Building a Business on Trust | CWC Electric & Plumbing
By JENNIFER LECLAIR | Photos by BRIAN PETERS
According to CWC Electric & Plumbing’s co-founder Chuck Hogan, a business is nothing without its people.
“A company is all about who you’ve got working for you,” said Chuck, who started the business with his wife Natalie in 2012. “We want this to be a place where people like to come and where they can make a good living. These are highly skilled jobs, and our people should know how much we value them.”
The entrepreneurial couple’s past work experiences with poor customer service and employee treatment motivated them to go all in on the business and create a workplace they could feel proud of.
Family Foundations
Owners Chuck and Natalie say the relationships they build with their team members and customers are at the heart of what they do. Their family approach to doing business is one of several reasons why they expanded CWC’s leadership team to include their son, Joel, within a year of launching the business.
“It’s been a change for the better, to be able to work together,” Natalie said about bringing Joel on board. “Chuck and I both come from families who owned businesses, and we know one of the most important things we can do is stand behind and value our people.”
Joel initially joined the team as a master electrician, but he now manages the day-to-day operations of the company. Chuck and Natalie say it’s given them peace of mind to know the future of CWC is in good hands.
Cultivating the company’s positive workplace environment through leadership, they added, is what lets them focus on the most important part of their work: the trusting relationships they have with their customers.
In October 2023, CWC went from being a home-based business to occupying a new office space, a move they say made them more accessible to the community.
“We will show up when we say we’re going to,” Chuck said. “And we’ve had some customers so long, we’ve watched family members come and go, we know their pet’s name, we know what’s going on in their lives. It’s that kind of comfort and personal care that sets us apart.”
This people-first approach, the couple says, is what sets them apart from the competition. As private equity firms increasingly invest in electrical contracting companies, the industry is trending toward high-pressure sales strategies and increasing pricing structures — but not at CWC.
“People will trust a reputable person,” Joel said. “It goes back to dad’s reputation, at least initially. He was known to be trustworthy. He wanted to do things right, and for a fair price. That has just been baked into our culture all along.”
Beyond Electrical
Joel credits CWC’s steady growth, and their recent expansion in services, to the company’s loyal customer base.
Earlier this year, the company welcomed master plumber Nick McCart to lead their all-new plumbing division. A 25-year veteran of the trade, Nick’s work ethic and values are what Chuck, Natalie and Joel say make him a natural addition to the CWC team.
“We have the same beliefs,” Nick said. “We care about integrity and being around good people. We can stand behind what we’re doing because we do it right.”
Like the electrical industry, the plumbing industry is facing widespread acquisitions by private equity firms — another reason why Nick believes now was the right time for him to join CWC’s family-oriented team. Chuck and Natalie have known Nick for more than 20 years, working closely with both him and his father on a number of projects.
Nick has also brought over new team members he says share his same strong work ethic and commitment to trustworthiness, as well as an eagerness to work in an environment that recognizes the value of family and life beyond work.
There is a shared understanding among CWC’s leadership that if their employees are unhappy, the first person to know will be their customers. CWC says their approach to doing business has ensured this is never a problem.
According to Joel, more and more customers are asking them for recommendations for plumbing services. The addition of plumbing services has not only satisfied their existing customer base, he says, but also brought new clients on board.
600 Five-Star Stories
For skilled trades like plumbing and electrical, word of mouth can go a long way. It’s no secret that when customers are impressed by a company’s communication, service and quality, they’re more likely to refer friends or family for similar work. But Joel says that doesn’t necessarily mean all jobs come together smoothly.
Last winter, a long-time customer needed a generator replacement because they had trouble keeping it online after installation. The job required more than three follow-up visits, which included running cable to the generator outdoors and through the attic — all in freezing temperatures with four inches of snow on the ground, Joel said. The customer later wrote a Google review praising CWC for going “above and beyond!”
In fact, if you read through their reviews on platforms like Google and Facebook, you’ll find similar sentiments throughout.
“We have over 600 five-star reviews, and that is not something easily done,” Natalie said. “People tend to write reviews when they’re unhappy, not when they’re happy. That there were 600 people who took the time to write a review, I think that says a lot.”
Not only do the reviews paint a picture of customers satisfied with the quality of service they received, but many customers mention CWC team members by name — another sign that relationship-building is at the center of all they do.
From a home office startup to a flourishing company with a newly launched service department, this family business continues to grow.
“It is tough to teach young people a work ethic,” Chuck said. “When the kids come to shadow us or visit the office, they get to see firsthand how much we value the relationships we have with our customers. That kind of generational experience can be hard to find.”
