Many electrical construction firms are hanging on by their fingernails while waiting for the market to turn around, said Peter Corogin, president of Westlake, Ohio-based Lake Erie Electric. The number of bidders on individual projects has doubled, and some contractors appear to be bidding at cost to keep their electricians busy.
“There is not enough work out there for all the competitors, resulting in too many contractors going after the same projects,” Corogin says. “A lot of companies are disrupting the market and weakening the industry by bidding to stay in business rather than to make a profit.”
Electrical contractors hoped for a strong economic recovery in 2003, but due to the continued softness of the construction market, sales dropped for half of the firms on EC&M's fifth annual listing of the Top 50 Electrical Contractors. Overall, however, the companies managed to post a 1.4 percent average gain in sales from 2002 to 2003 compared with an 8 percent drop from 2001 to 2002.
Almost half of the respondents to EC&M's Top 50 survey named the stagnant economy as their top challenge for 2005, followed by the skilled labor shortage. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that 550,000 new construction jobs will be created through 2008, and 240,000 workers will leave the industry every year due to retirement and other reasons. Compounding the problem, the average age of the construction worker is 49, according to the Construction Education Foundation of Georgia. As these baby boomers plan for retirement, the construction industry will need to train the workforce of tomorrow.
To find out more about the 2004 Top 50 firms, visit www.ecmweb.com/research to purchase an exclusive research report, which features detailed capsule summaries, a list of contact information for each firm, and a sample cover letter and survey. The report also includes information on the hot and cool markets, the top players in certain industries, the 10 firms with the largest sales gains and drops, firms' biggest challenges for 2005, and the companies' forecast for 2004 sales.
EC&M's Top 50 U.S. Electrical Contractors
Rank
Company
City
2003 Sales
1
Integrated Electrical Services Inc.
Houston
$1,448,600,000
2
EMCOR Group Inc. (1)
Norwalk, Conn.
$1,264,870,000
3
Quanta Services Inc. (2)
Houston
$1,028,337,000
4
Henkels & McCoy Inc.
Blue Bell, Pa.
$516,000,000
5
MYR Group Inc.
Rolling Meadows, Ill.
$437,822,000
6
Utility Services Inc. (3)
Bismarck, N.D.
$434,177,000
7
Mass. Electric Construction Co.
Boston
$371,177,309
8
Fisk Corp.
Houston
$363,149,000
9
InfraSource Services Inc. (4)
Media, Pa.
$330,000,000
10
SASCO Group
Santa Clara, Calif.
$301,000,000
11
Xcelecom Inc.
Hamden, Conn.
$293,600,000
12
Cupertino Electric Inc.
San Jose, Calif.
$261,000,000
13
Rosendin Electric Inc.
San Jose, Calif.
$230,000,000
14
Bergelectric Corp.
Los Angeles
$226,000,000
15
Morrow-Meadows Corp.
City of Industry, Calif.
$198,095,171
16
Amelco Corp.
Gardena, Calif.
DP
17
Red Simpson Inc.
Alexandria, La.
$191,375,123
18
Helix Electric Inc.
San Diego
$186,000,000
19
Motor City Electric Co.
Detroit
$170,521,000
20
Sachs Electric Co.
Fenton, Mo.
$165,000,000
21
Sargent Electric Co.
Pittsburgh
DP
22
Petrocelli Electric Co. Inc.
Long Island City, N.Y.
$146,500,000
23
Aldridge Electric Inc.
Libertyville, Ill.
$133,000,000
24
Aneco Electrical Construction Inc.
Clearwater, Fla.
$131,385,683
25
Wayne J. Griffin Electric Inc.
Holliston, Mass.
$128,000,000
26
E-J Electric Installation Co.
Long Island City, N.Y.
$125,500,000
27
Consolidated Electrical Services (5)
Norwood, Mass.
$125,000,000
28
Truland Systems Corp.
Reston, Va.
$119,046,798
29
The Newtron Group Inc.
Baton Rouge, La.
$117,000,000
30
Faith Technologies Inc.
Appleton, Wis.
$108,000,000
31
Tri-City Electrical Contractors Inc.
Altamonte Springs, Fla.
$102,000,000
32
Rex Moore Electrical Contractors & Engineers
West Sacramento, Calif.
$101,000,000
33
Miller Electric Co.
Jacksonville, Fla.
$94,500,000
34
Guarantee Electrical Co.
St. Louis
$94,105,000
35
Hunt Electric Corp.
St. Paul, Minn.
DP
36
Inglett & Stubbs LLC
Mableton, Ga.
$82,000,000
37
EEI Holding Corp.
Springfield, Ill.
$81,800,000
38
Cochran Inc.
Seattle
$78,890,973
39
Lake Erie Electric
Westlake, Ohio
$78,827,619
40
Oregon Electric Group
Portland, Ore.
$78,000,000
41
Cache Valley Electric Co. Inc.
Logan, Utah
$76,326,623
42
Cleveland Electric Co.
Atlanta
$75,000,000
43
MMR Group Inc.
Baton Rouge, La.
$74,000,000
44
Gaylor Group Inc.
Carmel, Ind.
$73,264,000
45
Industrial Specialty Contractors LLC
Baton Rouge, La.
$72,000,000
46
Kelso-Burnett Co.
Rolling Meadows, Ill.
$68,407,306
47
Collins Electrical Co. Inc.
Stockton, Calif.
$66,217,000
48
Mona Electric Group Inc.
Clinton, Md.
$65,100,000
49
O'Connell Electric Co.
Victor, N.Y.
$63,875,436
50
Hatzel & Buehler Inc.
Wilmington, Del.
$61,893,245
DP:Declined to participate. This company's ranking is estimated based on information from Dun and Bradstreet's Million Dollar Database.
(1)EMCOR provides mechanical, electrical, and end-to-end facilities services. Its total sales were $4.5 billion for 2003. (2)Quanta's 2003 sales of $1.028 billion include electrical and datacom services only and exclude fiber, tree trimming, gas, and other unrelated services. (3)Utility Services, a business unit of Bismarck, N.D.-based MDU Resources, acquired Kansas City, Mo.-based Capital Electric Construction Co., Inc., which ranked 29th on EC&M's 2003 listing with 2002 sales of $114.3 million. (4)InfraSource Services, Inc.'s pro forma 2003 electrical construction sales of $330 million include work specific to high-voltage transmission lines, overhead and underground T&D, and turnkey electrical substations, and do not reflect revenue from its other divisions. (5)Consolidated Electrical Services is a subsidiary of Constar International, which ranked 27th on the 2003 listing with sales of $116 million.
