The managing director of an electrical business whose 25th anniversary was marked by a special reception last week has said smaller companies are the foundation of the country’s economy.
“People look at the bigger organisations – they may have a big name, but they are only a small part of the Chamber of Commerce,” said David Johnston, the head of Corporate Electric.
“The smaller companies provide a lot of services people don’t think about … but all of them are vital to the economy. They are the backbone of the economy, really,” added Johnston, who joined the fledgling firm 24 years ago.
He was speaking at a Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours event at the Grand Cayman Marriott Resort on 12 June to celebrate Corporate Electric’s quarter century milestone.
He added that the secret of the firm’s staying power and expansion over the years has been teamwork and training.
Johnston said, “Our success is largely down to the efforts of the staff over the last 25 years, and we’ve had people leave us to become electrical inspectors or for appointments in government.
“We have focused a lot on training and that’s a big part of our budget. We’re focused on innovation, training and communication – and artificial intelligence. We need to go with the future.”
Johnston said, “We’re in an industry where we won’t see the impact of AI much on the installation side. I do see it impacting us administratively.”
He explained AI was already used to draw up contracts and there were “definite advantages” to its use in many areas.
Johnston said, “AI is something I use every day.”
He added that AI had potential for the company’s engineering department, where it could be used to estimate how many power points would be needed for a project.
Johnston said, “AI is that the point now where it can count all the plugs. We will be able to use AI to estimate and design.
“We will always need people to oversee it, though. It will have an immense impact on engineering, but we will still need people.”
Corporate Electric offers electrical construction and service support to commercial, residential and residential customers.
The company also provides services such as IT and structured cabling, generator installation and maintenance, back-up power supply and service, as well as lighting control and lightning protection.
Omari Corbin, the president of the Chamber of Commerce and director of wholesale credit risk management at RBC, said, “Most of our members are actually small businesses which drive a lot of employment and drive a lot of the business in our communities.
“This is why the Business After Hours events are important, because they give our members the opportunity to have an event so people can come out and hear about these companies. … these events help people to know these businesses better and helps them support each other”.
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