It’s certainly a story you’ve heard before—a would-be fourth generation wants to be anything other than whatever the family business assumes. It was no different for Josh Brooker. Homeschooled, he spent much of his teen years shadowing his electrician dad and, as one of seven children, he couldn’t wait to do his own thing. When the time came to choose that path, he aimed anywhere but there. But as the best versions of these stories go, Brooker’s experience in other fields proved unfulfilling and his electric legacy beckoned once again.
“There’s always been this stereotype of the blue-collar worker,” says Josh, owner of TE Certified in Roswell. “Electricians and plumbers—you know the look—they’re often unprofessional, showing up in dirty clothes, void of conversation and someone you aren’t actually that comfortable with coming into your home. I knew they aren’t all like that though and I wanted to show that side of the industry to my community. I wanted to introduce the side of the blue-collar workforce that was professional, driven and passionate. Be someone people could trust and depend on.” As Josh says, if electricians disappeared off the face of the earth, the world would go dark, so creating a company to break the blue-collar stereotype and open up pleasing options for his neighbors was the driving force behind TE Certified’s inception in 2003.
Since then, he’s added HVAC and plumbing to their list of services and curated an expert team of technicians that he’s trained himself through their certification program. Growing talent from the ground up makes it easy to facilitate guarantees like convenient, 24/7, highly skilled service in a safe, clean and friendly environment. Every call comes with up-front, itemized pricing and a lifetime warranty on all products and services.
“The difference is that the people who work for us really want to be electricians or plumbers,” says Josh, a certified electrician himself. “They’re tinkerers. They like to x things. They’re passionate about wanting to use their skills to help other people.”
That company culture has remained constant from their first location across from Milton High School to the new office in downtown Roswell and as a result they have a customer base that feels more like family. Now, 105 employees and 79 vans cover a 25-mile area around Roswell, providing award-winning, same day service to residents all over the Northside.
“Being a part of the community is important to us,” says Josh, who grew up in Roswell and currently lives in Milton with his wife and three sons. “Our customers are the reason we’ve been able to grow into the kind of company we are. Anything we can do to help those families, or our employees’ families, we do it.” They give back anywhere they can, including North Fulton Community Charities’ My Sister’s House, The Drake House and more. Josh has got three chances to inspire fifth generation electricians, but however that turns out, his story is pretty good so far.
The Truck
As the owner of a local company, Josh Brooker wanted to be strategic with how he spread the word about TE Certified. He didn’t
necessarily mean his face should be on the back of their box trucks, but when the creative juices started flowing … well, let’s just say a light bulb went off. “The truck has become famous in its own right,” says Josh, who produced the truck wrap featuring himself peeking out of the back with Haigwood Studio Photography. “It catches people’s attention, that’s for sure. Honestly, it’s become a thing—clients and new customers spot it and tell us about it all of the time. You can’t ask for better marketing than that.”
Details: TE Certified, tecertifiedelectricians.com, 9800 Old Dogwood Rd., Roswell, 770.667.6937
The content of this article is brought to you by TE Certified.
