Electical Contractor

Distribution system capacity continues to increase in commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities. Arcing ground faults can seriously damage distribution equipment, causing fires, which damage facilities and endanger personnel. They also cause extended downtime during system repair.

Goliath-like utility company ComEdison recently turned to a David of the electrical contracting industry, Active Enterprises Inc., for the Wood Dale, Ill.-based company’s specialized talents in installing backup generators for computer-based facilities.

Suggesting that contractors look beyond traditional project work to more long-term maintenance opportunities will come as a culture shock to some. Suggesting that this is a straightforward way to make extra money will be more pleasing to the ear.

Heavy industry hasn’t disappeared; rather, it has been adapted and modernized to make products as diverse as chemicals, steel, airplanes, and beer more efficient and economical than ever.

Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, has always had a passion for Jimi Hendrix’s music.

Successful electrical contracting firms consistently earn higher-than-normal profit margins in the voice/data/video (VDV) market by providing VDV solutions, not just by selling time and material with a markup. Expanding a business paradigm goes beyond expanding its scope of services.

A combination of size and speed are foundations for great professional athletes. The same physical attributes help propel electrical contractors into the upper echelons of their profession.

Before the last week of October 1999 most people in Memphis, Tenn., were oblivious to the state-of-the-art baseball facility going up downtown. The new home of St. Louis Cardinals' AAA-affiliate, the Memphis Redbirds, was just another downtown project that would cause traffic jams, they thought.

The 2000 Profile confirmed what you already know--1999 was a good year to be an electrical contractor!