Small Shop, Big Impact
With Riverwalk Project, Citywide Electric Expands its Footprint Across Greater Boston and the North Shore
For Citywide Electric’s Tommy Marmiani, the transition to business ownership was not so much a carefully mapped plan as a simple inevitability. After spending decades learning his trade, building relationships, and solving project problems for others, he’d simply had enough of putting in the hours for someone else.
“I started my apprenticeship in ’95, graduated as a journeyman in 2000, got my license, and then my master’s license a year later,” Marmiani recalls. “I worked construction for about 13 years, then went over to Massport as an electrician for another 13 or 14 years.”
While building a stable career and an impressive industry reputation, Marmiani felt a simmering professional restlessness beneath the surface. He launched Citywide as a side hustle while working at Massport. “I get bored doing the same thing,” he said. “I like to get out there and hustle. Just working for someone day to day really wasn’t satisfying me.”
It wasn’t long before the lure of guiding his own destiny took over. He made the leap three years ago, launching Citywide Electric as a one-man shop. “I was estimating, bookkeeping, paying the bills, all of it.”
Now a growing Union Local 103 contractor, Citywide’s 11-person team serves Greater Boston and the North Shore. They handle multifamily residential, commercial, and service projects, including apartment developments, EV charging, fire alarms, security, and maintenance. Steady growth continues to expand Citywide’s regional presence.
Perhaps no project better represents the company’s growing capabilities than Riverwalk. This impressive multifamily residential development near the MBTA station and the Salem waterfront features multiple residential buildings, luxury units, and amenity spaces. Citywide has managed the electrical scope from the ground up.
“We’ve done everything there from bringing the service in from National Grid and the transformers into the buildings, all the fire alarm work, unit wiring, HVAC equipment — everything,” Marmiani said. “What’s been really great about that project is seeing it through from the very beginning to the final touches on those luxury homes. It’s been a really good project for us.”
Alongside Riverwalk, the company is also currently working on a 51-unit housing project for the Lynn Housing Authority, as well as commercial contractor bays in Peabody.
It’s an impressive showing for a modest-sized union shop that has to compete in today’s market with larger firms and non-union contractors who promise lower rates. Still, the company continues to find its lane by consistently delivering high-quality work, maintaining a responsive approach to client needs, and building a solid industry reputation for reliability and integrity.
“To win jobs, we try to keep profit down to a minimum — just enough to keep moving forward,” Marmiani said. “We’ve got to get in there, do the work efficiently, get it done on time, and make the profit that way.”
Citywide Business & Operations Manager Lori Berardino credits the company’s ability to compete and land contracts, despite its small size, to its focus on building good relationships with clients, developers, and especially suppliers. “Having strong connections with supply houses and lighting companies really matters,” she said. “They’ll go the extra mile for you, help you out, give you better pricing. There are some really great companies out there supporting businesses our size.”
Citywide aims to grow strategically, seeking more public-sector work through its WBE and soon, DCAM certification.
“I like doing the multifamily residential stuff and apartment buildings, but I also want to get into more state and federal work,” Marmiani said, as that professional restlessness kicked in. “We’re definitely going to grow. I’m not really the type of person who just wants to stay in one place.”
This drive for progress led Citywide to join NECA Greater Boston—a move that has already benefited the company.
For Berardino, the experience exceeded expectations almost immediately.
“We honestly didn’t know what to expect joining NECA, and it’s been amazing,” she said. “Everybody has been so nice and helpful right from the beginning. The opportunities, the resources, the classes. We attended Safety Day and learned about many benefits that I didn’t even realize the union offered.”
She continued: “There’s just so much support available to companies like ours, and we’re definitely going to take full advantage of it.”
As Citywide continues to grow, Marmiani sees NECA Boston as an important partner in helping navigate everything from workforce development and training to business growth opportunities and public-sector work.
“Especially being a smaller company, having access to those resources and those relationships makes all the difference,” he said.