Building a bright future: Duryea Electric on keeping the local community safe and supporting apprentices

Holyoke’s Ian Duryea on the importance of finding your passion, treating everyone right and helping employees

by Citizens Staff

Duryea Electric has grown steadily with a focus on quality, strong customer relationships, and a commitment to community needs. Owner Ian Duryea built his thriving company by blending the customer service skills he learned in the hospitality industry with an innate dedication to community well-being.

The Holyoke, Massachusetts-based business does residential and commercial electrical jobs of all sizes, including for people who cannot afford to pay for all of the important electrical work they need. Duryea believes strongly in the value and responsibility of his trade, particularly its role in keeping the homes in his community safe.

“Families and individuals on a lower income scale have trouble paying for professional electrical work,” Duryea says. “My experience in the hospitality industry taught me to treat every customer with respect. In my business, this includes people who cannot afford the essential electrical work that is needed to avoid a fire hazard.”

Duryea Electric is a winner of a 2025 Citizens Small Business Community Champion Award, which recognizes Citizens business account customers striving to improve their communities and provides them with a $10,000 award. He plans to use half of his award money to help families pay for electrical work they need to keep their homes safe.

He recently spoke about finding his calling, the importance of focusing on the customer, and how he’s building a strong team for the future.

Tip: Find a passion and scale gradually

While some tradespeople go right into their chosen field after high school, Duryea took a longer way around. He was a musician, a high school math teacher, a youth program head, and a restaurant and hospitality professional. Then, he took a job as an apprentice for an electrical company.

“I knew then that I had found my calling,” he says.

Duryea eventually started his own electrical business and built it slowly, keeping costs low by having an office in his garage and using his car for jobs instead of a truck. This approach gave him the luxury of picking the jobs he wanted to do to build a strong base for the company. He gradually acquired all the tools he needed and swapped his car for a truck.

Even though his growth rate was steady, he recognized the need for some financial support to maintain the business momentum he had created. Business financing gave him peace of mind and confidence that he could handle cash flow dry spells, consistently cover expenses and avoid overextending himself.

“A business line of credit has been a great security blanket,” he explains. “As a small business, I know that I need to be careful with money, but I also need to be comfortable with taking risks, so I can grow with support to keep moving in the right direction.”

Bottom line: Search for something you are passionate about, even if it takes time. Build a strong foundation by keeping costs low and seek out financing so that when you are ready to expand or take a risk, you have support to maintain what you have built.

Tip: Treat each customer like your best customer

Duryea Electric works on all types of residential and commercial projects, ranging from simple home and small business repairs and renovations to commercial apartment buildings and million-dollar homes.

“There are many old homes in the area, so we see a lot of updating and renovation work,” Duryea says. “Holyoke is a diverse area in terms of economic background, so our customer base is extremely varied.”

But regardless of the size of the job, Duryea says his business aims to treat everyone with respect. “It goes back to my experience in the restaurant industry,” he says. “I don’t care if someone orders steak and champagne or a small salad and a glass of water. I’m going to give the same level of good service to each table.”

This focus on treating everyone right extends to people who may not have the means to pay for all of the work they need. Duryea is aware that many families and individuals in the communities he serves have trouble paying for professional electrical work.

“This often means that problems go unfixed or are fixed by nonprofessionals,” he says. “We see electrical safety problems and fire hazards in people’s homes, and sometimes homeowners tell us not to repair them because they cannot afford the work.”

To support his community, Duryea has earmarked half of his Citizens Small Business Champion Award money to pay for electrical safety repairs for local families. “It can be so stressful for people to be unable to afford repairs,” he says. “We want to help people keep their property and the community safe.”

Even when things aren’t necessarily going well, Duryea works to make every customer a happy customer. “If someone is unhappy, we think about how we can salvage the experience and take a step back to figure out what went wrong,” Duryea says. “It goes back to that restaurant experience — we want to recover and win back the business, even if the meal isn’t quite what the customer wanted.”

Bottom line: Deliver high-quality, respectful service to every customer, regardless of the size of the job, by creating a customer-first mindset in your business. Model this behavior for your staff and be sure everyone on your team understands the commitment.

Do you need guidance on your small business journey? Schedule an appointment with Citizens to receive personalized assistance for your business.

Tip: Invest in your future

“Electricians in all stages of their career need to attend continuing education classes to maintain or work towards their license,” Duryea says. “Investing in their future is an investment back into my company.”

Duryea puts his money where his mouth is by regularly paying for employee training. In fact, a portion of his recent award is going towards covering the costs of continuing education and licensing, particularly for apprentices, who often face significant training requirements while earning lower wages. Duryea plans to keep funding these educational opportunities whenever possible.

To support his own growth, Duryea enrolled in an online training program geared to his trade called Service Loop Electrical. He also regularly listens to industry-focused podcasts that offer insights and advice for home services professionals.

To maintain a strong working environment, Duryea strives to create manageable work schedules for his team. “I don’t ask anyone to work weekends unless it is an absolute emergency,” he said. “I want to help them maintain work/life balance, so they can spend time with their families.”

Duryea’s commitment to excellence for his team and himself pays off, since the bulk of the company’s business comes through word-of-mouth referrals. “It’s golden,” he explains. “Someone who randomly found you online is going to call four or five people for quotes. But if they got a referral from a trusted friend, they want to do business with you.”

Duryea currently has four full-time employees, but even when he’s not hiring, he talks with potential applicants looking to join his team to see if they might be a good fit.

“My biggest challenge is always staffing and finding employees that check all the boxes in terms of technical skill as well as soft skills, like nurturing good relationships and trust with our customers,” he says. “I am always looking for great people because I may need them in the future.”

When it comes to thinking about succession planning and transitioning the company from one owner to another, Duryea would love to hand the reins to his now-teenage children. “It’s completely their choice though,” Duryea says. “I’ve told them that if they’re ever interested, the company is here for them. They may end up going in another direction, but there will always be a job here if they’re interested.”

Bottom line: Strengthen your business by working today to build your business for tomorrow. That could mean investing in your team, finding educational resources or financing to support growth, or planning for how you’ll hand the business off when the time comes.

Do you need guidance on your small business journey? Schedule an appointment with Citizens to receive personalized assistance for your business.

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