Knights' Electric, Inc. LIC. #432135

WINERIES
Flowers Vineyard & Winery

Flowers Vineyard & Winery, a coastal mountain winery located above Fort Ross, is expanding their facility. The winery is adding 3 barrel rooms and fermentation room that includes an "industrial tasting area". An office and lab are also part of the project, which is being built by Nordby Construction as a design/build project. Steve Evans Kilgannon, Project Manager for Nordby Construction, is working with Knights' Electric for the first time, "Knights' has been good to work with and they've been committed to the schedule." Knights' Electric had previously worked with Nordby Construction at de Lorimier Winery in Geyserville.

Nordby Construction Company is building the addition for Flowers Winery & Vineyards; the original winery is under the oak tree in the upper left corner of this photo.   Knights' Electric installed control piping and wiring for temperature controls and CO2 extraction in the tank room along with high bay lighting. The original winery is behind the new structure.   Knights' Electric's electricians are installing metal conduits under tank room catwalk to bring power to the new barrel rooms. Wiring for the offices, lab and industrial tasting room is being completed by Knights' Electric.

Knights' Electric initially completed the under slab wiring and power distribution. In the tank area Knights' Electric has installed control piping and wiring for temperature controls and CO2 extraction. Knights' Electric has built 6 pump stanchions and installed high bay lighting for the winery. The office and lab area has an overhead indirect lighting system, which is suspended by aircraft cable.

Much of the construction took place during the crush, but it went smoothly, "The construction didn't seem to phase the people crushing grapes. Most of the grapes came in within a 2 week period," said Evans Kilgannon, who has been with Nordby Construction for 5 years and has 15 years experience in the construction industry. Art Knight, Vice President of Knights' Electric said, "I liked working with Nordby Construction and I'd like to do more with them in the future."
 

RESIDENTIAL
Lutron HomeWorks

One of the biggest benefits of a Lutron HomeWorks lighting and automation systems are the almost limitless possibilities they present. "A single key pad might have 10 different controls and each one of them is programmable for a different function like intensity of lighting, timing schedules, interior and exterior lighting areas or automated blinds," explains Matt Sweeney, Residential Project Manager for Knights' Electric.

Dining room in Ross residence with lighting effects created by Lutron HomeWorks system.

Sweeney often recommends Lutron HomeWorks systems for the upscale homes that Knights' Electric's residential department work on, "Many times the architect will recommend Lutron HomeWorks or sometimes we will see a definite need to combine numerous control switches into one system with fewer control key pads. Landscape lighting is one example where one key pad near an exterior door can control an entire outdoor scene."

Creating "scenes" is what Lutron HomeWorks is all about. You can set floor lamps at 40% with dimmers, art lighting at 55%, chandeliers at 60% and low voltage ceiling cove lighting at 75% with timing schedules throughout the day for every room plus outdoor landscape lighting.  When you add heating and cooling control, security systems and home theater lighting, you are just beginning to see the potential and possibilities offered by Lutron HomeWorks.

THE COMPANY
Communicating for Customer Support

In an economy of budget cutting and fiscal austerity there is a definite advantage for companies that keep their customer service infrastructure intact. Many construction companies have made cuts in administration and support staff personnel due to additional overhead created by skyrocketing premiums in workers' compensation and business insurance liability.

Liz Knight, Vice President, helps to back up the customer service support team at Knights' Electric.   Rhoda Hauth, Office Manager, is also a key member of Knights' Electric customer service support team.

The administration staff answers all incoming phone calls. Most likely it is Deborah Larson who will answer and direct the call to the appropriate party or department. Barbara Ragsdale , CFO, is available for customer questions or problems or reviewing invoices. Customers that request to speak with management personnel or project managers that may be in the field are "patched through" to their cell phones. Vice Presidents, Art Knight and Rob Knight are readily available whether they are in their offices or in the field.

"We have an excellent voice mail system, says Ragsdale, "but we always want to answer the phone live. The voice mail is a back-up system to expedite return calls when necessary. We are always available for our customers from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. during the week."

Communication and customer support is an area that Knights' Electric excels in and customers expect that kind of service in the construction industry where scheduling and timing is critical to project completion and the bottom line. This communication support system is an essential element to the success of Knights' Electric's job performance.