December 19, 2023 • 10 mins
Born and raised in Schenectady, Chris Spraragen is the fourth generation President and CEO of Schenectady Hardware & Electric (SH&E), a company his great-grandfather started exactly 100 years ago as of this year. As one of the first electrical engineers in the area, his great-grandfather used his skills to modernize the Capital Region by changing all the gas lights to electrical lights in the 1920's.Chris looks back on his childhood fondly, remembering the times his father would tell him about the family business. He first began working at SH&E as a summer helper in his youth, then an assistant project manager in his sophomore year of college. He started in the finance department, but continued to grow and learn about the industry from his father and coworkers. Despite coming from a long line of CEO’s, his father never pressured him into taking over the company, and yet, he took on that responsibility when his father passed away in 2008. Chris explains that even though Schenectady Hardware & Electric has been around for quite some time, their principles remain the same, while their projects continue to grow and develop. With a large local presence, Chris states, “Our fingerprints are all over the Capital Region”. It’s no surprise that with approximately 100 hard working employees, top of the line projects, and competitive pricing, SH&E remains one of the most relevant businesses in the area.While the business typically works within the North Eastern part of New York State, Chris foresees a future where SH&E increases its footprint to help lend their expertise to even more Americans with hardware or electrical problems. Chris Spraragen is a CEO you should know.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
It's Doug Goudie and we have anotherepisode of CEOs you should know. Joining
me today is Chris Sparragin. Heis the president of Schenectady Hardware and Electric.
Good morning, Chris Corning. Doug. By the way, your pronouns
really are she as it turns out. Yeah, Schenectady Hardware and Electric.
By the way, congratulations, onehundred years in business in twenty twenty three.
(00:24):
There is an achievement. Yeah,it's really exciting. We've been able
to stay in Schenectady for one hundredyears, you know. Starting the company
was started by my great grandfather.Went to Union College and my grandfather and
my father and now I sit onin my seat as CEO and we've been
(00:44):
in the community doing lots of differentprojects for one hundred years. I like
to think that your great grandfather wasselling the first commercial radios available so that
people could listen to WGY. Ilike that synergy there. Yeah, no
sold radios, pails anything in ahardware store. Used to sell those local
hardware stores. But he had anelectrical background, so he always left,
(01:07):
you know, went to being amore electrical He turned over a lot of
the gas lights in the city toelectric lights back in the twenties. Was
he a Capitol region guy growing upor did he come always came up with
his brother. They both went toUnion College, and he was his brother
was a mechanical engineer, and hewaited for him so they could live together
(01:30):
and save money. So they bothwent to Union College at the same time,
even though there was like a twoyear age gap. First electrical engineers
in the country because Union had theprogram. Because of ge and with Edison
and Stein's being, you know,such a big presence in our area,
Union College was able to market that. So from when he started the company
(01:53):
one hundred years ago to you sittingin that office right now, it's pretty
safe to say things have changed alittle bit over the Yeah, it's a
little bit different for sure, someof us. At the end of the
day, the principles are all thesame, but yeah, the type of
work that we do, the typeof projects we do, it's one of
the few industries, you know,one hundred years you wonder how do people
survive that. You know, we'relucky in the sense that electrical business has
(02:15):
been around for a hundred years.We haven't gone to a different way of
sourcing energy and we've been able tonavigate that. We've had a lot of
great people work through multi generational employees, uh, you know, big local
presence. UH just been fortunate enoughto be touch a lot of the great
(02:35):
assets of our community, whether itbe like Spack or Proctors, or office
buildings or hospitals, obny Med orElis or you know, We've been involved
in a lot of things that affecteveryone on a day to day basis,
and our fingerprints are all over theCapital region. Do you drive through the
Capital Regions? Sometimes go, yep, that's me right there. We did
that. We did that way.I as a kid, my dad used
(02:57):
to do that, and I wouldobviously as you don't think anything of it.
