MidCity Electric Was Losing Certs Between PMs. Now 750 Workers' Credentials Follow Them to the Job.
Labor is our highest cost and it's our biggest risk right now. Um, skilled labor is extremely challenging. We're trying to figure out how to redo our
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industry right now with the labor challenges that we have. I was telling somebody I have a a data center we're building right now. We have um
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I don't know if there's 400 500 people on there and honestly I think 70 to 100 of them speak English. So it's
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a whole other level of us figuring our industry out right now. So labor is by far our biggest challenge. Um
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it's our biggest cost and our biggest challenge. It's the most important thing we do. I mean tools are tools and materials material. those costs, they
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they stay pretty consistent. Like I can figure those out. The labor is labor is where we get hurt and labor is where we make our money. One of the big
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challenges that we have on average, I would say we move 30 to 70 people a week. So when you start moving volumes
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like that, making sure people know addresses, making sure who they're going to see, making sure they have contacts,
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um that we have grown and you guys have helped us grow and do better at that. Um that's one of the things I think we're
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doing well right now. We still have challenges, but for the most part, we are communicating a lot better than we used to. What we decided at Mid City
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Electric is that all of our field certifications end up living in Rivet.
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Um, and we did that because the access to that stuff that our field staff needs, they can get there. Um, so all of our certifications, all the trainings,
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all the certifications, we actually are just starting to get a lot of um, bilingual people. So that's a big thing.
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Like we're now sorting our team so our field guys know who's bilingual. Um, those are one of the tags that we use.
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So it all it all lives in Rivet. It's uh, it gets more and more powerful every day. All of our safety trainings,
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anything that a field person would need lives in that in that environment. All of our safety training, all of our CPR,
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a lot of our trainings that are required for our drug testing programs, drug testing certifications,
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specific job certifications. Um, a lot of times we got to have specific accesses while we get on the jobs. Those will end up living in there. Um,
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anything that's associated to you as an individual in the field lives in Rivet.
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We're just getting ready to go on to another data center. One of the things they're asking for security is picture IDs. So, we'll just load that right in
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there. So, then our field guys, if that would come up down the road, if something would happen to pop up, then that's all right there in that then go in and grab that tag and say, "Hey,
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here's what you need." It it eliminates a lot of um it used to be someone would call a shop and someone would go run that down and we'd have to track that
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down. We get a copy of it, send it out to the site. Now our field guys are real quick. They can go open that card and it should be right there. Everything they
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should need is right there. Recognizing who doesn't have some of that stuff and who needs to be reertified has made us a lot more efficient. Um it's made us
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safer, too. we're able to track that stuff whereas before we didn't have um a lot of it got lost. A lot of it we would
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get people certified or we would get people badged and then we would not we wouldn't do the best job keeping track of it where I would have a project
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manager get somebody badged at a hospital and we have no idea that that team or that member would move over to another
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project manager and then we would get them we would redo it again cuz they don't tell you they just go spend the time and do it. So having it in one
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location that we can all access and just look at it has been it's been a positive impact on us. I mean just having that one database and being able to look at
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that stuff. The superintendents and myself are the people that move manpower on the job site. So we have a very good relationship with our project managers
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but we would like to transition more where they're doing these look aheads and they're putting the request in. And so we will change the way we use the
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roster board once they start. Um, we're going to kind of we're we're planning on changing the way we're structured right now. Um, but the way it is right now is
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basically Nick and I mark people for being moved. We go in and then we move them weekly. Um,
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but again, as as we as we bring these project managers in and start and train them, our vision is that
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they're making those requests and they're making those um we would start having them use that roster board more than us and that we're just responding
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to it. When we start moving people again on the scale that we are, we need a process and we need a program. So, just
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the the structured process is valuable to us. Um, the tags are super valuable
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to us. I do know like management and people in our organization as we've grown, um, we wish that we knew every
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single person that works for us and when when my my managers are walking sites,
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the pictures are valuable to them cuz they will pull them up. They do want to recognize you when they go out there.
