the offices, restrooms and kitchen areas were retrofitted with new Sylvania program start ballasts, T* lamps and Hubbell Building Automation (HBA) occupancy sensing controls. The exterior soffit and covered playground areas received new vapor-tight luminaries from Metalux along with new photocells. As you’d expect from the energy solutions group, the high efficiency lighting system will save the school 9786 KWh annually generating approx. $700.00 per year in power bill savings. The Head Start Program serves 40 preschoolers from 3-5 years old. More than half of the students are children of Somali refugees. All of them live in Yesler Terrace, a subsidized housing project run by the City of Seattle. On average Yesler Terrace residents earn less than 30% of the City’s median wage. This was a great way to promote our philanthropic philosophy of helping distressed children. http://headstartmakeover.org/ ... Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:27:00 PST http://northcoastelectric.com/blog/nces-big-blue-blog/rebuilding-seattle-together/ NCE Seattle Associates along with some of their family and friends participated in a program called Rebuilding Together Seattle (RTS). RTS is a program assisting people in need of home repairs and maintenance. On this day, NCE Associates contributed their time (140 volunteer hours!) and effort helping with yard work, house hold clean-up, painting in bathroom and kitchen, assembling and installing new light fixtures, new exhaust fan and range hood, new kitchen appliances, new doors and hardware, new porch railing and wall building, all completed in one day. At the end of the day, a very thankful homeowner, who has lived in the house for over 40 years, returned to her newly updated and improved home. Rebuilding Together Seattle was established in 1989 and is part of the national Rebuilding Together organization. This charitable group repairs or rebuilds homes at no cost to low-income homeowners, particularly those who are elderly, disabled or families with children. Special thanks for Jeff Haines for putting this all together, Brian Stanton for helping coordinate, CJ Chapman from Chapman Electric for providing electrical services, Evergreen Home Heating and Energy for helping with HVAC services, Starbucks for providing coffee, and Mad Pizza for providing lunch for volunteers. To learn more about rebuilding Together Seattle or to volunteer, visit their website at http://www.rtseattle.org/#2 ... Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:24:00 PST http://northcoastelectric.com/blog/nces-big-blue-blog/when-you-wish-upon-north/ James, a young boy from Soldotna, Alaska suffering from progressive degeneration of his muscles, made a wish with Wish Upon A North Star to spend time with his family away from hospital and see Disneyworld for the first time. This year, James’ wish will come true, thanks to the $1,500.00 donation from North Coast Anchorage raised through their annual golf tournament. The organization will send James, his parents, and 2 siblings to Orlando, Florida to Disneyworld to stay in “Give the Kids the World Village”. For a short period of time they can be a regular family together on vacation instead of together at the hospital. Wish Upon The North Star has been granting wishes for twenty-five years without paid staff. All monetary donations go directly toward providing wishes for Alaska children with life-threatening illnesses. The all-volunteer Board of Directors appreciates donations because they help provide a few smiles, some much needed laughter, and a get-a-way from ongoing medical treatments. To learn more about Wish Upon The North Star or to donate, visit their website at:  http://wishuponthenorthstar.com ... Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:17:00 PST http://northcoastelectric.com/blog/nces-big-blue-blog/nce-portland-state-university-school/ Congratulations Veronica Stana for being the North Coast Electric School of Business Scholarship recipient for 2011/2012! When Veronica enrolled she was not sure which major she would pursue but after taking an Operations Management course, she was convinced that the Logistics and Supply Chain program was the direction she wanted to take.   Veronica says: “Thank you so much for your generous scholarship! It has really been an honor and a blessing at the same time. I am so grateful for your support and hope someday I will be able to give back what I am receiving right now.” ... Sat, 31 Dec 2011 10:00:00 PST