“Even if you get a college education, be sure to have a trade. With a trade you”™ll always be able to make money and support your family.”
Such was the sage advice given to Carmine Anthony “Tony” Ricci by his grandfather, the late Chandler Cooper of Poughquag, a carpenter by trade. Today Ricci, a graduate of the State University of New York at Delhi and a master electrician, owns C. A. Ricci Electrical Contractors in Cold Spring, employing six individuals and working in Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Westchester counties.
One of Ricci”™s major challenges is to stay on top of new technology.
“Continuing education is not required, but it should be,” he says. Another problem is keeping current on interpretations of the codes. “The code book is national, but its interpretation varies with the individual inspectors.        Outsourcing of manufacturing has presented electricians with a dilemma, Ricci says of the need to be aware of switches, outlets and receptacles of a lesser quality. He says he avoids such problems by shopping directly from the supply houses.
Ricci handled the electrical installations for the nature center built by the Audubon Society at Constitution Marsh to house its records. On the residential side he divides his time among elegant homes with such fixtures at Tiffany lights, older large homes whose electrical systems require updating and small homes that young couples need rewired to accommodate the increasing numbers of electrical appliances.
Commenting on the transformation from incandescent bulbs to light emitting diodes (LEDs), Ricci expresses satisfaction that the compact fluorescent bulbs originally planned as replacements are probably on the way out. Of the LEDs, “They don”™t produce heat and have an incredibly long life. They fit into the standard sockets and have a number of options in color and style.”
Ricci grew up in Cold Spring, the son of a village judge who also ran the Putnam County Highway Department garage. Following graduation from Haldane High School, he enlisted in the National Guard for six years, devoting weekends and two summer weeks to that cause while attending Delhi. He has praise for the Delhi program, which included a year of electrical technology followed by a year of instrumentation and controls. “We rewired buildings as a part of a class project and did a solar project.”
Ricci”™s full-time career began as an estimator for Delta Electric. After two years at a desk, he chose to join the electricians union as an apprentice. His mentor, Randy Taggart, rehired him for Delta Electric, where Ricci worked as an apprentice.
“The union decided to give apprentices diverse experience and began rotating us,” Ricci recalls. After being with two electrical firms and obtaining his journeyman”™s card, he went into a partnership, going out on his own when his partner relocated. “Our first offices were in Nelsonville, and we stored and packed at a Cold Spring location.”
Challenging Careers focuses on the exciting and unusual business lives of Hudson Valley residents. Comments or suggestions may be emailed to Catherine Portman-Laux at cplaux@optonline.net.
