• Posted: October 13, 2021
• Arthur Zayas Miller, better careers, better communities, better construction, IBEW Local 134, MZI Group, Renewable Energy, Telecommunications

 

We are celebrating our cultural appreciation at Powering Chicago during Hispanic Heritage Month by talking with Arthur Zayas Miller, President & CEO of MZI Group. A lifelong Southsider, Arthur founded his company 23 years ago. He found his way to the trades, specifically union electrical contracting, after graduating from De La Salle High School in Chicago and serving in the United States Army. He credits his work ethic to his upbringing by his “strong Puerto Rican mother,” who taught him everything in life, including his business attributes, working in the community and giving back after “so much has been given to us.”

After the military, he worked in management operations with the United Parcel Service and ADP before starting a real estate career. He applied his diverse experience in facility operations when he switched paths and joined the trades. His company, MZI Group, has a mechanical utility division and telecommunications. In addition, he sees limitless possibilities with the solar and EV renewable energy skills taught at IN-Tech to union electricians.

“We are transforming from not just building electric, but we also do utility space and telecommunications, and are ready for what the future brings,” said Miller.

Miller started out as a general contractor and started performing well with his first project at Cook County Hospital, where he started up an electrical division. His team was ready when high-rise networks and telecoms needed electrical expertise in Chicago.

“When all the telecoms came in here, we were running the four inchers (conduit raceways)  in the risers and all the buildings. That was our first step into doing electrical work and then we went into tenant improvement,” said Miller. “After about five years while we were doing electrical, we got into the utility side working for Combat as a Tier Two company.”

Today, MZI is working on the high-rise main vaults at the Salesforce building and past projects include Trump Tower and Lurie Children’s Hospital. 

“We were a big part of the ComEd upgrade of their system. We installed over 100,000 Smart Meters. We were also involved in the underground electrical for the EMA program with ComEd,” he said.

At the Salesforce building, the team includes a specialized field of union electricians that are trained to work with the necessary types of cable.

“Not every electrician is trained on termination switch gear of this type of variety. So, many of them do not see this type of work. This is a specific group from IBEW Local 134 who have trained and come with the professionalism and ability to terminate these cables,” explains utility veteran Mike Medina, who joined MZI as vice president seven years ago.

It isn’t just MZI’s skilled Local 134 electricians that have allowed the company to thrive for the past two decades. It is Miller’s dedication to his employees and the community that are hallmarks of his success.

MZI has expanded to over 400 employees and they recently built a golf facility, and installed a pool and ping pong tables at their headquarters. They’re starting a golf tournament for all the project managers and plan cookouts to get everyone together.

Miller has the support of his team as well. Chief of Staff Kim Nelson credits Miller with allowing her to grow as a female executive in the industry. “Art has been my mentor for the past 13 years and Art has really challenged me to become who I am today. But I look back at the challenges that he’s given me and the fear of the challenges I had as a young female in the industry, and I now take those challenges on as my own and help the younger women in our industry and office,” said Nelson. 

MZI has five facilities in Chicago, with locations on the Westside and three on the Southeast side. They manage projects throughout the Midwest and on the East Coast too.

“We work at being inclusive and letting everybody know there are opportunities to grow within the organization and on different projects like switching from telecommunications, to high rise or substation. We have a lot of divisional training and built a training center where we’re mentoring young kids. We also do safety and OSHA training.”

Getting his team together is one of Miller’s favorite things to do. He looks forward to gathering with his employees and entertaining them with food and drinks. “I love the guys that work for me and knowing they’ve been with me for 20 years. We’ve watched each other’s kids grow up.”

Miller’s military background fuels his commitment and success. “A lot of the things that I do right now come from the background and foundation of being a veteran and I try to incorporate this with your business. For example, there is nothing like the camaraderie in the military. You learn that there’s only green color. There is no African-American, no Hispanic, no women. You’re green, you work together. It doesn’t matter. You get it done.”

