Electrician Eric Andrews is so community-focused that you’d guess he’d been born and raised locally. In fact, he and his wife Alison have resided in Klamath Falls for “just” 19 years, drawn by the beautiful environment for hiking and biking and by the abundant sunshine that fuels their business, EcoSolar Electric.

The family business is all about personal, local connections.

“I take pride in my workmanship and have close, long-term relationships with clients,” said Eric. “I want to build a stronger community.”

Community-building for Eric and Alison means helping farmers, businesses, and homeowners reduce costs through solar installations, then treating each installation “like a child,” each customer “like family.”

It means hiring locally and training interns and apprentices from Oregon Tech and Klamath Community College.

And it means supporting community-building organizations like Friends of the Children – something EcoSolar has been doing for the past 10 years.“

It’s so important for kids to have good influences and adult direction because they’re the ones who will ‘be the change’ in the future,” said Eric, whose early childhood interest in solar energy was influenced by an uncle who taught engineering at the University of Nebraska.“

Friends is doing such phenomenal things. We want the organization to be able to continue its mission.”