PORTAGE, Wis. — As Hispanic Heritage Month comes to a close, a Latinx-owned-and-operated Columbia County electrical company hopes to hire more diverse applicants.
During regular business hours, the phone rings every few minutes inside Veeter Bros. Electric. Operations Manager Ricardo Prado picks up as often as he can and tries his hardest to schedule his customers.
He and his boss, owner Justin Olveda, know that’s not easy to do with an eight-week waiting list.
“We found ourselves turning some people away because we don’t have the help to get these projects done,” Olveda said.
And Olveda loves projects. This past summer, the electrical expert made history when his company put the buzz in Mt. Olympus’ latest attraction, a first of its kind slide wheel.
“That was huge,” he said. “So we were taking on something new and while the electrical is still the same, the application was something brand new to the United States even.”
The half-Mexican master electrician went onto say he was proud of his two-year-old company, but knows he needs more trained workers and believes representation matters.
So, to do that, he said he plans on personally mentoring or supporting anyone interested in the profession with entry-level work.
“The work doesn’t require an ethnicity. You know, if you’re if you’re willing to come to work and put in the work, you know, we’re all the same,” Olveda said. “We’re all just people trying to make it, you know.”
Meanwhile, his right hand, Prado, agrees with his boss’s effort because he wants to see more diversity in the white-male-dominated field.
“It’s a big thing. I don’t think there’s enough, you know, diversity I guess in the work field,” Prado said. “Once in a while, you know, we meet somebody who’s you know, I guess of color, you know, of a different race, but, yeah, I mean, I believe it is […] something that needs to be pushed.”
Those interested in learning more about Veeter Bros. Electric and the entry-level training opportunities can visit https://veeterelectric.com.