Jacqueline Electric and Contracting, Inc (JEC) is an Electrical Contracting company based out of South Easton, Massachusetts, founded in 2010 by President, Jacqueline Gorman. The story of JEC is an inspiring tale rooted in family and hard work, from Jacqueline picking up tools from the age of fourteen, to her son and daughter following in her footsteps years later. I speak with Jacqueline in JEC’s 15th year of business – a milestone made more impressive by the fact that the company has weathered an economic downturn, a global pandemic, and countless other market pressures since its launch in 2010. “It was tough to establish a business in 2010 when the market was down,” Jacqueline says. “I worked hard to become diversified and to think outside the box on how I could grow and develop the company.” Jacqueline reflects on a time when companies operated in a state of uncertainty, and so establishing relationships with vendors as a new business posed significant challenges. “Those first five years were a hurdle, establishing relationships and proving that we would be a solvent company. There were some bumps in the road but we survived, and we grew really quick.” Strength and determination is at the core of JEC, and of Jacqueline as the woman who leads it. It’s fitting that Jacqueline has woven her name into her business—Jacqueline Electric and Contracting, Inc—given that she commits herself so fully to it.
Operating in seven states, JEC provides electrical services to retail, industrial, commercial, and medical/dental clients. Jacqueline says, “We try to be diversified with the private sector and the public sector, so anytime the market takes a shift, my job is to make sure we can adapt.” JEC is a Certified Women Owned Enterprise (WBE), which has its benefits. “It’s been a huge plus getting into the public marketplace. We started getting bigger projects, high rise buildings in the city, which was a big stepping stone. That really took the company to another level with developers seeing what we can do.” Jacqueline adds, “It gave me the competitive edge.”
“We try to be diversified with the private sector and the public sector, so anytime the market takes a shift, my job is to make sure we can adapt.”
Jacqueline’s engineering background also gives JEC a distinct edge. She has completed specialized courses in electrical engineering, HVAC, and plumbing to deepen her technical expertise and enhance the firm’s capabilities. “I provide a lot of design-build solutions. If a general contractor has a problem on site, they hire me in to revisit the project and bring solutions to the table.” During COVID, when products were scarce and difficult to source, Jacqueline developed design-build alternative solutions that enabled JEC to complete projects quickly—at a time when many other contractors couldn’t. She is also a natural problem solver, highly sought after for her expertise in solving complex problems through value engineering. “I do a lot of value engineering on projects,” Jacqueline says, “When [clients] approach me, I bring solutions to the table.” With her knowledge and expertise, she maximizes value for her clients by balancing cost, performance, and function, helping them make smarter choices and she has not once, in 15 years, missed a deadline.
Jacqueline’s multi-trade knowledge was put to the test on the high-rise Cosmopolitan project in Boston. At over $3 million USD in value, the project was a huge milestone for the rising company. “Our first high rise,” Jacqueline says, “and at that time our largest contract. It was a former Cathedral Church built in 1850, infilled with six levels of apartments. It’s a historical site in the city. It was a very high profile, prestigious job, with townhouses on the upper levels going for [millions]. It showed people what we can do.” A year into the project, the owner approached JEC with their vision of taking the upper levels and reimagining them as townhouses. The owner had been told that it could not be done due to power constraints. Enter Jacqueline, who sees solutions where others see problems. “You need to know the different trades, the different equipment, the loads, and what can be designed,” Jacqueline says. “I came up with a solution that allowed us to redo the distribution and get power.” After months of costly delays and an insistence that it couldn’t be done, Jacqueline’s solution was accepted. “I came from a field background, starting in the field at six years old and working with tools at the age of fourteen. I can innovate someone’s future and design systems to work for what they need.” Jacqueline’s proven track record of delivering tangible value to the projects she leads has allowed her to make big moves in her field while gaining the respect of her peers. “I built up a relationship and moved on to three or four other projects,” Jacqueline says. “[My clients] know at the end of the day I am going to pull through a project on or before schedule. I’ve never taken on a job that I could not deliver, because I refuse to. If there’s a job that I can’t do or can’t deliver on time I’ll be the first person to say I’m not going to do it, because my name is out there. I’ve been in the trade over 40 years, and my work is based off my reputation out there.”
Jacqueline’s engineering background led her from doing ground-ups, mixed-use buildings to developing underground pad sites. Pad sites are concrete slabs on which electrical equipment is installed to accommodate future tenants. “The developer will give me ideas of what they’re looking to market those pad sites for, and my job is to bring enough power to those pad sites for future tenants. I get called in to develop primary switch banks and duct banks, working close with the utility companies. I do all the underground, the transformer vaults, precast pads, manholes, all the load calculations.” One of many successful pad sites for JEC has been in Mansfield, MA. “On this pad site they built a big complex across from the Mansfield Xfinity Centre where all the concerts happen, and a hotel went in.” Pad sites are particularly efficient for commercial and residential construction—which JEC has leveraged to its advantage.
JEC is in a perpetual state of diversification, as can be seen with the L3 project which saw JEC branch into clean rooms. Jacqueline says, “It’s pipe work, cranes, a lot of high uplift work, which is time consuming. The big portion of clean rooms is your electrical and HVAC into static proof rooms. There’s a lot of bonding and grounding and protecting the penetrations of those rooms from static electricity.” Whatever the project, Jacqueline trusts that her team is out there representing her well in the field. She recognizes the value of her people and what they bring to the table. “Sales feed egos, profits feed families,” she says. “I tend to go with the profits and run a leaner shop, so it’s not just 55 guys, it’s 55 families. I don’t think of just that one employee, I think about keeping food on the table for [their] family.”
At the heart of JEC, from office to field, is a strong sense of family. “My team [is] the foundation of the company,” Jacqueline says, “I’ve got loyal men [and women] and they represent me very well. You’ve got to surround yourself with good people with positive attitudes Jacqueline is equally committed to employee development, championing initiatives like the JEC Apprenticeship Program and co-op partnerships with multiple vocational schools. Jacqueline believes in helping her team learn and grow right along with her.
As a family owned-business, many of the good people that Jacqueline surrounds herself with are not just like family, they are just that—family. In fact, both of Jacqueline’s children and her husband have joined the JEC team. “I share all my experiences with my [children]. I always tell them, to run a business you’ve got to make sure you’re well-rounded in every aspect. You better know the field, and you better know engineering.” Jacqueline hopes that if her children experience this culture, they will be well-equipped to carry the next generation of the company. “My [children] see through me what it takes to run a business,” she says. Her daughter has her construction license and hopefully in the next two years both her daughter and her son will have their electrical license. “They both want to be diversified, because you never know how this market’s going to change. To be successful, you better be able to bounce into something else. You better be able to get back out on the field, find out where it went wrong, and rebuild your company again.” By doing this, Jacqueline is not only building a future for her family, but also making sure the JEC team will continue to succeed and grow, no matter what the future holds.