And as an adult now I dothat. So yeah, no,
it is. We go to theAlbany Skyline and we've literally been in every
single one of those buildings. Soit's it's pretty impressive, especially the bigger
ones, you know. But yeah, for sure. So I like this
back one. That's one of myfavorite because it's you know, we were
(03:20):
at Spacker, at Proctors, ata theater or something. All these people
are enjoying themselves and we were apart of that. So as fourth generation,
obviously big shoes to fill, asyou're sitting in that chair, but
I assume being fourth generation, atsome point as a young kid, your
dad said, Hey, get intoback and start moving some boxes or start
opening some mail and doing something.How did you get started? Yeah,
(03:45):
I know, he wasn't really pushingme to be in the business. It
kind of came later in life.I did work in the field of for
a little bit as a summer helper. Uh So, I worked at a
school of K through twelve. Workwe did. I was on a couple
of projects between my senior year andhigh school and college, and then I
came into the office probably my sophomoreyear as this assistant project managed as an
(04:10):
intern. And after that my backgroundwas in finance and so I could always
help with more of accounting and back. That was more of my strong suit.
But over the time, I've youknow, learned a lot about the
between my dad and the coworkers,I learned a lot about the industry and
how to be successful at it.How happy was your mom when you took
over the reins? Well, soit's a kind of a unique story.
(04:35):
My father died at sixty one.So I took over the company when I
was twenty six years old. Soit was kind of a suddenland situation.
So it wasn't really a happy moment, I guess today. It was more
of an out of necessity situation.But we are, you know, we've
been going strong ever since, andit was kind of an inflection point obviously
(04:58):
in my life. We were ableto you know, stay strong and stay
around and here we are. Thatwas fifteen years ago and we're you know,
just as successful, and uh,you know, I'm very fortunate in
that way. How many people workit's connected the hardware and electric roughly about
one hundred. It goes up anddown depending on the type of work we
(05:19):
have, but right now, yeah, roughly approximately. And how far afield
do you go outside of the Capitolregion? Do you go outside the Capitol
region? Yeah, so we justfinished a hotel up in Lake Placid.
We go down pretty much, wego down pretty far south, you know.
(05:39):
We we we've go to projects thatwe feel we can be competitive price
wise and also bring expertise to thata customer would want us on. So
we've done small projects in Massachusetts,you know, mostly regional northeast stuff though.
Yeah, definitely eastern part of NewYork is where we are really our
area. So as you celebrate onehundreds and as you do your fifteenth year
(06:01):
now in charge, everybody says,what's the secret? What's the secret?
But there is something to a companydoing this for a one hundred years and
as strong as ever. What areyou guys doing right well, I mean
we have good employees, we havegood projects, we have good customers.
I mean we always have to keepour pulse on all three of those legs
and making sure that we provide aservice that's competitive that people will want to
(06:25):
bring us on their other team.Otherwise, yeah, we wouldn't be in
existence. And you know, overtime, we've we kind of reinvented ourselves
over these years. Every ten tofifteen years, you kind of have to
do like a little bit of ashift, and I think that's how we've
been able to stay relevant. Whichone would be judging you harder right now?
Dad, Grandpa, great grandpa?Which one would be giving you more
(06:48):
advice right now? Well? Iwas a little bit young when by so
I don't really all these stories.I know of my great grandfather. He
died when I was like five yearsold, but he worked every day until
he pretty uch. He was likeninety one coming into the office, So
he was a unique person. Mydad obviously be giving me the hardest time,
(07:08):
but I'm sure you'd be very happywith this sense if he knew the
whole story right, that we wereable to stay in business and keep it
going. And so that would besomething I think you'd be proud of.
