By Casey Veersma | Town & Country Group

Before I can hit the brew button on the coffee pot, my dogs are at the door, waiting to be let out.

It’s 5 a.m. — early enough to get a jump-start on the day and still make enough time to have a cup of coffee and watch the news with my beautiful wife, Jen, before starting my day as Town & Country Group’s Residential Supervisor and Safety Director.

I get in my truck and have the music blaring. As I pull into Town & Country Group, I’m jamming to The Eagles’ “Life in the Fast Lane.”

It’s 6:45 a.m. Even before our office opens at 7 a.m., the place is already buzzing, as our journeymen, apprentices and technicians come in to load their trucks with the tools and materials they will need for the day.

My team — the residential team — consists of talented and versatile electricians.

Their strong work ethic and passion for exceptional customer service are just a couple of the reasons I love working with them.

I gather them together for a quick pre-construction meeting to discuss each person’s assignment for the day. Cody, Bryce and I review the blueprints for a new home they will begin wiring today. I answer any questions the team has and, as I do every morning, remind them of PPE and COVID-19 regulations: Never enter a home without a mask, wash your hands or use hand sanitizer and clean your tools between each use.

After the team has left, I head to my desk to review the 9 service tickets for appointments we have scheduled for the week. The number will grow as the week goes on.

I check through voicemails and emails, but before I can finish, the phone rings.

“Town & Country Group, this is Casey. How may I help you?”

On the other end is a man who says he is calling on behalf of his mother, who doesn’t speak English. She needs someone to look at her electric water heater. Town & Country Group team members pride themselves on quick response times to service calls — my personal record is 5 minutes from hangup to door knock — but this job is a bit further out from the shop.

“Give me 30 minutes,” I tell him.

“Life in the fast lane…”

Equipped with my gloves, safety glasses and mask, I meet the caller and his mother. They welcome me inside and lead me to the water heater. The mother hadn’t had hot water in a week, and a plumber told her the problem was electrical related, which is why they called Town & Country Group.

When customers have an emergency-type need, it’s my job to ensure they are taken care of right away, in addition to my day-to-day operations. I have to remain flexible and be ready to spring into action.

I soon identify a faulty and unsafe connection in the electrical panel. I re-wire it correctly and re-terminate the hot water heater and tighten all of the connections in the electrical panel to prevent future power interruptions.

I’m wrapping up at the job, and my phone rings again. It’s Cody. He and Bryce need some unexpected miscellaneous parts brought to their project in Grand Rapids.

Before leaving the customer’s house, I answer any questions I can and head back to Zeeland.

I make good use of the 30-minute drive by returning a call to a customer requesting an estimate. He is having a hot tub installed and needs power run to the back porch. He is available for me to meet him later today.

Within seconds of hanging up, the phone rings again. It’s a builder we’re teaming with on the new construction of a 3,200-square-foot home.

“We have some additional items to add to the house that I’d like pricing for so we can get it written into the contract,” he says, and he needs it by the end of the day.

Add it to the list.

“Life in the fast lane, everything all the time.”

I hum the chorus as I load my truck with materials for my team and take a quick second to check my voicemails and emails.

Then, it’s back on the road.

On my way to Grand Rapids, I return a call to a homeowner in Saugatuck requesting a quote for a generator installation — booked for 12:30 p.m.

I meet Cody and Bryce at 10:20 a.m. We do a quick project walk-through to ensure: 1. All safety standards are being followed; and 2. The team has no questions regarding the project, electrical layout and schedule.

I glance down at my watch — it’s 11:35 a.m. — and I realize it’s time for my next client stop in Saugatuck.

The client needs a circuit for his hot tub and also needs a generator installed. While touring the house, which was built in the 1950s, I quickly troubleshoot and repair an existing circuit that was not working. I reconfigure wiring in the lower level of the house so an exterior outlet no longer is controlled by the same switch that also controls the basement lights. I love old houses! I tell him I will finish the estimate and email it to him.

I return to the office in the afternoon and complete an estimate for a customer I met yesterday. She’s looking to remodel her kitchen, bathroom, master suite and second floor. Then, I revise the previous estimate I was working on earlier, where the builder called with a request for extra accommodations. I know he’s working on a tight timeline, as his clients want to be in their house as soon as possible.

I won’t let electrical work be the cause for a delay.

Before the end of the day, I have check-ins at multiple active job sites, I meet a customer at his home to look at upgrading his electrical panel to accommodate an electric car charger, I help plan tomorrow’s safety meeting, work on next week’s schedule and check today’s time cards.

“Life in the fast lane…”

I wouldn’t want it any other way.