Electrical Contractor Grows in Tulsa Market with 'Local Manpower'

Ben McCord, background, is Division Manager, and David Rogers is project manager at Faith Technologies.

Faith Technologies’ Tulsa division, at 171 S. 122nd East Ave., opened in January and today employs 56. Faith is involved in several prominent projects: wiring the Tulsa Drillers’ new baseball stadium, Oneok Field; the Glenpool Conference Center; the Sapulpa Service Center; a state correctional facility near Ponca City in Kay County; and a lift station of a Norman water treatment plant. At Oneok Field, Faith Technologies is installing the wiring, a sport lighting package and fire alarm system.

Faith Technologies, based in Menasha, Wis., and one of the largest private electrical companies in the U.S., said Ben McCord, Faith division manager. The company’s customers include airports, automotive dealerships, correctional facilities, government agencies, hospitals, restaurants and retail shopping centers.

Faith Technologies, established in 1972, reported $228.2 million in sales last year and employs 1,490 people in 15 locations in Oklahoma and six other states — Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska and Wisconsin. Faith reports a near-record backlog and overall revenue has increased 115 percent since 2003. The company is ranked 19th —up from 26th a year ago — among Electrical Construction Magazine’s Top 50 Electrical Contractors, according to www.faithtechnologies.com.

David Rogers, project manager, said Alpha experienced double-digit growth over the previous five years.

“2008 was our best year,” Rogers said. He said Alpha’s merger with Faith was a natural decision.

“We looked at Faith and saw an opportunity. “It was a good fit, to be able to grow the market with local manpower,” he said. “We saw an opportunity with the merges to avoid layoffs, unlike a lot of other sub-contractors were forced to do.”

Even though the economy flattened, Faith continues its rate of growth, Rogers said.

Meanwhile Faith was attracted to Tulsa by “some the best general contractors around,” McCord said.

There are not just fewer jobs, but fewer projects, McCord said.

“We’ve had to expand beyond this market in order to maintain our volume,” McCord said.

This year, Faith still sees plenty of opportunities to bid on projects.

In Tulsa for nearly 10 months, Faith is trying to be more than an out-of-state contractor, McCord said.

“We are going to add value to Tulsa by investing in the community.”

Safety No. 1

As an employee-owned company, Faith Technologies has earned a reputation for safety, McCord said.

“We enjoy one of the lowest Experience Modification Rating the sector,” McCord said. EMR ratings measure worker compensation claims. Maintained by the insurance industry, EMR is the objective measurement for safety performance.

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