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You know, as hard as it is, we we still want to keep a very family touch to what we do. We've grown to the point that
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that's very challenging. But when we before we do go out to job sites,
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they'll pull that up and look at pictures and review who's out there and then specifically try to find somebody and talk to them. So that I think is a huge value with us trying to stay to our
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uh core values or our roots. Um so that to me is one of the big things. Looking forward to the backlog stuff and moving
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off of spreadsheets and templates we're using now and getting it over into your program. So, I would say that that's probably going to be my next thing that
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I would say is most important to me is getting that working and being able to look at our backlog and do some of our projections based on data that's coming from our field.
THE CHALLENGE
MidCity Electric didn't have a technology problem — they had a growth problem. The spreadsheets, phone calls, and manual coordination that worked at a smaller scale had become a liability as the company pushed past 750 field workers. Every week, the operations team was moving between 30 and 70 electricians across active projects, and each move required the right address, the right contact, the right certifications, and the right communication. When any of those pieces slipped through the cracks, the consequences rippled across jobsites.
Certifications were a persistent headache. A project manager would spend time getting a worker badged for a hospital or data center — then that worker would transfer to a different PM's project, and the new PM would go through the entire credentialing process again because nobody knew the badge already existed. Safety training records were scattered. When an incident occurred in the field, the first question from the GC was whether the crew had been properly trained — and finding that answer required phone calls to the shop, digging through files, and delays that made the company look unprepared. Meanwhile, general contractors were pushing harder on compliance, demanding headcount reports by 8:00 AM and requiring picture IDs for data center security clearance — the kind of requests that expose every gap in a manual system.
The communication challenge was just as acute. With a growing bilingual workforce — on one data center project alone, only 70 to 100 out of 400 to 500 workers spoke English — MidCity needed a way to ensure every worker knew where they were going, who they were reporting to, and what was expected, regardless of language. The old system of phone calls and text messages from different numbers simply couldn't deliver that reliability at scale.
"Labor is our highest cost, and it's our biggest risk right now. Skilled labor is extremely challenging. Tools are tools and materials cost — they stay pretty consistent. But labor is where we get hurt and labor is where we make our money. It's the most important thing we do."
OUR SOLUTION
MidCity Electric implemented RIVET as the central hub for everything related to their field workforce. Rather than replacing their existing ERP (Spectrum), RIVET became the layer that connects field operations to the office — the single place where certifications live, crew assignments are managed, and communication flows automatically.
The implementation focused on three core areas:
1. Certification CentralizationAll field certifications — safety training, CPR, drug testing, site-specific badges, security clearances, and bilingual designations — now live in RIVET. When a worker transfers between projects or project managers, their credentials follow them. No more duplicate badging. No more calling the shop to track down a training record. When a safety incident occurs, the superintendent can pull up every crew member's certification status instantly and provide documentation to the GC within minutes, not hours.
2. Workforce Communication at ScaleMoving 30 to 70 workers per week requires precision. RIVET ensures every transferred worker receives the project address, site contact information, and reporting details they need before they arrive. For a workforce that increasingly includes bilingual and non-English-speaking electricians, this structured communication replaces the chaos of scattered text messages from different phone numbers with a single, reliable source of information.
3. Workforce Visibility for LeadershipAs MidCity grew past the point where leadership could know every worker personally, RIVET became the tool that preserves the company's family culture at scale. Before visiting a jobsite, managers pull up worker profiles — including photos — so they can walk the site, recognize people by name, and have genuine conversations. In an industry where workers often feel like a number, this small act of recognition reinforces the culture MidCity was built on.
ROADBLOCKS
MidCity is candid about the fact that their RIVET adoption has been a gradual process — and that's by design. Kipp Criswell describes it as "baby steps," acknowledging that some phases take longer at an organization of their scale.
