PEARL BOD Interview with Paul Grein
What is your industry background?
My introduction to the electrical industry began in 1996 when I joined the US Navy – some Navy detailer took a look at my test scores or some other criteria unbeknownst to me or maybe they were just short on electricians at the time and saw fit to send me to Orlando and train as a Nuclear Electricians Mate. The schooling was 2-years long after which I served on the USS Topeka in the Electrical Division (E-Div) for the remainder of my 6-year enlistment.
Following the Navy my wife and I moved to Chicago in 2002, while she finished her Masters in Nursing I took a job at a Compact Strip Mill in Riverdale, IL At the mill I maintained the electrical infrastructure for several years.
When my wife graduated she took a job in Dallas and I ended my career path as an industrial electrician when I enrolled in a local college studying Electrical Engineering. I graduated in 2007 with my BSEE and did a short stint in the defense industry – I did not care for it.
I went from a hands-on profession to the absolute opposite, it was like the worst of the military, all the bureaucracy and none of the comradery. Shortly thereafter a Navy buddy came into town to have lunch with his then boss – that was Dan Hook and Finley Ledbetter. I joined them for dinner and shortly thereafter began working for Circuit Breaker Sales in Gainesville, Texas – my official introduction to the reconditioned equipment industry in which I have worked since. I could not have fit in better – pirates with a purpose.
I have worked, in some form or another, for Group CBS coming up on 20 years. I started on the shop floor learning the ropes, moved pretty quickly into project management in various departments – engineered products like retrofits and retrofills, obsolescence, custom engineered solutions and processes and making suggestions where I could to make the business run more efficiently.
Project management led to customer interaction which, over time, evolved into a sales role as well. To this day I still enjoy working with customers and coming up with solutions to whatever issue or needs they are facing and as such I have done what I can to hang on to that responsibility. Currently I am a Vice President for Group CBS and focus primarily on large project sales, project management, technical expert, and whatever else they throw at me.
Working in this industry has taken me all over the US and many other countries around the world solving, or at least trying to solve, the unique problems of each customer. I have seen just about every industry that uses electrical power firsthand and, with the help of a strong team behind me, offered a solution to keep them running and growing. Looking back, I would not change my career path or industry for anything – I cannot imagine where a life-long tinkerer would fit in better. I often think what my life trajectory may have been if not for that Navy detailer checking that box. √ ELECTRICIAN
Why is it important to serve on the PEARL Board of Directors?
I attended a PEARL conference shortly after working for Group CBS, prior to that my boss at the time, Bill Schofield would assign me tasks for the organization. I had authored product condition standards for our group of companies and participated in standards development for IEEE C37 – that experience led to participating in the PEARL Standards Committee, then I served as a Board Alternate and finally a Board Member.
Each PEARL member represents a cross-section of the reconditioned electrical equipment industry. Myself, for example, have focused primarily on metal-clad equipment and engineered products that support it. Other members companies and careers are in insulated case breakers, transformers, panelboards and switchboards, bus duct…technician training and development, and the list goes on. It is important that the PEARL Board has a diverse membership that represents not only all of those varied equipment categories but also business sizes, geography, single- and multiple location businesses, public and privately owned – all those things that make each of us a little different. Without that diversity the PEARL organization might inadvertently focus too much on a select business type, size, etc.. In short, having volunteers to serve on the PEARL Board of Directors is paramount to the success, longevity, and credibility of the organization.
What value does PEARL bring to the industry?
Visit pearl1.org and you will see the value we bring. There are two things that come to mind for me immediately.
A PEARL company is qualified by others, compared to those in our industry that choose not to join. PEARL companies maintain a growing inventory, they sell their equipment to a minimum quality process resulting in a fully tested and safe product. PEARL companies are committed to the training of their employees and especially their technicians. PEARL companies are committed to being profitable but not at the expense of selling an unsafe, potentially untested product worked on by a potentially unqualified technician that does not understand the risks of a corner he is considering cutting.
The second value to the industry is PEARL brings the industry together. I have been to over fifteen PEARL conferences in my career and have learned something new at every one I have attended. I’ve found new vendors to support us, new customers to support, new ways of doing things, and made new friends along the way. The networking that takes place within PEARL has been an invaluable tool over the course of my career and to my organization.
What do you like to do when you’re not immersed in electrical apparatus and equipment?
I travel. I raise kids and dogs, and travel with them. I hang out with my friends and travel with them. I golf, and take golf trips. I like concerts and sporting events, especially when I travel to see one. I thrive when I am experiencing a new anything - a new country, a new hike, a new National or State Park, a new or old friend to travel with. I am not a homebody. If I am home longer than a few weeks I start itching for a business trip, weekend getaway, or extended vacation. Anyone that knows me already knows this about me and has probably given me grief about it too!