Miller works hard on communication with his employees and considers them like family. “We don’t have much turnover and we all take care of each other’s families. It’s like the bonds he built with those he served with and he says, “there’s nothing like that brotherhood.”

“I love the trades and really try to encourage everyone to consider them as a lifelong career,” said Miller. “I had friends that didn’t go to college like myself, and they’re making such a good living, enjoying what they’re doing and they have no student debt. I love talking to young kids now, especially Latinos and veterans, and letting them know that there’s another path out there where you could come out of the apprenticeship with no student debt and make a really good living and take care of your family.”

He’s been fortunate to have mentors guiding him throughout his life and career, starting with his mother, who recently passed away. She worked seven days a week to make sure Arthur could go to private school and when she retired, she was the head of human resources at the company where she was employed.

Miller purposely chose his first location in the City of Chicago and continues to hire locally. His commitment extends to giving back by serving as a mentor in his community. As a Latino/Hispanic-owned business, Miller works hard to be present and visible.

He serves on the board of the National Latino Education Institute and the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. His firm also mentors Hispanic women in business construction and other companies when he’s asked.

 “I think it’s important for any smaller business, whether it be Latino, African-American, to get involved in programs like the Hispanic American Construction Industry Association (HACIA), Black Contractors, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and others, to get to know them and try to find a prime contractor,” Miller said.

As a board member to the National Latino Education Institute, Miller reaches out to the high schools and the Latino community, talking to them about the trades, sharing mentorship opportunities and also marketing his company for hiring kids right out of high school. He also encourages them to consider a summer job and to work while they’re in high school.

“We’re very involved within the Construct program also, which is a program through Combat where they’re bringing in kids right out of high school and others that need jobs from the communities that haven’t had access to the trades and trying to educate them,” he said. “I think it’s just more of a good education on the benefits and pay of union work. I’m proud that Powering Chicago is doing such a great job breaking barriers and getting people of color within the trades.”

Miller joined the union because he “knew” somebody and it was typical at the time that “guys whose fathers were electricians got interested in the union,” he explains. “But now, with the educational side, I like to let these young guys know what is out there. And we have hired a lot of Latinos in the community and all the way up to my senior management, Mike Medinas, our vice president of utility, came from ComEd. He’s also mentoring young guys within this organization, within this industry.”

Miller navigated challenges when starting his business and shares his advice for others looking to venture out on their own. “To start this company up we needed access to capital, as I think in any small business and especially within the minority community, was difficult. But, there’s a lot of Small Business Administration programs out there to use and we’re fortunate enough to have some really good clients with their bank, Bank of America, and they paid us very quickly which we reinvested in the business.”

 A lot of the hurdles getting started were understanding how it works, how the unions work, how to get good people, how to retain those people and create a safe environment for them, Miller explains.

“It was a lot of learning then, especially when we transitioned to the utility space, which even though it’s an electrical contracting job, it’s a special high network substation. It’s like they’re doing a whole other apprenticeship and understanding the different low voltage, high voltage.” But his team has learned and diversified and now they have business units that are cross-selling to each other.

“The union itself wants to employ its people. So, they were good to work with. It was just navigating and understanding it,” Miller said.

Miller’s reputation in the industry is encouraging for industry veterans like Medina. .“I was in the utility for 36 years and signed on with MZI because Arthur Miller wants to help his community, as a Hispanic business owner and a contributor to his community. His commitment to helping neighbors and kids get into the trade is what’s so important,” said Medina. “And what’s very important about it is he cares about his employees and their families. You know he’s someone that is always going to be there for you. When you work at his organization, it is truly a family.”

His impact continues to be felt throughout Chicagoland.

“I think that the greatest thing about being a business owner in the Latino community and giving back is we’ve gotten many of the young guys into the union, into the trades that are now foremen and journeymen with us,” said Miller. “We built the training facility on the Southside of Chicago to give these kids a head start. We put them on as helpers. The program that IBEW Local 134 has gives them extra credit, and a path.”