JONAH JENSEN
Job Title: Electrician
Company: CR Lighting & Electric, Inc.
Location: Layton, Utah
Age: 22
Years on the Job: Four
Outside Interests: Visiting the sand dunes with his friends and family, participating in competitions to see who can build the fastest bike, renovating his father’s rental house, and spending time with his wife
In the electrical industry, no one work day is alike, which attracted Jonah Jensen to the trade. While studying engineering at Utah State University, his uncle asked him if he wanted a job in the trade, and he jumped at the opportunity.
Because two of his uncles work at CR Lighting & Electric, Inc., and his father owned a small general contracting business, he was around the construction industry for most of his life. At his company, he has the opportunity to work on a variety of different projects from prefabricating room kits for a job to visiting a job site to survey the location for underground conduits. He also performs CAD work in the office and helps to construct 3D models of the design-build jobs. In addition, he maintains vehicles and performs some of the company’s in-house welding.
Jonah Jensen prepares to load his truck and head to a job site.
“I have a drive to figure out any job and be open to trying anything new to help my company work more efficiently,” he says.
Currently, the company is working on a few major projects including two high schools and two assisted-living facilities.
“They are some of the biggest projects that this company has ever done, and we are tackling all of them at once,” he says. “Brighton High will be the most interactive with the 3D modeling so we can help prefab conduit racks and plan how our electrical rooms will come together without colliding with other trades on the job.”
Right now, he is the only employee at his company who is responsible for CAD work and job-site surveying. To learn how to use the latest programs, he has participated in classes and watched online videos. His interest in the software, however, can be traced back to when he was in high school and enjoyed creating sketches of house plans. Today, trade-specific drafting is part of his job at CR Lighting & Electric.
“Being part of the design team is a huge honor,” he says. “There were plenty of people they could have picked to be their draftsman, and I was the chosen one. Being in this position has helped me to understand a lot more about the construction world than I deemed possible.”
His experience on the design team has motivated him to change his degree from mechanical engineer to electrical engineer.
“Going to trade school has also helped me understand the field side of what we are drawing and put a picture to it,” he says. “Becoming a master electrician while becoming an electrical engineer is my ultimate goal. Then, I will be one of the very few people in Utah who has both licenses.”
Jensen gets ready to unload a delivery truck for prefabrication.
In five years, he sees himself as a graduate of his school programs and a leader on the design team. In a decade, he hopes to take over the design team and expand it.
“I love coming to work knowing that I am going to be challenged, learn, and enjoy myself every day,” he says.
As he progresses in his career, he says modern technology is important in construction projects due to the expected precision and tight deadlines. For example, in the four years that he has been with the company, he has not only helped with prefab design and mastered Auto CAD, but he has also learned how to use the robotic layout tool to lay out electrical rooms in advance to get a head start on fast-paced projects.
“There aren’t many people out there who can be welding and fixing trucks in the morning and doing Revit and CAD in the afternoon,” says Chris Rydman, president of CR Lighting & Electric. “Jonah truly is the jack of all trades, and he does them all well. Whatever we ask him to do, he does it quickly and efficiently, always with a great attitude. I’m not quite sure how someone so young knows so much. I have no doubt that Jonah will accomplish great things in his career.”
