Subs persevere in evolving markets

By Dustin Block

Town & Country Electric asked a lot of its employees in the last 10 years.

The Appleton-based company has been bought, combined, renamed, repurchased and renamed again over the last decade.

Throughout it all, most of Town & Country’s employees stayed on, which inspired the name of Town & Country’s parent company, Faith Technologies Inc.

“What we went through, all of the things that were happening, 98 to 99 percent of the employees stuck with us … and so did the vendors and customers,” said Rick Schinke, executive vice president and president of Town & Country Electric. “We picked Faith because everyone had faith in the entire group for what was going to happen.”

What happened was a successful rebound for a company that was merged into larger companies and eventually became Encompass Electrical Technologies-Midwest Inc. In 2002, Town & Country and its sister company, SKC Electric, were purchased back from Encompass and organized to operate under employee ownership.

It’s been a successful move. Over the last five years, the company made money, added employees and opened an office in Atlanta in 2005. Last year, Town & Country reported $131 million of work put in place, placing it third on Wisconsin Builder’s A-List for subcontractors. By the end of the year, the company will be out of debt from the buyback.

But present success is tied to looking ahead, and Schinke said he sees industry trends to keep an eye on.

Alternative fuels, including ethanol and biodiesel plants, are assuming a larger role in the market. Town & Country is working on a large ethanol plant in Jefferson and pursuing and monitoring 25 similar projects around the country.

“The Midwest is one of the areas you’re going to see the plants,” Schinke said. “It’s one of the largest areas where they grow corn.”

But it seems that for every rising market, there’s another sector that slows down. Steve Nachreiner, president of Oak Creek-based Edgerton Contractors Inc., which placed fifth on the A List with $46.25 million of 2006 work put in place, sees that problem with Wisconsin’s transportation market. In the coming year, he said, he hopes major highway projects remain on schedule.

He said he also hoped Edgerton, which is a foundation subcontractor, can continue to use GPS technology to level ground to the proper grade. GPS lets companies skip the rough phase of their leveling work and go straight to the finishing work, and, while it’s too early to quantify gains from technology, Nachreiner said eliminating a stage does speed up projects.

However, not all new technology may be for the best, Nachreiner said. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is running pilot programs on laser augmentation systems that can produce work within a quarter-inch of the specifications. By comparison, GPS technology creates levels within a few inches of the specifications.

Depending on the results of the pilot programs, WisDOT might increase the precision needed on leveling projects.

Nachreiner said the incremental gain between the GPS and laser systems isn’t worth the expense and time that would come with the tighter standards.

“We’re hoping DOT leaves that alone,” Nachreiner said. “We’re hoping that tolerances are kept at a reasonable level.”