Tell me when we talk in fifteenyears and it's your thirtieth anniversary in business
or as CEO, tell me whatyour business is going to be at that
time. Well, I'm actually youknow, I'm one of the few people
(07:30):
I think that I'm high on theCapital Region. I think that we have
a lot of assets that we justneed a leverage to really be a place
of doing business in New York.New York is a very, very tough
place to do business. Everyone knowsthat, But I think what we have
in the Capital Region, between theschools and the type of businesses that we
(07:53):
have, I think if we leveragethe right way, we could be a
competitor for some very industrious cities inthe country. So it's a matter of
recognizing that we're all one area.We can't segregate the cities, all these
the and Troy. I think ifwe look at it like a capital region
and market that way, and there'sbeen a big push of that in the
(08:15):
last couple of years. But assomeone who's been a schnnected the guy in
my whole life, we definitely aremore. The people in Schenecta don't didn't
used to mingle with the Troy,and the Troy didn't mingle with all many
and it's always been kind of separate, and I think that's kind of going
away. So if we can reallyharness that, I think we could be
very successful. Are there organizations charitiesin the capital region. I know,
(08:37):
at a company that's been around onehundred years, everybody comes calling. Are
there ones that are near and dearto your heart ways that you give back?
Yeah, I think well, Ivery much enjoy Proctors and Philip Marsh's
does a great job as the CEO. Now they're in all the communities,
just like I was just talking about, So that is something that I think
(08:58):
brings. I mean, l AHospital is another one that is in our
backyard. So I think that NorthernRivers does a lot of great work.
So those are probably the three thatI would I would think of. I
mean, even we have a charterschool that we were working with DestinE and
Schenectady. They think they do somegreat work. So I think those are
(09:22):
the three like charitable organizations that Ican relate to more. And obviously they're
Schenectady focused, but it's all thatthey men with the Children's hospital. They
do a lot of great things.So anywhere we can support, we would
like to. You know what Ilove about your company When you're around for
one hundred years. You guys werehere when it was Schenectady, then you
(09:43):
were here all through the Electric citystuff, and now you're here for New
Schenectady. You guys have been throughsome us with this city connectity. Yeah.
Well I moved here back home intwo thousand and four from Boston and
there was literally one bar you couldgo doing Schenectady, and there was not
anywhere to do downtown for dinner.And to see where we are now fast
(10:05):
forward, I see people jogging inthe streets. I see dogs walking in
the neighborhoods. You know, Imissed out on all the glories of Schenectady
in the fifties, and sixties thatI always heard about from my parents because
both my parents are from Schenectady andit's been I was just like, well,
that's not what I got. Igot this rundown city where you can
shoot a canon down the middle ofthe State Street and nothing hit anything.
(10:26):
So to see where it is nowis great, but we're not done,
and I do like the new Schenectady. Well, congrats on one hundred years.
Congrats on your fifteen years. Wewish you well in twenty twenty four
and beyond. It's great catching upwith you. Yep. Thanks Doug.
It's Doug Goudie and we have anotherepisode of CEOs you should know. Joining
me today is Chris Sparragin. Heis the president of Schenectady Hardware and Electric.
Good morning, Chris Corning. Doug. By the way, your pronouns
really are she as it turns out. Yeah, Schenectady Hardware and Electric.
By the way, congratulations, onehundred years in business in twenty twenty three.
