Power Up Electrical Contractors recently purchased St. Louis-based Crown Electrical Contracting, Inc., making Power Up the largest minority-owned full service electrical contractor in the St. Louis region. Founded and owned by Michael B. Kennedy Jr., Power Up purchased 51% of Crown Electrical’s stock to complete the acquisition. Kennedy is also president of St. Louis-based, minority-owned KAI Design & Build. Power Up is co-owned by minority partners Brian Arnold, former executive vice-president of Paric Corp., and Gerhard Glassl, founder and president of Crown Electrical Contracting. The purchase was finalized on June 15.
“Gerhard’s partner at Crown Electrical was considering retirement, so the timing was right for me to purchase the majority stake,” said Kennedy. “The asset purchase, which took over a year to complete, allows me to have the control to increase operating efficiencies and overhead of all the companies that I manage. It also allows for significant cost savings with suppliers and vendors, making us even more competitive across the board.
“My goal is to recruit existing minority talent, working closely with Associated Electrical Contractors Local 57, to groom and establish a talented, powerful minority workforce in the electrical trades using Power Up as a vehicle for their success,” Kennedy said. “We’re excited to have the support of Terry Nelson, executive secretary of the Carpenter’s District Council of Greater St. Louis, and our union to make this happen. This was an important objective and I needed to have like-minded partners involved to move forward. We’re all excited to make this program a success.”
Crown Electrical was founded in 1987 and headquartered at 3630 Broadway in St. Louis City. Power Up will continue to operate out of the former Crown Electrical facility until new accommodations can be finalized. Some of Crown Electrical’s more recent projects included the Missouri State Capital building in Jefferson City, The Willows at Brooking Park retirement community in Chesterfield, St. Gerard Majella School in Kirkwood, the Elias Haas Building in Downtown St. Louis, the Bridgeton City Hall, The Magic House in Kirkwood and the new Downtown St. Louis Amtrak Station.
“This purchase is a good move for both the existing employees and customers of Crown Electrical, positioning us to broaden our market base and continue what we do best –
provide quality electrical services in our area,” said Glassl.
With 30 employees, Power Up is a leading provider of electrical systems design, installation and maintenance including low voltage and building technology systems. Power Up serves the commercial, industrial and institutional marketplaces primarily in Missouri and southern Illinois.
“Power Up’s recent and strategic acquisition of Crown Electrical Contractors has expanded our depth of resources and increased our capacity to provide an even greater level of service to our customers,” said Arnold.
Power Up provides the following services:
· Preconstruction
· Budget estimating to aid in a project’s development and feasibility
· Life cycle cost analysis
· Value Engineering and alternative options
· Aid in the development of guaranteed maximum pricing (GMP’s)
· Existing conditions documentation with recommended solutions
· Design/Design Assist
· Full Design/Build services (Engineer of Record)
· Constructability, schedule and cost input during design development for Engineer of Record
· Take-over final design responsibility from criteria or bridging documents
· Quality control document reviews
· Building Information Modeling (BIM)
· Superior coordination with other trades and design disciplines
· Clash detection capabilities translating into fewer Requests for Information (RFI’s) and the minimization of field delays and change orders
· Prefabrication capabilities translating into lower costs, higher quality and faster installations
· New Construction
· Competitive bidding, design assist, design/build and guaranteed pricing
· Renovation
· Competitive bidding, design assist, design/build and guaranteed pricing
· Maintenance
· Customized programs available that are designed to help control operating expenses and plan for upgrades and replacements
· Energy cost saving programs
· Emergency On-Call
· Project Management
· MEP coordination services for owners and construction managers.
