Mission control A positive company culture and professional excellence have helped K2 Electric become a leader in its industry for 20 years

y ERIN THORBURN

Jared Kredit, president and CEO of K2 Electric, didn’t always know he wanted to — or would — follow in his father’s footsteps as an accomplished tradesman and business owner. In fact, at one point, Kredit considered becoming a doctor. While one biology class and the thought of spending a decade-plus in school ultimately deterred Kredit from pursuing a medical career, he approaches his role with K2 Electric with similar attributes of a wise and learned physician — with extensive knowledge, precision and care.

As K2 Electric commemorates its 20th Anniversary, the company celebrates Kredit’s dedication and leadership in helping the business evolve into what it is today. The team enjoys reflecting on its diverse and impressive projects throughout the Valley and understands that cultivating a positive and enriching company culture remains a top mission and priority.

Cultivating Culture

Once Kredit pivoted from a pre- med career path and was close to graduating college he began to feel the pull toward the family trade. “I was probably about a year and a half out from graduating. And that was when I remember thinking, ‘Okay, I’m learning some [business] skills here at school. And my dad is a tradesman, and his favorite part of the job has always been what we actually do in the field — and so I thought, this could be a good complimentary thing — where he’s the craft side and I can help on the business administration side.”

Dean Kredit, Jared’s father and founder of K2 Electric, established the company in 2003, and by 2008 Jared was officially part of the team. Starting as an estimator, Jared eventually worked his way through accounting and operations before becoming president in 2019.

“I don’t fail, and I always had faith that his company would be a success when I started it in 2003,” says Dean Kredit. “I am proud of the leadership team who have taken my 40-employee company and have grown it to nearly 200 today. The sky’s the limit for Jared and his team as they keep relationships the priority. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t receive a phone call from someone at K2 and I am honored to continue to mentor and support the team in any way I can.”

The commitment to cultivating a relationship-driven company has only prospered since its inception. Culture is king at K2 Electric and Jared points to one word as the driving force behind its success at the company: intentionality.

“Being intentional about culture is the biggest thing that we do today,” he says. “We have a Cultural Strengths Committee comprised primarily of folks from HR and marketing.”

Adds Josh Carmichael, vice president of human resources for K2 Electric, “Our Cultural Strengths Committee sets annual written goals, which are shared with the entire organization, and then executed by team members throughout the year with monthly accountability meetings.”

Carmichael further explains that this committee is designed to maintain the goal of ensuring K2 is a great place to work and consists of four specific sub-initiatives:

• Enhancing employee onboarding.

• Bolstering employee recognition.

• Optimizing teamwork experience via offsite leadership and allhands events.

• Engaging the company workforce with high-level communication about change, management and company updates.

As a result of the focused and planned imperatives of the Cultural Strengths Committee, K2 Electric employees often express being seen, heard and appreciated.

“As an individual, you are treated as valued and you and your family are cared about,” says John Jordan, senior estimator for K2 Electric. “From the top down we are shown that improvement is always available and encouraged. There is an openness about the business that creates a desire to improve yourself. Selfimprovement leads to confidence and wanting to help other people improve and doing whatever is necessary to help someone become their better version.”

Adds Mike Cameron, director of safety and field support, “For me, it’s the family dynamic. From the time you come through the front door, you feel like this is the place you want to be. We strive to keep that family-oriented experience throughout everything we do, whether dealing with our customers or dealing with our employees, we always try to treat everyone as family. That is the culture that carries us above most other companies.”

WINNING TEAM: For 20 years, K2 Electric’s leadership team has fostered a culture of growth and believes that professional training and development for every employee is paramount to understanding and serving the needs of the company’s clients.

Leadership Lane

Intertwined with K2 Electric’s prioritization of culture is providing opportunities for growth and advancement through leadership training and mentorship.

The company has an internal Field Leadership Development Program (FLDP), created to identify highpotential apprentices in the field, put them in a cohort similar to a miniMBA, have them go through a year of instructor-led training and mentoring, and then place them into foreman roles. “Our first cohort just graduated in March 2023,” Carmichael notes, “with a second one already in process, and then we will start a third in June 2023.”

Other services and perks available to K2 Electric team members include access to an EAP consultant who visits the company’s job sites and offices regularly for those needing various forms of counseling at no cost. Additionally,

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K2 annually invests in career and professional development by paying tuition for apprenticeship school, providing tuition reimbursement for approved college programs and certifications, providing professional development through outside-tenured leadership instructors and through goal setting/mentoring on the job.

“Leadership has done a great job of putting the employees’ interests at the top of the list and continually striving to create a better workplace environment,” says Matt Kuiper, estimator for K2 Electric. “K2 is a huge proponent of internal company growth and does a great job at empowering every employee.”

Promoting Within

Promoting from within is something K2 leadership takes seriously. “I want to create more opportunities,” Jared says. “As we’ve gotten larger, we need to create more opportunities so that high performers have the next place to go to be able to grow.”

It’s because of the encouragement of K2’s leaders that employees such as Cameron and Jordan have been enticed to remain with the business.

“In my 11 years at K2, I have grown both personally and professionally,” Cameron says. “There is never a time when I have not been encouraged to become better at what I do. K2 has provided multiple training programs for leadership and personal growth.”

Notes Jordan, “The growth shown by Jared over the past five years or so has really impressed me. He reminded me that growth is something you must take command of — no one is going to do it for you. You might have to make sacrifices along the way, but you will be better coming out the other side and with that experience, can help others in their own journey.”

As for what’s to come next for K2 Electric, the business has begun plans for what Jared refers to as a “lean transformation.” “We currently do some pre-fabrication but are planning to really ratchet up our prefabrication efforts,” he says. “We’re anticipating that there’s going to be a lot of industrial and quite a bit more heavy industrial activity and I think geographically we’re in a good position, and that is very exciting.”

To learn more about K2 Electric, visit k2elec.com.