Since 2011, Tri State Electric, Inc. has installed lights on the buildings surrounding Pittsburgh’s Market Square as part of this city’s BNY Mellon Season of Lights. This annual holiday celebration begins in late November and lasts through the first week of January each year.

When Charles E. Kennedy Sr. (Chuck Sr.) founded Tri State Electric, Inc. (Tri State) in 2008, the company name aptly described its regional reach. Tri State initially did business in its home state of Pennsylvania, plus West Virginia and Ohio.

Then our clientele—Gabriel Brothers, now Gabe’s, in particular—asked us to get licensed in seven additional states: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Delaware and Kentucky.

Chuck Sr. serves as president, but he is quick to point out that he’s had help growing the company, especially from his son Charles Kennedy Jr. (Chuck Jr.).  “Chuck Jr. has been my right-hand man since we started,” he says. “He’s the best electrician I know. I taught him everything.” At this point in his life, and with the progress of the business, Chuck Sr. has been able to leave most of the work to Chuck Jr. and concentrate on growing the business and bringing in the work. Chuck Jr. runs the jobs and manages the crews.

Along with his son, Chuck Sr. has had endless support from his wife Robyn. “When I started Tri State, Robyn was behind me 100 percent. She always said, “Just do what you need to do, and we’ll be fine.” Robyn oversaw the operation of the company for many years but has now passed it down to Chuck Jr’s. Wife, Elyse. “Elyse manages our licensing information and is also our comptroller. She’s done an excellent job filling Robyn’s position”, Chuck Sr. states.

Family has been a big part of Tri State and its success. Chuck Sr. and Jr. flawlessly manage the business together. If one doesn’t know the answer, the other does. Between the two of them, they have over 60+ years electrical experience.

In the early 2000’s, the Kennedy’s decided to leave their first electrical business and move to Las Vegas to help their parents, who both lived there at the time.

“We were doing all the electrical contracting for McDonald’s restaurants throughout Pittsburgh” Chuck Sr. says. “Then my father became very ill and had to have a quadruple bypass. He ran a mortgage business in Las Vegas and asked if I could come out and help him keep the business going while he recovered. Robyn’s mom was also sick, so we decided to make the move.”

Five years later when his father was better, Chuck Sr. and his family returned to Pennsylvania, and he opened up shop in Belle Vernon. “I couldn’t wait to get back to the electric business”, he says. “It was almost like I never left. I was able to land on my feet and keep on moving, but this time with my son as my foreman.”

This was due, in large part, to how happy his former clients were to have him back.

“I was doing business with Chuck Sr. when I worked for Gabriel Brothers – before he left for Las Vegas,” says Andy Berdar, now a project manager for Tri State Design & Consulting, “It was very honorable for him to take care of his father. Still, I was anxious to work with him when he returned. He and his son are extremely knowledgeable in all facets of electrical work. Tri State Electric is one of the highest respected companies I’ve known.”

The high standards that Chuck Sr. sets for himself have naturally been picked up by Chuck Jr. when making his staffing decisions.

Tri State has ten employees now but has staffed up to as many as 40 when projects call for it. The summer of 2022 was one such instance. “Tri State took on its biggest project to date in 2022 with a Nordstrom’s Rack build in Chattanooga, TN.” Chuck Jr. says “Along with the Nordstroms build, we also had three other builds for Gabe’s going all at the same time. Lima, OH; Butler, PA, and coincidentally enough, a Gabe’s in Chattanooga, TN. We needed a lot of man power to complete the project schedules. We have never missed an opening date.”

Achieving such rigorous project goals means that Tri State’s core group of employees must be well trained, knowledgeable and experienced.

Tri State’s electricians like to help when people have problems with electrical and lighting systems. Chuck says clients such as Chastity Everly, Property Management Coordinator for Gabe’s, often call him whenever an issue arises related to electrical, emergency medical services (EMS) or lighting systems.

In fact, she recently called Tri State to replace parking lot light bulbs when a Gabe’s store manager put in a work order because only 1 out of 24 lights were lit in the parking lot. Chuck Sr. sent Garrett Bissett, one of his long time employees, to investigate. “Garrett determined that several phases had been crossed up throughout the poles and several wires were burnt underground. He was able to locate where the burnt up wires were in order to dig to replace them. He installed a quazite box in the ground and removed the burnt wires and installed all new ones. Then went to each pole individually and terminated every wire. After everything was fixed, he re-energized the parking lot and all poles lit up and have remained lit to this day. Those parking lot lights had been out for years.” Chuck Sr. states.

Of course, Tri State prefers to prevent problems from occurring in the first place. While working on a project at the AMETEK Specialty Metal Products plant in Eighty Four, Pennsylvania, Chuck found a way to improve the electrical system design and to save his client some money.

AMETEK wanted to start making stainless-steel spray paint. The company’s engineer designed an explosion-proof room for this and put a special electrical panel in it—one that didn’t allow sparks to escape because these could ignite the fumes and blow the whole place up. That panel cost $20,000.

Chuck suggested installing a standard panel outside of the explosion-proof room instead.

I told the engineer if we did this and sealed the openings where the pipes went through the walls, we could save AMETEK 15 grand. He liked the idea. We wound up designing and building the electrical system for the entire plant as we went.

Chuck continually strives to make Tri State a one-stop electrical and lighting shop for clients, who often ask for his expert advice.

One of my clients owns a strip mall in Washington, Pennsylvania. When a discount store broke its lease, he was having difficulty finding a new tenant for the vacant, 10,000-square-foot space. He asked what I recommended.

Chuck suggested that the large space be split into four sections, each with its own electrical service. He gave the client a quote for electrical work and arranged for a quote for HVAC and plumbing. The client now has reliable information on which to base a decision.

Chuck has invested in bucket trucks and other specialized equipment that have helped Tri State build on its lighting installation expertise to offer commercial lighting maintenance and retrofit services.

To help clients dispose of T8 fluorescent bulbs properly, Chuck did some research and found an inexpensive solution.

I found a company that would pick these up if you packed them in a box. It was ridiculous how much they charged. So, I went a step further and found a lamp disposal system called a ‘bulb eater.’ It sits on top of a 55-gallon drum and will crush 1,200 4-foot T8 bulbs, then safely store these for transport. The system includes a gasket and HEPA filter to prevent mercury from escaping. After the bulbs are crushed, a disposal company picks up the barrel. What would normally cost a customer about $1,000 costs about $450 instead.

Jim Barger, property manager for West Place Real Estate Services, says he values how proactive, thorough and reliable Tri State is.