You often hear the story of how JWE started twenty-something years ago with a couple guys, a pickup truck and just a little bit of storage on the side of their parent's house. It's true. You see, shortly after graduating college John Wilcox realized he was not cut out to work in the 3-piece suit world and left his entry level job at an aerospace company to apprentice (for free) in a CATV/Alarm business. John was always a kid who would tinker and create great school science projects; the guy who installed 8-track players in all the vehicles of his high school buddies. Understanding the technology came easy to him, and when the opportunity arrived to actually get paid for something he loved, John jumped at it. Not knowing exactly where it would take him, but certain that having a bit of cash for food, shelter, and dating couldn't be a bad thing, he opened JWE. The first jobs were as a subcontractor to a subcontractor of a general contractor to the local cable company (yes, not much chance of making more than simple wages). John quickly developed a strategy that allowed for this lean opportunity to be profitable and enlisted the help of his brother, Tim, and a few friends.

   Tim Wilcox was part of the early team of field technicians that John taught to perform their work with excellence, quickly growing his small company's reputation. Tim had always been the kid with a solution for fun. Selling magnets to elementary schoolmates so they could mine iron particles out of the sandbox seemed natural. Needing to finish college, Tim viewed this "construction" job as just a temporary thing. However, after having become skilled at the wiring craft, it was now possible to balance work and still finish college in another state. Scheduling classes toward the middle of the week and flying back and forth to work construction Friday through Monday is how he juggled both. After graduating, the prospect of taking a cut in pay to work long hours in the field he'd studied was not appealing. Tim kept working with John and eventually became a licensed contractor himself to emulate the JWE model and expand coverage in Southern California.

    When the two brothers agreed that growing the company together might be the best thing, they merged talents and focused on the task. Tim turned in his tool belt and got busy uncovering opportunities. He'd say, "Hey, John. What if we offer……….." John's response, "We can do that. Just get the business". So they grew. They added services, products, and people.

   In the midst of company growth, JWE brought in a trusted peripheral industry acquaintance, Colleen Emick. While John was great at the technical training and execution and Tim was great at developing the business opportunity; Colleen would prove to be equally great at finance and process development. Colleen built the infrastructure to support the growing company. John, Tim, and Colleen have all shared in the executive decision making for JWE over the last 10 years.

   We like to think that strong roots, high ethics, hard work and a little bit of luck have all played a role in making JWE the leading company it is today. Thanks for sharing in our story.