Millennium Communication & Electrical Products

James Kyle ventured out in 2006 to establish Millennium Communication & Electrical Products (Millennium) after recognizing a gap in the industry. At the time, Kyle noticed that many distributors of telecommunication and electrical products simply couldn’t, or wouldn’t, stock certain products, which ultimately led to delays in delivery. Kyle’s solution: Millennium, where the team strives to stock and supply a variety of specialized parts and products.

Kyle, who remains president and CEO of Millennium, positioned the company to stock and supply products from a network of warehouses, ensuring orders could be expediently filled from locations close to the jobsite, cutting down on transportation costs in the process. Millennium built itself a strong foundation by attracting and employing professionals with hands-on experience in the field to assure customers that Millennium stands behind every product it represents.

Millennium maintains headquarters and a warehouse in Lake Geneva, Wis., as well as branches in Green Bay, Wis.; Fenton, Mich.; Tampa, Fla.; and Salt Lake City, Utah. The company employs a total of 29 professionals who work together to ensure a healthy inventory of conduit, fittings, cable, wire, grounding products, vaults, enclosures and fiber optic and copper components. Millennium also stocks a variety of the related installation, testing and splicing equipment ready for immediate delivery ensuring clients get what exactly what is needed when needed.

“Our growth really has been through word-of-mouth and referrals from existing customers,” expands Kyle. Millennium started out as a specialty supplier of product, primarily for the telecommunications industry. This work eventually led the company to branch out into the transportation infrastructure market, adding in more products to support the underground infrastructure that ties together an array of intelligent transportation systems to complete Millennium’s four core focus areas: telecommunications, CATV, fiber optic networks and municipal projects.

Succeeding Together

Partnering with both customers and strategic vendors, Kyle worked to ensure Millennium upheld the highest degree of customer service and unwavering loyalty to its manufacturers. The company works directly with small- to mid-sized manufacturers that might be relatively small in the scope of the industry, but produce a competitive product at a competitive price. “We only represent maybe one or two manufacturers in a given category, because we believe in building the kind of loyalty that leads to a true partnership,” adds Kyle.

The company also works to solidify its relationships with clients through educational and instructional initiatives, especially through instructional training videos. The videos provide clients with an easily accessible way to stay abreast of new products, technologies and techniques alike. Millennium will also coordinate with the manufacturers to organize an on-site, hands-on product demonstration and training session at the client’s request.

Furthermore, Millennium works directly with its manufacturers to ensure the network of micro-warehouses can support larger orders. The warehouses rage from roughly 6,000 to 7,500 square feet, each sitting on one or two acres of land. This gives each location the ability to stock a diverse portfolio of products and a wider variety of large and bulky items that might otherwise cost Millennium’s customers an arm and a leg to ship from a distributor’s warehouse to the jobsite. Instead, Millennium guarantees a competitive cost by shipping directly to sites within a three-hour driving radius of each of its branches. “We also drop-ship roughly 40 percent of what we sell to ensure customers receive what they need when they need it,” adds Kyle.

The company maintains a fleet of flatbed trucks and delivery vehicles to make trips directly to the jobsite if necessary, though Millennium also maintains close working relationships with a few less-than truckload (LTL) transportation companies as well. The extra flexibility ensures that customers can call on the Millennium team for same-day shipping if necessary, though outside alternatives provide the assurance of a competitively priced option.

Greater Flexibility, Greater Support

Similarly, Millennium works to offer a variety of payment options to suit the cash flow needs of a given client. It might seem counterintuitive, but the move reflects Millennium’s underlying belief that a true business partner continually works to understand the client’s business as well as the client’s specific needs.

“The economic downturn really didn’t have much of an effect on our growth as we were basically building the company from the ground up,” explains Kyle. “Instead, what we saw was just an overall delay in payments across the board so we built in Net-60/90 day payment options for our clients and even established a separate leasing arm, simply as part of the overall value we hope to provide.”

Meanwhile, Millennium pounced on the opportunity to extend its reach into markets further west and south during the economic downturn. The Salt Lake City and Florida outposts only accounted for roughly 10 percent of Millennium’s overall sales as of late 2012, according to Kyle. However, the outposts provide critical supply-chain stepping-stones for clients venturing ever farther outside the Midwest. “Our goal is to really build up the network of branches around each of those two locations in the next three to five years as opportunity allows,” adds Kyle.

Further expansion initiatives will focus on extending Millennium’s presence in the Midwest through the St. Louis and Indianapolis areas. As the company extends its geographical presence, Millennium Communication & Electrical Products’ talented and knowledgeable professionals will ensure clients remain informed and equipped to find success.