Company History/Bio:

My father and I opened a small electrical business in May of 1986. I was 23 years old and my father was 41 years old and struggling with personal issues. I was very ambitious and full of energy. I was anxious to learn from my father's knowledge and experience, but his personal struggles continued. In August 1987 I got enough courage to open up my own business, A-1 Electric Co. I worked out of our single car garage and started running ads in the Bargain Post to install ceiling fans for $25.00 each. It was not a good time to open a business on pure heart and soul. The oil bust had just happened, interest rates were at 21% and the housing market was at a stand still. That winter I was starved for work, but I had no choice but to put all my energy into making this company viable. My wife and I survived on what little work I could get and her pay check from her job at Frontier St. Bank - $400.00 every 2 weeks.

The next summer brought hope and some income as I picked up remodeling jobs and repeat customers. In January 1989, my tenacity paid off; I signed my first contract with a builder for new construction homes. What a relief, a steady income and enough work to require hiring my first employee. Before I knew it the economy had turned around and I was running a company that was in need of more space than our garage provided. I moved the business to a 600 square foot office on 15th and South High Street in Oklahoma City. I purchased 2 trucks and hired more employees. My wife and I stepped out in faith when we decided to give up her guaranteed income so she could work with me overseeing the finances and managing the office needs. It was a great decision. After just two years we once again were in need of more space. We had expanded to five trucks and sixteen employees.

A-1 Electric relocated to my Uncles 4,000 square foot shop at 40th & S. High. In 1995 I had the opportunity to pick up a large Hvac account. With only a limited license, I had to test to get my unlimited license in order to obtain the account. I passed the test, got the account and everything was falling into place. All the hard work was paying off. Four years later we are up to 45 employees running 17 trucks, working in all areas of electric and heating and air, residential, commercial, and remodeling. In 2000 we moved to a 10,000 square foot building in Norman on Sooner Road. By 2003 we had 142 employees, running 38 trucks and going crazy. We decided it was too much for us to handle and still give the quality customer service that we had always provided. We down sized to 80 employees and today we continue to concentrate on providing quality products and quality work in a timely manner.

My wife and I are the sole owners of A-1 Electric Heat & Air Inc. We were married straight out of high school in 1981. We have had a lot of ups & downs with our business, and we learned from every one of them. I am proud to say that it has all culminated into a business able to give each and every customer the best service that we can provide. We have built a solid and honest business on faith and hard work. We would love to have you on our team as a loyal customer.

Sincerely,

Steve Nievar
President