BRK Electrical Contractors, LLC. is marking its 20th year.
“I’m just grateful enough people gave us a chance.”–Owner, Marion Hayes, III
In 2004, just a year after its opening, the firm’s owner, Marion Hayes III,was named “Entrepreneur of the Year” by the National Society of Black Engineers /St. Louis Chapter. In 2008, Hayes was honored as a “Most Influential Minority Business Leader” by the St. Louis Business Journal.
The firm has worked on major projects including St. Louis SC Stadium, Lucas Hall on the University of St. Louis campus, Missouri Baptist Medical Center, Ballpark Village, Alton Southern Railroad, theStan Musial Bridge,the NGA Campus in north St. Louis.
Hayes said he’s “not one to toot my own horn.” He’s humbled by the acknowledgements of his business, but he doesn’t let them go to his head.
“I guess it’s because I know that God can take this away from me in a New York minute,” Hayes explained.
“I appreciate it because I’ve worked my [tail] off but it’s hard for me to pat myself on the back or sit back and smell the roses.”
In other words, Hayes has paid his dues.
After completing an IBEW/NECA Electrical Industry Training Center apprenticeship in St. Louis, Hayes worked for several white-owned construction companies. There, he says he learned the harsh realities of nepotism and racism.
He determined his future with those family-owned firms seemed rather dire.
Minority participation on city contracts, mandated in the late 1980s, was growing and he acknowledged the work of former Comptroller Virvus Jones, the late civil rights attorney Eric Vickers, and others.
Hayes, who had earned a master’s degree in construction management and a degree in electrical engineering from Washington University, decided to give entrepreneurism a shot. But it was a long shot due to his inability to convince banks to finance his business plan. Using credit cards and a personal loan, Hayes moved ahead anyway.
Survival was based on a “project-by-project basis.” There were ups and downs in the first few years. In 2008, recession brought the country and the construction business to a virtual economic halt.
Hayes endured, which says a lot for a young man who considered going to law school after graduating high school. He turned to electrical engineering at the behest of his father, Marion Hayes, Jr.
His parents were divorced when Hayes’ dad suggested his son sign up for an apprentice program and later join his electrical company. Hayes said his mother, Bessie Hayes, an educator, was crushed by his decision to go into business with his dad. She didn’t feel her ex-husband was reliable enough for her son to base his entire career on his advice.
Hayes’ father’s business went under before Hayes completed his apprenticeship. Declaring he was no “quitter,” Hayes said he went the traditional “corporate route” until he realized he had to go out on his own.
Looking back on his career, Hayes said he has no regrets.
He’s survived years of being underestimated and fighting the “you’re not good enough” stereotypes held by companies that are suspect of minority-owned firms. He built a reputation based on delivering good work on a timely basis.
Sure, he admits that sometimes when he’s with friends his age or older he recognizes the perks and retirement benefits a corporate life could provide.
But when he hears the tales of frustration others endured because of racism and corporate life stress, he cherishes his decision to pursue the challenging life of an entrepreneur.
BRK Electrical has more than 20 employees including Hayes’ wife and one of his two daughters. He is realistic about his trade. Everything he said, “boils down to capital and relationships.”
When asked what advice he’d give to prospective entrepreneurs, Hayes pulls from his late mother’s insistence that he seek a quality education.
“As the son of a teacher, it all boils down to your education,” Hayes said.
“Future entrepreneurs should be well read. That way you know what you know, and you’ll be prepared to seek out what you don’t know.
“You’ll be competing with companies that have been around for 60, 70 years or more. It used to bother me a lot that a lot of young people just jump into the business without knowing the business. So, know your business.”
Although it seems that Hayes “jumped” into the business, he planned for two years, took classes and did “all the stuff” and “checked all the boxes” before he wrote his business plan and set out to find capital.
“At the end of the day,” Hayes said, “success or failure was dictated by the markets.”
Determined not to be a horn-tooter, Hayes designates his success to others:
“I’m just grateful enough people gave us a chance.”
