Up Close with Jared Blackney

By Shirley Coyle, LC

As a young kids growing up in Golden, Colorado. Jared Blackney remembers accompanying his grandfather as he changes light bulbs in record stores, pawn shops and other places. Jared's grandfather had established McBride Lighting & Electrical Services back in 1956.

In high school, as he got older, Jared worked in the field of the business during summers and winter breaks. In college, Jared completed a business degree at UC Colorado Springs while playing soccer and continuing to work in the family business as an apprentice electrician.

After college, Jared moved into the office to do sales and more. Now, he is Vice President and handling all the large lighting projects. He noted, "I thank my mother for trusting me with the family business. It's been a whirlwind, but it's been good. I had always seen how successful my grandparents were, then the success of my uncle, and my mother; so I felt I could grow this business"

The team here at McBride is awesome, I love coming to work everyday!" Jared is quick to highlight several key employees: "Brook Spindler, my GM, who holds the Master Electrician license for the company, Alisha Walker, AR/AP. IT and everything else; Tim Bennett, one of my project managers. They show up every day and grind. They always get everything that's difficult done, and they do it without complaint-I'm grateful"

What is it about lighting that appeals to Jared? He explained. "I've been in lighting most of my life... I've always found that lighting is a very unique field, but also that everybody needs lighting- so I knew it would be a good business to continue to grow in. I've also found it's a lot of the same people in the industry, going to conferences or in the field. whether they're at the same company or a different company, whether they're on the same side of the aisle or not; it's kind of a family vibe."

Jared's biggest challenge along the way was sharing the load and he eventually realized he needed to relinquish some control. "When I first got into the office, I was doing the sales, the project management, the service side, and the maintenance. I was working eighty to ninety hours per week. and it was too much. So, I found a new service manager, a new sales guy. I could focus on large lighting projects... and we've slowly just blossomed from there. I've continued to give up more to the people I trust since then. and I've realized I needed to do even more training and more hands-on with my new people."

Reflecting on industry issue, Jared shares what he sees as the biggest issue for the next five to ten years: "LEDs have become so prevalent, and they last so long, that many of the maintenance companies that have flooded the market will go away, and I'm ok with that! I've never shied away from competition, but at one point in time there were around ten of us that did a good job of maintenance; now the number is about two hundred! I think it's going to come back down again... I see the LED space dwindling a bit, and with the longer maintenance cycle, there's not as much need for maintenance."

Asked for his advice to people coming into the industry, Jared is firm, saying "Understand all technologies, not just LED... if you don't know what you're replacing, you're not going to set yourself apart from your competitors. Education is key, if you don't know what you're talking about in the space you're a professional in, it's going to be a rough day for you. The other thing, listen! When you're there with people, listen, soak it all in; with competitors on a job walk, in the office, or working out in the field."

Jared sees NALMCO as a key piece of his techs' education, explaining, "They all go through the training and exams. And as they get a new certification, they get a raise. We also do product trainings - on controls and other topics. We educate people as much as we possibly can here."

Reflecting on what's behind his success, Jared offers, "I would say educating myself on what I do, listening, and providing good service. There are a lot of people in my position who can promise the world, but one thing that I believe sets us apart is our people. and the fact that they do a great job. One of out customers took out a newspaper article in their local paper after we changes all the lights in their school, saying thank you to us and the ESCO we were working with. That keeps the business coming. You know, changing a light bulb sounds easy, but I swear I want to change my motto to "it's harder than you think," because there's a lot of people out there that do it wrong, and I feel we do it right."

And what does Jared Blackney do for fun? He is all about his two beautiful young children, Jack and Brooklyn. "I love the buzzwords work/life balance...but my kids are my whole world, my motivation. I don't want them to struggle, I want to help them as much as I can... I do all of this for them" The positive legacy Jared's grandfather established in 1956 is well in hand.