4 minute read
Up Close with James Bernardo
By Shirley Coyle, LC
Armed with electrical training, James Bernardo went to work for an electrical contractor. Working with a couple of companies that were focused on energy conservation lead James into a focus on the lighting aspect of energy conservation. “It basically exploded from there…we were doing a ton of work retrofitting commercial facilities to save energy. Back then it was from T12 to T8 fluorescents, and then to T5s. Then, everything went to LED – it really changed the market.” James eventually started his own company, Candela Systems Corp, in 1994, leveraging the tremendous contacts he had built.
Born and raised in White Plains, New York, James has since expanded his reach as his customers expanded their businesses into other states. He now has more than thirty master electrical licences, allowing him to work in all those states. “I try to find local people I can use all the time, and for larger projects, I partner with other companies – NALMCO members.”
When asked about working with other companies, James smiled and said “Yeah, I call that ‘coopertition!’ We compete, we compete, we compete. Then, once the project is awarded, we say, ‘Now how do we work together?’ The demand is there –there’s enough work out there to be able to work together.”
Right now, James has about 25 people in his company, his preferred size (at one point, he had more than 100 people on his team). James notes that most of Candela Systems’ work is on the East Coast of the US and in the Caribbean.
“Finding people is the hardest part… our work is second and third shift, and people don’t want to do those shifts. We are just starting our workday when they want to be going home –that makes it difficult!” Other issues that James sees facing the lighting management industry include insurance costs (both liability and medical coverage), explaining “That’s the biggest sore – it’s insane what the companies charge! I’ve literally had to scale back my company because the rates have gone so high –especially anything with scaffolding or boom trucks.”
Reflecting on his success over the past 30 years, James points to “finding the right people, and then having the right client relationships out in the field. You need to understand what your clients are going through – they change, and we need to change with them.”
Having experienced a lot of lighting and controls technology change in his career in energy conservation work, James still manages to be surprised at times, saying, “Now we’re replacing the original LEDs with more advanced LEDs. And everything has controls. We’re doing a lot of schools, and they’re implementing daylight harvesting to take advantage of the natural light from classroom windows to save a lot of energy.”
James commented that the lighting and controls products have improved, and that issues in buying the products have improved over time. “But,” he explained, “the problem is with controls –there are just not enough being built, fast enough. There are supply chain delays across the board. Controls are driving the business…demand is huge.” He stressed the importance of being tied into the right manufacturers – “We need products that work and that last.”
Asked what advice he would give newcomers to the industry, James offered, “You have to have a desire for work. If they’re passionate about what they do, they should enjoy themselves – it makes the workday better if you enjoy what you do. I’ve always enjoyed lighting, especially the different ways you can light a space. It really can be drastically different, and most people don’t know that – that’s the fun part. One of the best things we’re doing right now is the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, NYC (home to Shakespeare in the Park productions, free to the public). It’s amazing seeing everything that goes into a theater – there are 9 dimmer racks, each with 96 circuits per rack…almost a thousand circuits just to feed the stage!”
Outside of managing his business, James has fun taking his son, 14, and daughter, 11, to the movies – “We saw Deadpool & Wolverine last week, and Beetlejuice last night!” Another passion for James is building custom cars. Current projects include a 1966 Chevy Nova and a 1978 Trans Am, with James finding different car shows to do on summer weekends. An appreciator of old and new technology, indeed.