“Quality is our #1 goal. That’s what we are all about. Our team is detail oriented, customer focused, and filled with talented people.”

Josh has been “living electric” since he graduated from high school in Elk River, where he grew up. He started working as an installer and quickly was promoted to designing projects and managing installations on-site by the time he was 21. He earned a degree in electrical construction at Saint Cloud Technical College to enhance his knowledge base and joined Cal-Tex in 2008, just a couple of years after it opened for business.

Josh believes that a key reason why Cal-Tex has continued to grow into one of the Twin Cities leading electrical service providers is the company’s approach to its clients.  “Because our project managers design, estimate and manage a project, our clients receive superior overall service and quality. It’s one of the areas that really sets us apart from much of our competition, which divides each of those phases in a project to different people.”

The quality of the on-site teams of electricians that Cal-Tex assigns to a project are unmatched in the industry, Josh notes. “I’ve seen a lot of companies, and I’ve worked with a lot of electricians, and the Cal-Tex team is by far the highest in terms of teamwork and quality of work. Let’s face it, those guys are the reason we have grown to where we are today!”

Cal-Tex gets a lot of repeat business from clients because of “our unwavering devotion to the successful completion of their project. I talked with a contractor recently who said that we may not have had the lowest bid, but he was going to go with our bid because no one else could pull the whole project together from design to installation and do it under budget and on time.”

A big motivator for Josh is the ability to help other members of the Cal-Tex team grow in their jobs. “It’s all about giving back to the people around me, and helping other people grow and succeed.”

Josh lives in Becker with his wife, Laurie, and their two daughters and one son. He loves to deer hunt, go ice fishing in the winter and walleye fishing in the summer, and spend time with his family outdoors. He coaches his younger daughter’s softball team and teaches a religion class at his church to 2nd graders every week.

“I love to contribute to our customer’s success. They look to us to be a trusted resource and I want to help Cal-Tex grow on that until we are the largest electrical provider in the Twin Cities.”

“We’ve earned our reputation as an outstanding company because of the work we do. Clients can always count on us for quality and reliability.”

Dan Cameron moved from working in the field as an electrician to an office job with Cal-Tex Electric as an estimator and project manager in 2016. He brought with him 22 years of experience working in the field as a journeyman electrician, and he also brought with him his desire to always get better at what he does in his job.

As a project manager and estimator, Dan manages Cal-Tex Electric jobs on a day-to-day basis, along with estimating of potential future projects.

Dan notes that the core strength of Cal-Tex Electric is the electricians in the field. I really like the challenge of pursuing work and ensuring that our field electricians stay busy. I have noticed that once clients have us do a project for them, they always want us to bid on their future projects.”

Dan lives in Prior Lake – the same town he grew up in – and has been in the area most of his life except for a decade spent in Colorado working and skiing. Dan has one daughter.

“My goal every day is to make sure that I’m helping to put out a superior product that I can be proud of accomplishing.”

Jennifer Stone joined Cal-Tex Electric in 2012 after two decades in the trades because she was looking for something more challenging and more flexible.  “I was happy to take a job at Cal-Tex as an Assistant Project Manager because I liked the challenges the job offered,” says Jennifer, who brought many years of experience as a service manager.

Jennifer was promoted in 2017 to a full Project Manager position, and works primarily on fully-engineered projects that have already been designed. “I project-manage a lot of coffeeshops and restaurants and a lot of office build outs. I work with general contractors and our team does the electrical work on the project. The work is always changing and always evolving and I love it.”

The flexibility and freedom to do your job are both reasons why Jennifer enjoys working at Cal-Tex so much. “Here you are in charge of yourself and no one micromanages you. That means you control your own destiny and can have a greater impact on the projects you are responsible for.”

The Cal-Tex team that Jennifer works with – both in the office and in the field “are great. They are always polite, nice people who are pleasant to work with. You don’t find that in many workplaces anymore. Our leadership makes sure that they hire the right people who will fit into this environment and thrive in their role.”

Jennifer wants to continue to grow in her role as a Project Manager and “keep pushing myself to do bigger and more complex projects.”

Jennifer lives in Lakeville with her husband Ben (who is an electrician) and their son Gabe, who is in middle school.  The family loves to travel and downhill ski together; Jennifer also enjoys watching her son play Lacrosse and spending time being active with her family.

