Olympic Wiring, Inc. began its existence where many small business startups do: in the garage. And the kitchen table. There, while the few employees waited for owner Bill Carter’s orders, his wife, Judi, would serve them breakfast next to the couple’s children.
   As many other small business owners do, Bill and Judi Carter wore lots of hats, the size and color of which ranged based on each job.
   But that is where the story of Olympic Wiring parts ways with stories of countless other small enterprises coloring the landscape of America. Where only half of those startups survive beyond four years, Olympic Wiring has grown to become one of Kitsap area’s top electric contractors, “riding the wave of the economy” but keeping up with new technology and demands.
   So looking forward to their company’s 35-year anniversary in February, the Carters have plenty to celebrate. But don’t expect a big fanfare or public party hats. From their “humble beginnings,” remembered with fondness by Judi, the couple says the business has been such a big part of their life that 35 seems like any other anniversary. The Carters’ marriage is only about a year older than their business.

Olympic Wiring owners Bill and Judi Carter, who started their business 35 years ago out of thier home.

   “We have grown along with the business,” Judi Carter says. “Our personal life and our business have been intertwined.”
   Olympic Wiring had employed as many as 45 people at one time but has found a comfortable mark with 37, which allows them to more carefully control growth. Of the 31 electricians and six support staff, some have worked for the company for 17-25 years.
   Bill Carter, a master electrician, had for many years kept his hand in most of the business aspects, while Judi managed the “office” — which at first was in their home. Back in those days, “wiring was easy,” Bill says, and he could wire a house in one day with just one employee. Now, it could take weeks to finish a custom home or commercial job, as modern dwellings and offices have so much more than lights.
   Ironically, it was a long-overdue vacation that has opened up the company for more growth. While leaving for their first vacation in many years, Bill Carter delegated his normal functions of bidding, dispatching and such to other staff. When they returned, the office worked as smoothly as if they’d never left.
   “When I came back, I sat for weeks and watched, and I said, ‘This is working pretty well.’ I remember walking back into the office and thinking, this is what should be done.”
   To take the company to its next level, Bill Carter had to let go of the control. But it took much more than that to succeed — success being measure by, say, that very first customer back in the ‘70s still bringing in new projects today. Or by the lack of advertising, for which there is really no need, since most new clients come by word of mouth. Or by the fact that new services are continuously added, even as new technology makes wiring much more than just installing plugs and switches.
   In fact, Olympic Wiring offers just about every electronics service, from basic wiring and commercial work to low-voltage systems, which allows all communications systems including phones, televisions and computers to be run from one location of the house.
   “We keep up because our customers come in, asking for those services,” Judi says. One of the latest demands, slow but definitely working its way in, is for “whole house control systems” — used for the hi-tech smart homes.
   Unlike other industries where technology makes jobs more efficient and faster, electrical work has become much more complicated — and slower — with all the new advances. “It used to be just speed, how fast can you do it,” Bill Carter says. “With the explosion of electronics, you’re on a constant learning curve.”
   To keep up with the curve, employees are always in learning mode, attending training at special schools or basic seminars, getting new information from suppliers, or training in-house. What sets his employees apart, Cater says, is the fact that they “honestly head out of here wanting to do a good job for the customers.”
   “We have a lot of projects in the works, and each has a few hundred things to take care of. Our intention is not making any mistakes, but if we do, we fix them,” he says. “Caring about what we do is a big part of making sure we do a good job.”