electricians I have ever had the chance to work for. Mr. Kotzias was a former student of Mr. Stefan Yablonksy, he introduced me to Steve and Jose based on the fact that I lived in Beacon, NY at the time. He thought it would be a perfect fit, and was 100% correct.

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Working at S.K. Electric, L.L.C. was the chapter in my life that opened my eyes to new possibilities and opportunities.  I was highly motivated, never turned down the chance to work. We were a very small shop at this point, just the 3 of us. Steve and Jose showed me what it was to work hard, and play hard. We worked long hours, and just when we thought it was time to quit, we worked harder. Blizzards would come, trees would fall and pull the services right off of houses, leaving people with no power and no heat. We worked countless hours, side by side with Central Hudson, to get power back on. One year, we worked 3 days straight reconnecting services, with just enough time to grab a couple hours of sleep and cup of coffee. Steve and Jose embedded diligence into my core.

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One thing that never lacked, QUALITY. It didn’t matter how long you had worked the day before, whatever personal struggles you might have been dealing with, you NEVER let the quality lack. It was a core standard that you could never fall short in. That was the characteristic that set us apart from most other contractors. A good portion of an electricians job is hidden in walls, making sure we nail article 110.12 (Mechanical Execution of work- Electrical equipment shall be installed in a neat and work-manlike manner) in the NEC codebook was always important.

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In the Spring of 2010, I sent my application to Metro-North Railroad for an opening as a Bridge Electrician in New Haven, CT. I got accepted to sit and take the Maintenance of Way electricians test. With the background that was stated above, I passed with flying colors. I jumped through the hoops and over the hurdles, wound up landing a position as a Sub-Stations Electrician based out of Manhattan, NY.

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This is where my foundation was formed for working in groups. I had never had much experience working in large groups on a project, working well with others was always a trait that I had lacked. The vast differences between co-workers was a large struggle for me at first. Sub-stations were a foreign land to me.

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I had never been introduced to working with 13,200 volts before. The system that Metro- North has for the electric trains was very intricate and involved. Working on this switchgear was very interesting to me. A lot of small parts, between metering equipment, breaker control and indication, this spiked my interest in automated switchgear.

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Summer 2013, I got introduced to JDC Power Systems, Inc. Their mission was automated switchgear for large Data Centers all over the nation. It was a cut in pay, and double to hours. Most important piece, an interesting and professionally satisfying position. The switchgear was designed to avoid scenarios with a loss of power to the Data Center. Redundant utility sources, Redundant Generator sources, and the icing, a UPS system to carry the load while the generator came up to speed. Human interaction was zero in the event of power failure, which in the Data Center market, there is no room for failure. My part in this puzzle, verifying the switchgear was assembled and wired according to the engineers drawings, performing any neccessary field modifications, and carry out the testing procedures required.

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Unfortunately, doing work mainly in Ashburn, VA and Houston, TX put too much stress on my personal life. I had to make the decision to leave and that is when I started working for the guys at Cat Del-V Electric in Mamoroneck, NY.

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October 2014, I had the opportunity to work for and learn from the three generations of Joe Delvecchios. Each Joe brought something to the table for me, between code knowledge, hard work, and smart business decisions. Although a short lived employment, a mentally profitable period.

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December 2014, I reached out to Steve and Jose at S.K. Electric about employment opportunities, they had an opening and a job that fit me perfect. The KTC Monastery in Wappingers Falls, NY was building a new shrine. A 20,000 sq. ft. shrine that includes multiple dormitories, restaurant grade kitchen, and multiple shrine halls. We had originally signed on for the line voltage (outlets, lights, etc.) installation, until we got the opportunity to design their A/V system.

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Integrated speaker system, production quality PTZ cameras, live broadcasting equipment, and the icing on the cake is the live internet streaming capabilities. When the door was first opened, it was intimidating but between the three of us, we knew that no matter what it took to design and install, we could do it. I spent many nights reading books, watching videos, and calling in favors from other professionals to design a system that met the requirements set by the KTC.

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This was the motivating force to start Ricconnected, LLC. The passion for Low Voltage and Audio Visual systems was born. I have never been faced with a challenge that I could not complete. I hope to be the contractor you choose to design, or install the system you desire.