“Cal-Tex customers know we are reliable and we’ll get their work done on time and on budget. It is rarer than you think that a company will deliver day in and day out.”

If it’s an emergency, a small project, or involves something “old school” (think circuit breakers from the ‘70s) then Matt Bright is the guy to call at Cal-Tex Electric. Matt’s the Service Manager, and he handles a little bit of everything.

Matt joined Cal-Tex Electric in 2013 as an apprentice electrician. A career working in the field as an electrician wasn’t Matt’s original goal. He has a master’s degree in teaching from Ohio State University. That was his second master’s degree – his first was from Minnesota State Mankato -and both were completed on full scholarships.  Matt joined Cal-Tex after college looking for another type of educational experience and soon fell in love with the trade.

Matt was promoted to the Service Manager position in 2017 after working in the field as an electrician. He enjoys his new job immensely. “There is something new to challenge me daily, I rarely receive the same phone call twice. The position offers me the chance to perform many types of problem solving, which keeps the job fresh and motivating.”

The work that Cal-Tex’s electricians do is superb, notes Matt. “Our guys really deliver a high standard of craftsmanship.”  And the people in the company, both in the field and at the home office, are outstanding, he adds. “The people are what makes Cal-Tex such a great place to work.”

Matt grew up in Eden Prairie and now lives in Lonsdale, MN. He has had a life-long passion for being a “maker”, always building new things from guitars to arcade cabinets. Currently he has been focusing on building mid-century modern furniture and a 3D printer

“Our clients stay with us because we go above and beyond their expectations.”

Gerry Velo has been an electrician ever since he graduated from high school almost two decades ago. For all of those years, he worked in the field as an electrician – and since 2016, he’s been working for Cal-Tex Electric. In the summer of 2018, Gerry had the opportunity to move into the Service Manager’s position at Cal-Tex Electric.

“I really liked the profession I chose to work in, and I enjoyed working in the field,” says Gerry. “But when the Service Manager position opened up, I thought I would apply for it. I like challenges and I thought this would be a definite challenge. Everybody I work with here has been great – in the field and in the office.”

In his new job, he organizes schedules, fields phone calls, visits job sites, researches projects, and submits bids. “I work on smaller projects for our commercial clients, builders, and handle our residential customers.”

Cal-Tex is the largest company Gerry has worked for, and he says it’s a “wonderful company that puts out a great product.”

Gerry lives in Prior Lake with his wife Summer. They have four boys– the two youngest are involved in soccer, baseball, and basketball. Gerry enjoys spending time with his family.

“As large as Cal-Tex has become, it still feels like a small family run shop. Everyone knows you and you feel valued every day you work here.”

If it’s 7 a.m. on a Sunday morning and you decide to drop by the warehouse at Cal-Tex Company headquarters, don’t be surprised if you find Adam Kack working feverishly to fill an order for a field crew. More than likely, it was an order placed late on a Friday afternoon or sometime Saturday.

“I love working under stress,” says Adam, who joined Cal-Tex Company in October 2017 and brings 14 years of warehouse management experience to his job. “Guys will text me over the weekend for supplies they need next week, and I’ll just come into the warehouse and fill the order. That’s my work ethic. I like feeling overwhelmed because I know I can get the job done no matter what the obstacles.”

Part of what motivates Adam to “get it done right away” is the sense of team that he feels working at Cal-Tex Company. “They made me feel welcome and like I belonged here as soon as I started. It is a really tight group here in the building and we get along really well. I value our guys in the field, and it is important to me that I build trust with them so they know that they can rely on me the same way our clients rely on them.”

So what exactly does Adam do in his role as warehouse manager? “If the guys need any tools or products, they call or text me. I handle all the shipping and receiving for our projects. We ship directly to the job site about 70% of the time – the rest comes to the warehouse and I make sure it gets to the job site when it is needed.”

Adam lives in Prior Lake with his girlfriend Stephanie and their son Brantley plus Stephanie’s two children. When he’s not working in the Cal-Tex warehouse, Adam does a lot of bow hunting in the fall and fishing for muskies or walleye (especially on the ice).