Richard Cable Jr. (left) has been working with his father, Rick Cable, for 20 years as part of the family-owned Cable Electric Company in Corpus Christi. No, they did not change their name to suit the business. ‘I was just born to be an electrician,’ says the senior Cable, who has more than 40 years’ experience. Staff Photo
The only way to learn to be an electrician is through experience, says longtime master electrician Rick Cable of Cable Electric. Skilled, licensed technicians with years under their utility belts are hard to come by these days, he laments. But his company is still able to provide, thanks to loyal, longtime employees and his oldest son, Richard.
“A good service tech is almost extinct,” Cable said. “Used to be an electrician could do anything. Now they are specialized. You are either a refinery electrician, or navy or in the oil field.”
Cable has been working as an electrician for 40 years. His oldest son has 20 years’ experience. The Portland- and Port Aransas-based business serves the entire Coastal Bend area.
“Our company can do anything and everything,” he said. “We can put a plug in your business to wiring your house or business or school. We can do commercial or industrial work at a plant. We do some work out at the port, too.”
Part of the problem with finding a good, multi-purpose electrician is many of the journeymen in training have left to work in the oil fields, he said. That aside, the current oil boom around the Eagle Ford Shale play has been good for business.
“We have really good customers out there,” Cable said of the oil industry. “We’ve got plenty to do with the manpower we have.”
The family-operated business includes his wife, who runs the office. His father was a contractor, who became an instant customer when Cable decided to get into electrical work.
“My father was a home builder and land developer, and when I was a young man, I worked for an electrician,” he said. “I was 20 years old looking for a job, and I knocked on an electrical contractor’s door. The rest is history. I’ve been around construction business my whole life.”
He claims he was born to be an electrician — thus the name Cable, which he comes by naturally — and appreciates a business that has been good to him and his family.
“What sticks out most for me about this business is that it always put food on the table, paid the bills,” he said. “Some guys get rich. Some don’t. To me, it’s a constant, good living.”
Staying in the game means adapting to an ever-changing industry with constant national code revisions and city requirements.
“It’s always challenging, never boring,” he said. “If you don’t keep up, you’ll stub your toe. The code book changes a lot.”
He credits most of his success with his customers and employees.
“We’re only as good as our employees,” he said. “We keep good people on the payroll. And our customers are always a high priority with us. We strive to make our customers happy, and 99.9 percent of the time, we succeed.”
When not working on the family business, Cable likes to go hunting and fishing. Boats are a passion, whether for off-shore fishing or racing across the water — fresh or salt.
“I’m looking at sponsoring a drag boat this year,” he told Corpus Christi Business News. “I’m going to do some drag-boat racing again. I did it 35 years ago, and I want to try it one more time.”
He plans on having a boat in the LakeFest races on Lake Marble Falls in Central Texas next summer. But first, there’s Christmas to get through with a family that includes seven children and a whole passel of grandkids.
“It gets busy around our house at Christmas time,” he said.
Cable Electric
4383 FM 2986
Portland: 361-643-1482
Port Aransas: 361-749-0606
cableelectricco@yahoo.com
