Cerrone Builders of South Glens Falls, NY, has been building award-winning custom homes for three generations, attributing continued success to their family philosophy of expertly blending personal attention, premium products and solid design from day one. "We don’t employ Project Managers," said Steven Cerrone. "My brother, Anthony, brother-in-law, Gianni, and I are with our customers in the office and out in the field. We’re on-site, accessible and involved every step of the way."
Smart Customers, Smart Technology
Over 30 years in the home building business naturally fosters an appreciation for the evolution of home design as well as the shifting trends in customer engagement. Cerrone Builders is quick to note that homebuyers today know more about the building process than ever before.
"HGTV and the internet makes for well-informed customers who know what they like and are very eager to be involved in the process," said Anthony Cerrone. "This is something we encourage by inviting customers to visit their job site at any time. We also welcome them to choose their own products to customize their home." Doing so often impacts the job schedule, by a few days or even a week, but Cerrone reflects on the positive. "The flip side is we feed off what customers request. Our customers are well versed in their knowledge of technology and know what they want – from Wi-Fi® enabled appliances and other smart home products. We learn a lot from them and can then offer that technology to our next customer."
Ahead of the Curve
Of course, customers can’t possibly know it all. As the building professionals, Cerrone and its partners including electrical, plumbing and heating, tile, flooring, appliances, pools and a host of others needed to make a dream home a reality, bring product options at varying price points to the table. They are also often the first to see "the latestand greatest", as was the casewith Cerrone Builders electricalcontractor Corey Prehoda, from Barlow Electric. Prehoda was at his local electrical distributor where he saw a display of the new Leviton Load Center. He was immediately intrigued.
"I had already bought a load center the day before, but the Leviton Load Center looked like it would save me some installation time," said Prehoda. "I actually left, and then came back to get it because I wanted to try it…I wanted to be the first! After the first installation, I was hooked." And his instincts were right. Prehoda said, "The Leviton Load Center saved us 3-1/2 hours of installation time! This saved time does not only save money, but also allows us to spend more time on other tasks throughout the project." He was eager to present this new product to the Cerrone Builders team.
"The first time I saw the Leviton Load Center I was amazed," said Gianni Simone. "I couldn’t stop looking at it. It’s one of those pieces of a home that we take for granted. I’ve seen the same load center since I was eight years old and just to see this different style was so exciting to me." Anthony Cerrone chimed in, "Often it’s the little things that shine the brightest." Both agreed the best way to describe it is "approachable".
Prehoda made it unanimous. "The load center is the focal point of the home where power comes from. It should look good. The Leviton Load Center, with its see-through door, is a much more welcoming panel for homeowners."
And from an operational standpoint, Prehoda was equally impressed. "The new Leviton Load Center makes it very easy for us and homeowners to detect a tripped breaker and whether it is an arc-fault and ground-fault issue. This is thanks to the new red flags Leviton has installed within each breaker switch to show the tripped position, and the red LED lights on the breaker itself to indicate an arc-fault or ground-fault issue. Older panels were sometimes more difficult to detect since they tripped in the middle position and have no indication lights for people to see, and nothing detecting what the issue actually is."
The load center is generally installed in the basement of Cerrone homes – some are finished, and some are not based upon customer preference. Either way, Cerrone Builders is very meticulous and insists all basements, including the utility area, be neat and clean in appearance. The Leviton Load Center meets these criteria with its sleek white enclosure, white circuit breakers with LED indicator lights, and optional observation window in the cover for at-a-glance operating status of all the circuit breakers.
The Future Made Current
The Leviton Load Center has already proven to be a welcome addition to both the Cerrone Builders and Barlow Electric product offering. "It’s a great look for the company, a great look for Cerrone and nice looking and very presentable for the homeowner," said Prehoda. He affirmed his commitment to using the Leviton Load Center for every new build and is enthusiastically guiding other electrical professionals in this direction noting, "it was a great experience."