The primary adoption challenge is at the foreman level. Foremen are not yet fully using RIVET for daily operations like attendance tracking, which is still managed through separate spreadsheets and tablet-based checklists. The company recognizes this as a gap and has identified foreman-level adoption as a key next step.
The current model routes all labor decisions through Criswell and the Labor Coordinator, which works but doesn't scale. MidCity plans to restructure its RIVET usage so PMs submit labor requests and look-aheads directly through the platform, freeing the operations team to respond rather than initiate.
The company's approach to these challenges reflects a mature understanding of technology adoption: roll out in stages, get each user group comfortable before adding the next, and don't force adoption faster than the organization can absorb it.
"When we start moving people on the scale that we are, we need a process and we need a program. The structured process is valuable to us."
NEXT STEPS
1. Backlog and Workforce ForecastingCriswell identified this as the most important next step — moving off spreadsheet-based backlog tracking and into RIVET's forecasting tools. The goal is to make labor projections based on data flowing from the field, not estimates built in isolation.
2. Project Manager IntegrationBringing PMs into RIVET to submit labor requests and look-aheads will shift the labor coordination model from superintendent-driven to PM-driven, better distributing the workload and giving PMs direct visibility into workforce availability.
3. Foreman-Level Adoption and AttendanceExpanding RIVET usage to foremen — particularly for daily attendance tracking — will close the last major gap between field and office. The company envisions a workflow where foremen manage their crew roster, take attendance, and communicate needs directly through RIVET, eliminating the parallel spreadsheet systems currently in use.
THE CLIENT
Mid-City Electric is a large, fast-growing electrical contractor in Central Ohio with a workforce of ~750 field employees. As they scaled across complex commercial, industrial, and data center projects, they ran into operational friction—especially around workforce credentialing and visibility. Previously, certifications and worker records were siloed by project managers, leading to duplicated effort, inefficiencies, and risk. By centralizing workforce data—certifications, safety records, and crew assignments—into a unified system, they eliminated redundant credentialing and gave every PM real-time visibility into worker qualifications. The result: smoother project transitions, better compliance, and significantly improved operational efficiency.
Industry:
Electrical contracting
Location:
Columbus, Ohio
Size:
750 field workers
Services:
Electrical construction & installation
FAQs
Find answers to common questions about RIVET’s workforce management solutions and features.
RIVET connects directly with Spectrum, Vista, Viewpoint, Foundation, Sage, COINs, CMIC, and other major construction ERPs through pre-built integrations. We automatically sync job budgets, schedules, and worker data, eliminating double data entry. Most integrations are completed within 1-2 weeks during implementation.
RIVET is designed for construction operations teams, not tech experts. We've helped many superintendents near retirement giving them hours in the day back. Hands-on white glove training with real people ensures your team will always get the support they need.
Most contractors see immediate task-based time savings in scheduling within the first few months. Labor planning impacts and reduction in margin fade from productivity killers takes longer to show up in the numbers, but you will feel the difference.
Most contractors using RIVET have more than 50 field employees performing construction work. We work with some of the largest contractors in the country, planning and scheduling thousands of field personnel. If you're currently managing workforce scheduling with spreadsheets, whiteboards, or phone calls, and have multiple projects running simultaneously, RIVET is for you.
Your data belongs to you. RIVET provides complete data export capabilities in standard formats, and we'll work with you to ensure a smooth transition if you decide to leave.
RIVET was purpose built for electrical and mechanical contractors, and is based on the workforce management best practices of the most successful MEP contractors. RIVET is an active partner with NECA, SMACNA, and construction research organizations like ELECTRI, supporting their standards, SOPs, and best practices in our platform and in our trainings. RIVET is focused exclusively on making labor operations efficient rather than trying to solve every construction problem. While we started by serving MEP, RIVET also has tremendous value for other contracting business' self-performing interior trades on vertical construction projects.
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