QED electrifies Dickinson

• QED

Press Photo by Katherine Grandstrand Quality Electric Distribution, shown here Monday evening, began construction a year ago and opened in May. This will be the company’s first winter in North Dakota.

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Quality Electric Distribution is gearing up to survive its first North Dakota winter.

The 25-year-old electronics distribution company broke ground on its Dickinson location about a year ago and opened up in May.

“We are here serving the Dickinson area,” QED’s Rob Farnsworth said of his company. “We are devoted to Dickinson, buying homes and we’re not here just with the Oil Patch, when the oil field goes away, we will still have QED here. We will own homes and raise families.”

None of the staff of six are from the Dickinson area, with half from Idaho, including Farnsworth who moved here with his wife, Becky, one is from Minnesota, one from Michigan and one from California.

“I really thought ‘no way,’” Becky said when asked what she initially thought of the move to North Dakota. “I knew that it was cold here and I thought I could never survive a winter here. But, we’re from Idaho so I guess we can deal.”

While the area lacks mountains, she said she has fallen in love with the town.

The Denver-based QED made the decision to move to North Dakota after many of its clients requested their service out in the Oil Patch.

“A lot of our customers do both commercial and oil field,” Ron said. “So it’s been a learning experience for us, none of us have worked in the oil fields before.”

QED also has offices in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming.

Most of the company’s business is industrial or commercial with a fifty-fifty split at the Dickinson store, Ron said.

The bulk of their customers are electrical contractors, oil field, commercial and residential, he said.

The staff with two trucks will deliver to the Oil Patch and a bit beyond, like Bismarck or Bowman, Ron said.

One of its unique services is cabinet or trailer full of parts that is delivered to the client and picked up upon completion of a project, he said.

Inventory has been a bit of a challenge in the first few months, Ron said.

“We are working on it,” he said. “We’re going through some growing pains on what to stock and why to stock it.”

QED is located at 3185 N. Highway 22 in Dickinson. Call 701-225-9028 for more information.

Tags: oil field, oil patch, electrical contractor, oil, news, business, qed, electrician