A commitment to succeed: dedication to craftsmanship pays off for Lough Electric.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: DRYDEN / KENORA - M.C. Lough Electric - Company overview

M.C. Lough Electric in Dryden is not a place for clock watchers. Drive by their Kennedy Road shop at 6 a.m. or on Sunday mornings, and you'll likely see pickup trucks in the parking lot of the family-run electrical contracting firm.

"There are no 8-to-4 hours here," said Lorrie Lough, the company's controller, of their early morning-to-evening work ethic. "You just commit yourself to the organization."

M.C. Lough is a fast-moving electrical contractor servicing commercial, institutional and industrial customers.

The company assists with equipment, fire alarm and security installations; construction pre-wiring, overhead and fibre optic cabling, pole line construction and most design-build projects.

Their coverage area is virtually all of northwestern Ontario west of Thunder Bay and into the fly-in First Nation communities.

The 16-employee company was started by Lorrie's father, Mike Lough, as a home-based business in the late 1970s before it moved to an industrial park property on Kennedy Road, just off the Trans-Canada Highway, where they've bought and renovated two nearby buildings on the same block.

The company is marking its 25th anniversary in August and Mike's 50th year as an electrician, who, at age 68, still packs; his lunch pail and goes to work just about everyday.

It's a full-blown family affair with nephews, nieces, cousins and in-laws working as apprentices, on vehicle maintenance and in administration, sometimes seven days a week.

Some non-blood relations are welcome, said Lough.

"As long as you're willing to pull your weight, there's an opportunity here."

That solid work ethic was drummed into Lough, her sister Debbie and brother Jeff - a master electrician and the company's vice-president - before they were teenagers when their parents ran an area campground resort and restaurant in the 1970s.

All were later drafted to work in the family's electrical contracting business.

"We made a commitment to this business succeeding," said Lough, who also runs her own consulting business, teaching computer courses at Confederation College and doing project work for the City of Dryden.

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As a union shop, Lough Electric regularly draws on journeyman electricians from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 402 in Thunder Bay to swell their ranks as the project workload increases.

Over the years, the company has shifted away from individual residential and subdivision jobs into more intensive project...