RK Electric began 41 years ago as a small electrical company specializing in light industrial and technology work around California’s Silicon Valley region in the mid-1980s. The company initially performed a great deal of direct work for end users before migrating into working with general contractors. Over time, and as revenue grew, the team began to take on design-build work through an in-house engineering group run by Vice President of Engineering and Operations, Richard Skibinski.
Now serving the Greater San Francisco Bay Area from its base in Fremont, the company has long since expanded its operations as an electrical contractor to include voice and data services to serve its varied clients across the construction industry, and its reputation is solid within its home state.
Four decades is a considerable amount of time to be active as a business, and President and General Manager Raul Real has been with RK Electric for nearly its entire lifespan. Raul, having started with the company just a year after its founding, rose through the ranks in a number of positions before carrying the company mantle forward after the retirement of its founder around 2001.
Having fulfilled various positions within the company for 39 years now, Raul says that the secret to success is not necessarily unique but rather tried, tested, and true. “The design-build capabilities we have are how we thrive,” he says.
He says that RK concentrates on what it provides to the construction industry, which is primarily service and construction for electrical systems and for structured cabling. A big part of that focus, especially on the electrical side, has to do with preventative maintenance. Thanks to its in-house engineering department, the company invests in this aspect heavily, preventing unscheduled outages that its clients cannot afford to have happen.
Preventative maintenance begins with ensuring that a client’s blueprints are accurate, followed by infrared testing and preventative maintenance work, which includes visually assessing panels and testing electrical breakers. Further breaker coordination and arc flash studies by RK engineers involve promoting safety for personnel working in the structure and the prevention of outages by coordinating breakers according to their specific size and specifications.
However, preventative maintenance is only as effective as its users allow it to be. Unfortunately, in the past, some clients have neglected to do the preventative maintenance work directed by RK, Raul says. As a result, these clients are put at risk of a large outage that can take down their operations for a long time.
Raul believes that clients who postpone these preventative measures can be short-sighted, a flaw that can prevent them from doing their research and development work normally. However, no matter what the situation, RK Electric is always ready to help bring its clients up to speed and ensure the integrity of their operations.
In his time with RK Electric, Raul has experienced all of the historic ebbs and flows of the technology world in and around Silicon Valley, ranging from the boom and bust of the dotcom era in the 1990s to the recent growth of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers today. The cross-industry focus on AI is significant, with many pilot lines—production lines meant to produce small amounts of a new technology on the way to larger commercialization—being installed in California for placing and testing servers.
“We see AI features in every company, and it’s amazing,” Raul says—and this widespread adoption does not seem to be stopping any time soon. This sector-wide AI focus has led to something of a boom period for RK Electric’s niche within the industry. Raul notes that although there was a brief period of sluggishness in the market around 2024, it has since been on a constant ascension and is still moving forward, with RK itself experiencing steady growth alongside it. There will certainly be no shortage of work as more AI pilot lines are built and the construction industry gets a handle on just what AI can do for it.
The RK Electric team continues to keep busy amidst this rise, having a number of future projects in the pipeline. Raul tells us that the company’s revenue this year is expected to meet its projected budget; it is now just a matter of keeping up with client demand while ensuring the company has a solid foundation and can continue to support its customers amidst this fast pace. Current market and project speed resemble that previously seen in eras like the dotcom boom, which was another period of marked success for the company. RK expects to be able to support quite a few of today’s burgeoning and top technology companies when it comes to structured cabling and electrical services in the near future and, hopefully, for a long time to come.
Following its celebration of 40 years of business, Raul believes that he and the company overall have learned quite a few lessons over the years. “You have to know what you’re good at… and stay in your lane” to succeed, he says. The RK team knows the things at which it excels in its sector, and that is where its focus will remain.
Along with its considerable suite of offerings, the company promotes itself as a flexible company that can change direction and move forward very quickly because of its in-house engineering capabilities. Even on fast-tracked projects where similar companies can often fail to meet expectations, RK can design ahead of time or even engage in real-time design with information flow directly from the end user. The experience and ability to pivot to meet a client’s needs at a moment’s notice is a key attribute that keeps RK’s client base coming back.
Of course, it is about more than just the bottom line and being nimble for RK Electric. Raul says that the company’s philosophy has always been to put forth a team effort, with no one person being more important than any other. “The company succeeds when everyone acts as a team,” he says, because it gives confidence to the business and, in turn, to customers when they see the team moving in one direction.
This kind of unity can be difficult to achieve, but here, it has been baked into daily operations from the very beginning. The present state of construction is allowing for some incredible, exciting opportunities, and the RK Electric team is united in its commitment to swift, client-centered, and effective electrical solutions.
