If you really want to know about a small company, you need to get to know the owner. I am John Turnbull, founder and owner of Turnbull Electronics Co. On our History (link here to history page) page you maybe have read about how and why I started Turnbull Electronics Co. (TEC) Now I would like you to know about my background and experiences that make myself and Turnbull Electronics a good choice for your low voltage needs.
I have been working with my hands and tools for as long as I can remember. I grew up in Washington in the Sunnyland area. I can still remember repairing bicycles for all the neighboring kids not to mention my 3 brothers and 2 sisters at a very young age. Making repairs just came natural to me. I must have taken about every shop class they had at my high school. Shop or industrial arts was very popular still in the late 70s.
My family owned some rental properties and Laundromats while I was grade school and High school age. I learned to work and many things from painting to plumbing to electrical. I could strip a washer machine clear down to the transmission and rebuild it when I was a freshman in high school. I replaced boilers with my father and his plumber friend. Learned how to run a rotor-rooter machine.
Then one day my first business opportunity came along. I was 16 and we had just dropped off some electric motors to be repaired at a little shop called Dor-Ril Electric located on 2nd street just off Macarthur Ave in Peoria. We got to talk to the old man who owned the business and he was telling us how he was ready to retire. After working there for a couple of weeks, a deal was made, and I owned my first business contract for deed. I worked there through my high school and college years and used the profits to pay my way through school. I later gave the business to my brothers as I moved on to other jobs.
I attended and graduated with an Associate in Applied science degree from Illinois Central College. The degree was in Industrial Electronics Technology. When I graduated I secured a job with Toledo Scale Company. At the time they were one of the ten largest company owned service organization in the United States. I was provided with excellent training and within a couple of years I was promoted to service manager in the Kansas City branch.
I did not realize at the time what a great opportunity working for Toledo Scale was. I had a rare opportunity to see how hundreds of goods get processed and manufactured in this country and got to be part of that process. Here are some of the manufactures that I was able to work with during my time there: Colgate Palmolive, Proctor and Gamble, E.I.Dupont, Lipton Tea, General Motors, Ford Motors, Kenworth Trucking, Owens Corning, Carnation Foods, Armor Foods, several meat packing houses, Caterpillar Tractor, several grain elevators, Keystone Steel Wire, King Seeley Thermos (Thermos Brand), Eureka Vacuum, Firestone, Federal Mogul Ball Bearing, Sunflower Ammunitions Plant, Bendix Corp (This plant made parts of the cruise missiles, International Harvester, Hiram Walker, Pabst Brewery, Delco, Price Candy.
I have seen how steel is made, how its formed into cars, how plastic is made, how these items are manufactured into products, I have seen how hundreds of materials are made and how the materials are made into products.
Well all-good things come to an end and Toledo Scale went form a national service organization to a distributorship-based service. I then moved back to central Illinois and took a job to Zatarr Security where I learned the security business. A couple years later I took a job with a company that is now one of my competitors. Well after two years of cleaning up sloppy installations and having customers request me by name for service, I decided to go out on my own and start up Turnbull Electronics Co.
Licensed in the State of Illinois, member of Washington Chamber of Commerce, NFIB,
About John A. Turnbull:
Born and raised in Central Illinois area, went to school at ICC
Experience:
Jobs have been on i.e. Dupont, Factories, etc.
Licensed in State of Illinois # 127.000919 / #124.001220