(00:24):
There is an achievement. Yeah,it's really exciting. We've been able
to stay in Schenectady for one hundredyears, you know. Starting the company
was started by my great grandfather.Went to Union College and my grandfather and
my father and now I sit onin my seat as CEO and we've been
(00:44):
in the community doing lots of differentprojects for one hundred years. I like
to think that your great grandfather wasselling the first commercial radios available so that
people could listen to WGY. Ilike that synergy there. Yeah, no
sold radios, pails anything in ahardware store. Used to sell those local
hardware stores. But he had anelectrical background, so he always left,
(01:07):
you know, went to being amore electrical He turned over a lot of
the gas lights in the city toelectric lights back in the twenties. Was
he a Capitol region guy growing upor did he come always came up with
his brother. They both went toUnion College, and he was his brother
was a mechanical engineer, and hewaited for him so they could live together
(01:30):
and save money. So they bothwent to Union College at the same time,
even though there was like a twoyear age gap. First electrical engineers
in the country because Union had theprogram. Because of ge and with Edison
and Stein's being, you know,such a big presence in our area,
Union College was able to market that. So from when he started the company
(01:53):
one hundred years ago to you sittingin that office right now, it's pretty
safe to say things have changed alittle bit over the Yeah, it's a
little bit different for sure, someof us. At the end of the
day, the principles are all thesame, but yeah, the type of
work that we do, the typeof projects we do, it's one of
the few industries, you know,one hundred years you wonder how do people
survive that. You know, we'relucky in the sense that electrical business has
(02:15):
been around for a hundred years.We haven't gone to a different way of
sourcing energy and we've been able tonavigate that. We've had a lot of
great people work through multi generational employees, uh, you know, big local
presence. UH just been fortunate enoughto be touch a lot of the great
(02:35):
assets of our community, whether itbe like Spack or Proctors, or office
buildings or hospitals, obny Med orElis or you know, We've been involved
in a lot of things that affecteveryone on a day to day basis,
and our fingerprints are all over theCapital region. Do you drive through the
Capital Regions? Sometimes go, yep, that's me right there. We did
that. We did that way.I as a kid, my dad used
(02:57):
to do that, and I wouldobviously as you don't think anything of it.
And as an adult now I dothat. So yeah, no,
it is. We go to theAlbany Skyline and we've literally been in every
single one of those buildings. Soit's it's pretty impressive, especially the bigger
ones, you know. But yeah, for sure. So I like this
back one. That's one of myfavorite because it's you know, we were
(03:20):
at Spacker, at Proctors, ata theater or something. All these people
are enjoying themselves and we were apart of that. So as fourth generation,
obviously big shoes to fill, asyou're sitting in that chair, but
I assume being fourth generation, atsome point as a young kid, your
dad said, Hey, get intoback and start moving some boxes or start
opening some mail and doing something.How did you get started? Yeah,
(03:45):
I know, he wasn't really pushingme to be in the business. It
kind of came later in life.I did work in the field of for
a little bit as a summer helper. Uh So, I worked at a
school of K through twelve. Workwe did. I was on a couple
of projects between my senior year andhigh school and college, and then I
came into the office probably my sophomoreyear as this assistant project managed as an
(04:10):
intern. And after that my backgroundwas in finance and so I could always
help with more of accounting and back. That was more of my strong suit.
But over the time, I've youknow, learned a lot about the
between my dad and the coworkers,I learned a lot about the industry and
how to be successful at it.How happy was your mom when you took
over the reins? Well, soit's a kind of a unique story.
(04:35):
My father died at sixty one.So I took over the company when I
was twenty six years old. Soit was kind of a suddenland situation.
So it wasn't really a happy moment, I guess today. It was more
of an out of necessity situation.But we are, you know, we've
been going strong ever since, andit was kind of an inflection point obviously
(04:58):
in my life. We were ableto you know, stay strong and stay
around and here we are. Thatwas fifteen years ago and we're you know,
just as successful, and uh,you know, I'm very fortunate in
that way. How many people workit's connected the hardware and electric roughly about
one hundred. It goes up anddown depending on the type of work we
(05:19):
have, but right now, yeah, roughly approximately. And how far afield
do you go outside of the Capitolregion? Do you go outside the Capitol
region? Yeah, so we justfinished a hotel up in Lake Placid.
We go down pretty much, wego down pretty far south, you know.
(05:39):
We we we've go to projects thatwe feel we can be competitive price
wise and also bring expertise to thata customer would want us on. So
we've done small projects in Massachusetts,you know, mostly regional northeast stuff though.
Yeah, definitely eastern part of NewYork is where we are really our
area. So as you celebrate onehundreds and as you do your fifteenth year
(06:01):
now in charge, everybody says,what's the secret? What's the secret?
But there is something to a companydoing this for a one hundred years and
as strong as ever. What areyou guys doing right well, I mean
we have good employees, we havegood projects, we have good customers.
