Tom, Senior Electrical Estimator

Tom's career path took a long and winding road before he arrived at Cherne. "I was in Vietnam, and with my military training plus knowledge gained from my father, I became an electrical estimator." Tom became involved not only with bid proposals, but with design and project management. He eventually joined an electrical contractor and traveled to projects nationwide. "I've been in Alaska and in the subways of New York City. From Oregon to Oklahoma, Washington to Wyoming, like Johnny Cash used to sing, 'I've been everywhere.'" Tom continued to take engineering and electrical courses, and when the firm he was employed with dissolved their electrical group, he had the opportunity to join Cherne. "I liked the company procedures, and for the last 17 years it's been a good fit for both of us. It has been a great experience for me to develop electrical estimates and to support other project needs."

Cherne estimators play a vital role before, during and after each project. Only when Cherne has an accurate picture of project performance and cost history can we successfully bid work, manage project performance and costs, and be prepared for successful bids on future projects. Estimators are employed in the corporate office, and may occasionally travel to project sites nationwide. Weekly work schedules of 40+ hours per week are common and do expand as business demands dictate.

Estimators report to the Chief Estimator. New employees receive orientation to familiarize themselves with the Cherne bid process and receive constant mentoring from more experienced staff to help ensure a smooth transition into the Cherne company culture.

A typical day for an estimators varies according to the project timeline. During bid preparation, they review design documents to produce lists of materials and then apply current labor rates to project labor hour estimates. During the project construction stage, Estimators work closely with field staff to produce estimates for additional work which may develop. They collect job data to update the estimating database, to adjust labor rates and, if needed, to update estimates to cover work not originally planned for by the client. At the end of the project, this accurate data allows Estimators to analyze the project’s performance, compared to that projected in the estimate, provides the basis for future successful bids.