JCR Productions has served Ashville electricians for over 40 years — and they’re not going anywhere.
They’re North Carolina’s leading electrical education company, and they’ve helped thousands of electricians earn and maintain their licenses with exam prep and continuing education. They teach classes in Asheville, Mooresville, Charlotte, Raleigh and Winston-Salem, as well as virtually. JCR classroom students have a 93% exam pass rate — more than double the NC average — because of the books, video courses, mock exams, live Zoom classes and in-person workshops they offer.
Overall, their mission is simple: To supply the electricians that North Carolina desperately needs and to help those electricians do better work while earning more.
We sat down and spoke with President Luke Willert to talk about the company’s growth, the satisfaction he finds in his current work and what he hopes their company’s legacy will be.
How has your company grown over the years?
JCR Productions began over 40 years ago in 1985. Our founder Jeff Rodriquez was a successful electrical contractor, but he also really loved teaching the national electrical code to help other electricians earn their licenses and do better work. Today, Jeff’s best friend and current lead JCR instructor Victor Ring continues the JCR legacy with outstanding electrical education, exam prep and continuing education with classes in Asheville, Mooresville, Charlotte and Raleigh.
The JCR team has expanded to include outstanding new instructors like Frank Shelton in Winston-Salem and Greensboro, and Michele Rutt teaching virtually. Next year, we are adding new classes and instructors in South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and in Spanish for bilingual electricians.
“I’ve personally changed careers three times: from aspiring American history professor to stock picker to electrical education small business owner. Running a real company beloved by its customers is the best by far.”
What’s the greatest business advice you’ve been given?
From the late Charlie Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, paraphrasing the Roman freedman and philosopher Epictetus: “In every misfortune, an opportunity to behave well.”
I’ve been obsessed with Berkshire Hathaway for most of my adult life, and if you look at how Berkshire stock returned 70,000x in 60 years, the chart is just straight up and to the right, almost like a fairytale. It’s the greatest democratic wealth creation in history. But Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger went through awful and extraordinary personal and professional adversity every few years along the way. The messiness is the point — and it’s unavoidable.
I would also cite the late, great history professor Helena Wall: “ALWAYS STICK TO THE EVIDENCE!”
What’s a little-known fact or piece of trivia about your business?
I’m not allowed to fully answer this, but the old story involves JCR’s founder Jeff Rodriquez (6’6), his top national competitor from Florida (maybe twelve inches shorter), an arcane comment about one of them missing his electrical license…and a fist fight in the classroom.
“There is a national shortage of quality trades education, and we want to keep growing and improving our classes to help address that.”
What is most important to you and your company now, and what do you see as your company’s legacy?
JCR must continue to help electricians be safer and more profitable. There is a national shortage of quality trades education, and we want to keep growing and improving our classes to help address that. Electricians are the vanguard of civilizational progress, and we need more great ones locally.
We have trained more than 20,000 electricians over our first 41 years, and I would love to help train more than 100,000 over the next 41! JCR is already well known amongst North Carolina electricians for exam prep and continuing education, but I believe we can do a lot more to serve electricians around the Southeast.