Times may be tough, but that doesn't stop electrical companies from contributing to a good cause, especially when a seasoned sales professional gets behind it.
When Baltimore rep Michael Smith of Ironwood Sales & Marketing saw a story in The Wall Street Journal about an organization that builds houses for returning soldiers who have been injured, he wanted to help out. He got in touch with Homes for Our Troops, the Taunton, Mass.-based charity, and learned they were planning to build a house in Baltimore for a soldier who had suffered a triple amputation in an IED blast in Iraq.
Smith, who has been repping residential electrical products for 15 years, got the name of the general contractor, Arrisbrook Builders, and the electrical contractor, Kurlander Electric of Owens Mills, Md., and asked them how they were set for electrical products for the house. They had nothing. So Smith picked up the phone and started talking with his manufacturers, telling them about the project.
“I said, ‘I know it's tough out there, but is there anything you could do to help?’” Smith recalls. “And they said, ‘Here you go.’”
Bryant Wiring Devices donated all the wiring devices for entire home.
Nicor Lighting donated all the recessed lighting, track lighting, undercabinet lighting, ceiling fans and door chimes.
BRK donated all the smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms.
TayMac donated all the in-use covers and more.
Seargent David Battle with the 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment out of Fort Stewart, Ga., and his wife and four kids will move into the new home this month. The home is outfitted with a track-and-harness system that will help Battle move around the house independently, Smith says.
“I have a couple of buddies in the military,” Smith says. “As far as I'm concerned, every one of these guys who come back injured should have a house built for them.”
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