I mean we always have to keepour pulse on all three of those legs
and making sure that we provide aservice that's competitive that people will want to
(06:25):
bring us on their other team.Otherwise, yeah, we wouldn't be in
existence. And you know, overtime, we've we kind of reinvented ourselves
over these years. Every ten tofifteen years, you kind of have to
do like a little bit of ashift, and I think that's how we've
been able to stay relevant. Whichone would be judging you harder right now?
Dad, Grandpa, great grandpa?Which one would be giving you more
(06:48):
advice right now? Well? Iwas a little bit young when by so
I don't really all these stories.I know of my great grandfather. He
died when I was like five yearsold, but he worked every day until
he pretty uch. He was likeninety one coming into the office, So
he was a unique person. Mydad obviously be giving me the hardest time,
(07:08):
but I'm sure you'd be very happywith this sense if he knew the
whole story right, that we wereable to stay in business and keep it
going. And so that would besomething I think you'd be proud of.
Tell me when we talk in fifteenyears and it's your thirtieth anniversary in business
or as CEO, tell me whatyour business is going to be at that
time. Well, I'm actually youknow, I'm one of the few people
(07:30):
I think that I'm high on theCapital Region. I think that we have
a lot of assets that we justneed a leverage to really be a place
of doing business in New York.New York is a very, very tough
place to do business. Everyone knowsthat, But I think what we have
in the Capital Region, between theschools and the type of businesses that we
(07:53):
have, I think if we leveragethe right way, we could be a
competitor for some very industrious cities inthe country. So it's a matter of
recognizing that we're all one area.We can't segregate the cities, all these
the and Troy. I think ifwe look at it like a capital region
and market that way, and there'sbeen a big push of that in the
(08:15):
last couple of years. But assomeone who's been a schnnected the guy in
my whole life, we definitely aremore. The people in Schenecta don't didn't
used to mingle with the Troy,and the Troy didn't mingle with all many
and it's always been kind of separate, and I think that's kind of going
away. So if we can reallyharness that, I think we could be
very successful. Are there organizations charitiesin the capital region. I know,
(08:37):
at a company that's been around onehundred years, everybody comes calling. Are
there ones that are near and dearto your heart ways that you give back?
Yeah, I think well, Ivery much enjoy Proctors and Philip Marsh's
does a great job as the CEO. Now they're in all the communities,
just like I was just talking about, So that is something that I think
(08:58):
brings. I mean, l AHospital is another one that is in our
backyard. So I think that NorthernRivers does a lot of great work.
So those are probably the three thatI would I would think of. I
mean, even we have a charterschool that we were working with DestinE and
Schenectady. They think they do somegreat work. So I think those are
(09:22):
the three like charitable organizations that Ican relate to more. And obviously they're
Schenectady focused, but it's all thatthey men with the Children's hospital. They
do a lot of great things.So anywhere we can support, we would
like to. You know what Ilove about your company When you're around for
one hundred years. You guys werehere when it was Schenectady, then you
(09:43):
were here all through the Electric citystuff, and now you're here for New
Schenectady. You guys have been throughsome us with this city connectity. Yeah.
Well I moved here back home intwo thousand and four from Boston and
there was literally one bar you couldgo doing Schenectady, and there was not
anywhere to do downtown for dinner.And to see where we are now fast
(10:05):
forward, I see people jogging inthe streets. I see dogs walking in
the neighborhoods. You know, Imissed out on all the glories of Schenectady
in the fifties, and sixties thatI always heard about from my parents because
both my parents are from Schenectady andit's been I was just like, well,
that's not what I got. Igot this rundown city where you can
shoot a canon down the middle ofthe State Street and nothing hit anything.
(10:26):
So to see where it is nowis great, but we're not done,
and I do like the new Schenectady. Well, congrats on one hundred years.
Congrats on your fifteen years. Wewish you well in twenty twenty four
and beyond. It's great catching upwith you. Yep. Thanks Doug.
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