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We hope you enjoy our monthly newsletter as much as we enjoy making it available to you. We look forward to sharing stories and ideas that promote our customers, their businesses and how we all work together to come up with solutions to the challenges we face together. We also look forward to hearing from you with your comments, feedback or story ideas to make our newsletter more valuable to you.

Barbara Ragsdale, CFO & Editor

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COMMERCIAL
 Design/Build Savings - Part One

Commercial design/build projects have become popular in the construction industry. Design/build projects can save time, money and result in a finished product of the highest quality. Knights' Electric is often part of a design/build team that is typically picked by the general contractor. The contractor surrounds himself with subcontractors he has a work history with or subcontractors that have expertise in the type of construction the project presents.

The crush facility at Rodney Strong Vineyards is a design/build plan for Knights' Electric including the control console, which was designed and manufactured by Knights' Electric.

The crush facility at Rodney Strong Vineyards is a design/build plan for Knights' Electric including the control console, which was designed and manufactured by Knights' Electric.
Sometimes there is a perception that design/build projects cost more than projects that are awarded to the lowest bidders. Design/build projects are typically negotiated with the owner or developer and from that point on there are many opportunities for the design/build team to save on time and budget. The team, which includes the owner, the contractor, the architect, engineers and subcontractors all have the goal to give the owner what he or she wants. If certain project features can be trimmed down to save money or space and still deliver the desired result they are.

From the beginning of the project the design/build team has schedule meetings to determine that best ways to go about creating the best possible project results. The scheduling is one focal point of the meetings. Time and money is saved when the schedule is tightly coordinated. Art Knight sees another advantage with the design/build team, "most of the subs have worked with each other before on design/build projects so they work well together on scheduling." Another advantage for the contractor is the fact that Knights' Electric is always accessible in their office or in the field by cell phone, "If the contractor or owner needs to contact me right away, they can."

Next month we will cover more ways to save money and time while maintaining the highest quality of work with a design/build project.
 

RESIDENTIAL
Deke Dekay - Builder-Owner-Seller

Deke Dekay will be completing the construction of his fourth new residential home in February. When he and his wife move in he will have lived in all four of the homes he has built. "We've downsized a little. This home is situated on a hillside, it's a very nice property," says Dekay. The newest home includes a swimming pool. Dekay has been an owner-builder of all four homes he's built over the last six years.

Two of the homes Dekay has built are in the town of Healdsburg and two are in the County nearby, including the newest home and the first home built in Dry Creek Valley. All four homes are between 1800 and 2700 square feet in size. One connecting theme for all four residences has been, "lots of windows, lots of light and views," says Dekay, who is also a real estate agent with Frank Howard Allen in the Sonoma Wine Group Healdsburg office. Dekay has been with the company for the past six years, he's been in the real estate business for twenty years.

The second home Dekay built is a mixed-use project with office to the right and residence to the left behind wall. Situated in downtown Healdsburg, the landscaping creates an environment of seclusion and privacy.

Deke Dekay's third home is located in the hills above Healdsburg with a picturesque view of the vineyards below the home and to the right in this photo. The red building to the left is a detached office.

The second home Dekay built is a mixed-use project with office to the right and residence to the left behind wall. Situated in downtown Healdsburg, the landscaping creates an environment of seclusion and privacy.

 

Deke Dekay's third home is located in the hills above Healdsburg with a picturesque view of the vineyards below the home and to the right in this photo. The red building to the left is a detached office.

  

The fourth and 'final' home for Deke Dekay, which is still under construction, has the same vineyard view as the third home. The two houses are only 300 yards away from each other.

The fourth and "final" home for Deke Dekay,
which is still under construction, has the same
 vineyard view as the third home. The two houses
are only 300 yards away from each other.

Dekay has used Knights' Electric for all four residential projects plus other remodeling projects he has taken on. "When you find someone you can work with, you stay with them," says Dekay, referring to Knights' Electric, "they are very good at what they do and they're reasonable to do business with."  Knights' Electric installed all of the electrical systems for all of the homes including recessed lighting and Knights' Electric consulted with Dekay and his designer on lighting plans.

One comfort feature in the new home is a coiled heating system for the master bathroom floor, which Knights' Electric installed, "It's an ideal system for 70 to 80 square feet and it has a timer to pre-heat the floor in the morning," adds Dekay. When asked if he plans to build another home to live in after this one, Dekay replies, "I think this might be the last stop."


THE COMPANY
Supporting Our Community

Just about every week a Knights' Electric employee will bring in a donation request for their children, either a school project that needs funding or a club that is raising money for a field trip. "This week we have Christmas tree bulbs that one of the guys brought in for his daughter's school class project. Everyone in the company supports each other's children with donations for their school and club projects," says Barbara Ragsdale, CFO at Knights' Electric. "We also have the 'A-Team'. When an employee brings their child's report card to the office we give the student five dollars for every A on the report card."

Barbara Ragsdale, Knights? Electric CFO, will become the Windsor Boys & Girls Club President in 2004.

Barbara Ragsdale, Knights' Electric CFO,
will become the Windsor Boys & Girls Club President in 2004.
Aside from the inner company donation and support system, Knights' Electric supports many local non-profit charity organizations. Knights' Electric is a Windsor and Healdsburg High School Booster and they also support Cardinal Newman High School, the Windsor Lions, the Windsor Rotary, the Council on Aging, Meals on Wheels, the Salvation Army, the Santa Rosa Soup Kitchen, the Redwood Gospel Mission and many other worthy causes including the Windsor Boys & Girls Club. In fact Ragsdale will become the Windsor Boys & Girls Club's President in January of 2004 after serving on the Board of Directors for 4 years.

"One of the things I really like about the Boys & Girls Club is that the Board of Directors are sincerely involved to make it a safe place to play. Most of the members are latch key kids, we have about 400, about 100 kids use the club per week and that number is higher in the summer."

One of the many thank you notes that Knights' Electric has received from local youth groups they support.

One of the many thank you notes that Knights' Electric has received from local youth groups they support.

It is estimated that nationally, 80% of monetary donations come from small businesses and 20% come from large corporations, so Knights' Electric might be considered "typical" in their community support. What could be considered "untypical" is that Knights' Electric isn't concerned about getting recognition for their local donations, Ragsdale explains, "We're not concerned about getting our name on something we sponsor. What's important is that our support can make a difference in someone's life, it touches an individual".