There are a lot of family-owned companies in Edmonton, but few actually feel as much like a family as J & J Electric Ltd. It’s next to impossible to step into the J & J offices without sensing the genuine camaraderie and mutual respect in the casual banter among president Mark Jankovic, general manager and right hand-man Robin Stefura, project manager Art Lussier, chief estimator Tom Culo and office manager Tina Mitchell. They wouldn’t have it any other way.
It’s especially unusual to find such a strong feeling of cohesion and purpose in a company celebrating its 55th year of success, but J & J Electric isn’t your average company. “We’ve always had the opportunity to grow,” Mark says, “but I don’t think it’s ever really been a goal. The thing is to do the job correctly, and growth comes. We’re growing all the time. It takes a good team to do that. We are that team. I know that my company’s only as good as the people who work for me.”
This humble, both-feet-on-the-ground approach to business has been an integral part of the J & J Electric story right from the very beginning, thanks in large part to the man who put the first ‘J’ in the company name: Andy Jankovic. “My dad started the company in ‘59 with a man named George Jaroch,” Mark says (when his partner left a few years later, Andy decided to keep both J’s in the name). Back then, J & J Electric did residential, commercial and industrial work, from installation to material supply to maintenance, much as they do now.
Some things were a little different in the early days, though. For instance, J & J headquarters was the Jankovic family garage in Glenora. “The foremen would meet back there in the mornings,” Mark says, “I remember as a kid going to the garage and my dad telling me to get out.” A son’s budding interest in the family business, perhaps? Absolutely.
“I think I was 12 my first summer working for my dad. He gave me a shovel and I had spending money for the rest of the year. It was awesome,” says Mark. When he graduated from high school, however, it was a different story. “I had a little bit of a battle with my dad because he wanted me to go to university, but I convinced him that this was where I wanted to be.”
Mark’s father persuaded him to apprentice with another contractor before joining the family business. “It was a friend of my dad’s,” Mark says. “It was a good place to gain experience because it was a larger company.” Four years later, with plenty of experience to match his ambition, he was ready to help build up the family business.
Robin was subcontracting for J & J at that time, but began working closely with Mark, both of them putting in long hours to take the company to that next level. Although business may be booming for J & J today, those first couple of years after Mark and Robin came on board turned out to be the perfect time to worry. “A lot of my dad’s clients were retired so we had to build new relationships, and for a while there, we were quoting jobs and not getting them,” Mark remembers. But hard work and perseverance, as they usually do, paid off. By 1996, J & J Electric had once again found its footing as a thriving business with a growing list of loyal clients, and Mark had taken over from his father as sole proprietor.
“My dad got to see the start of our new growth before he passed in 2000,” Mark says. “It was nice to be able to pick up the phone and talk with him about things. It was tough to lose that, but we got through it like we always do.” As a family, of course.
“We went through the good and the bad over the years,” Robin says. “But this is where a lot of my best friends have been created. Not only with this company, but with other companies that we work with, and that’s what makes it easier to deal with the stresses that come with keeping things running.”
One of those friends is Art, who started at J & J as a foreman in 2004 and moved into the office three-and-a-half years ago. “I enjoyed the field very much and I missed it at first, but I have to admit it’s nice to be here in the winter,” Art says. What’s it like to go from running one job with six workers to running six jobs with 20? “We’ve trained lots of foremen who have our back. Now I understand better what Mark worries about. I get excited when the numbers are good, and I worry when they’re not.”
When Mark came back to work full time at J & J, Tina was just eight years old. Now she’s an indispensable part of the J & J family. “They’re all like my uncles,” says the office manager.
“Older brothers,” says Art.
“Older brothers,” she says, correcting herself with a smile. Laughter rings out in the room and suddenly, you know. This is the real deal. Like a family in so many ways, J & J Electric welcomes new members, helps them to grow and sometimes watches as they leave the nest to build something of their own. “We support the Registered Apprentice Program (RAP),” Art explains. “So, a high school calls us and asks us to train Grade 11 RAP students, and they get credit for high school as well as hours worked for going into an apprenticeship program.”
“They’ve basically decided that they want to get into the electrical trade, and the time they’ve put in here often allows them to go to NAIT right out of high school. They’re journeymen electricians at 21 years old and making pretty darn good money,” Mark says. “But we usually hire them after the summer. Some have stayed, but we’ve had some who’ve left to do their own thing. Quite a few companies have come out of here, which is good because that’s what apprenticeship is for.” Like any warm and welcoming family, J & J Electric is equally proud of its daughters and its sons. “We support women in the trades, for sure. We’ve had women working here from the beginning.”
As you can see, at J & J Electric, the word “team” isn’t just a trendy term. It defines who they are as a company. They have their own ball team, the mighty and much-feared “Speed Bumps.” There’s a company hockey team, as well. “It’s good for health, it’s good for team building and, of course, there’s the social aspect. As long as no one gets hurt. Then they can’t come to work, and that’s no good,” Mark says with a smile.
Chief estimator Tom agrees. “The company’s given me a great opportunity and I’ve learned a lot, but it’s because they’ve been like a family and they’ve been good to me that I’ve been here for 12 years,” he says. “Smart, talented people, a lot of experience, a lot of knowledge. A good bunch of guys, really. The kind of people you want to work for.”
“We do have some fun around here,” Mark admits. “It’s important for everybody’s sanity, because it’s pretty hard to get up and get through your day if you don’t like your environment. Life’s not easy.”
Clearly, there’s no shortage of appreciation at J & J Electric for their people and the fact that they do, indeed, get up every morning and come in to put their skills, their knowledge and their dedication to work. People like Mark’s sister, Diana DeChamplain, and her husband Dennis, who’ve been doing J & J’s accounting for 32 years (not to mention sister Angela Rudelic who was the company’s office manager for 12 years). Also, people like Fritz Wolf and Kelly Gould, who’ve been keeping things humming in the field for over 15 years; Gary Lussier, who joined the team 10 years ago this past June; Don Kastelic, Mark Kulusic and Justin Lopushinsky, all of whom will soon be celebrating a decade with J & J. To all these folks and the rest of the J & J family, we at Business in Edmonton invite you to join us in wishing this little company with the big heart a very happy 55th anniversary.
