If you happen upon the offices of Superior Electric and happen to hear the clack-clack-clack of a typewriter, don’t be alarmed. You haven’t stepped into a time warp, and there is plenty of modern equipment around to make sure today’s electrical requirements are met.
It’s just that when a company has spent more than 30 years adhering to old-fashioned tenets like never taking on any debt and a self-described “go-getter attitude,” it makes sense that the occasional invoice might be dispatched from something other than a laser printer.
Business Briefing
Locations: 36 Germay Drive, Wilmington, Del. 19804
Founded: 1985
Industry: Commercial & industrial electric contracting
Generations: 4
Website: www.superiorelectric.biz
Facebook: Superior Electric Service
“We’re about hard work and persistence,” said Joelle Fitzsimmons, who has been with the company for
22 years. “My mother [Jane] has a lot of energy, even at 64.”
Jane started the company with her husband, Jim Fitzsimmons Jr., in 1985 in their home. Today, more than 50 people work for Superior, with members of two other Fitzsimmons generations, including Jim III, who runs the day-to-day operations.
Superior Electric is a union shop that does commercial and industrial work that includes new construction and renovation. It works with schools, hospitals and malls. It is committed to its employees, and its conservative business principles helped Superior stay alive during the economic crash of 2007-08, when, as Joelle said, “the whole state slowed down.”
Today, as Jim IV prepares for his first summer job, Superior Electric continues to move forward, marching to its own beat, which is kept by, of all things, a typewriter.
