< PreviousBecause they push technology to its limits, the team at CS Erickson enjoys partnering with a certain kind of client: those with an equally aspirational mindset. “From a vision standpoint, we are aligning with clients that are innovative and forward thinking. These kinds of clients think big, trans- form industries, and need a like-minded partner to achieve their goals,” says Lester. “We’re redefining what the market expects from a technical trade partner, creating strong part- nerships in the industry because we are a technology partner who understands the building process. I believe you will see this type of relationship develop more often as technology becomes more relevant in building spaces.” This is evident in their recently completed collaboration with Grand Rapids based BAMF Health (Bold Advanced Medical Future). BAMF Health needed a specialty trade partner who would match their innovative and forward-thinking mindset in the field of cancer detection and treatment with technology solutions that promote and uphold the innovative tech required of its operations. CS Erickson delivered a full suite of services including technology consulting, design and construction, electrical construction, AV technology integration, facility and building systems, and structured cabling, the ultimate mani- festation of smart space integration. “We strive to be our client’s most trusted partner by creating smarter environments that empower them to do their best work. To us, integrating smart technology should improve performance of the building and the people within the build- ing. It should also enhance the experience for all that interact with and within the building. One such aspirational project recently completed by the team at CS Erickson, is the devel- opment of Amway HQ’s new workspace: The Treehouse. The task was to re-envision the space to inspire collaboration, connection, and innovation. CS Erickson delivered technol- ogy and structured cabling solutions for Amway; a company rooted in history as it grows towards the future. Not only does technology support the services CS Erickson provides for their clients, it is also critical to their growth and success. “As much as we push technology for our clients and their spaces, we also utilize technology for our own opera- tions. We believe our work environment embodies who we are and what we offer,” says Lester. “We invest heavily into our people, processes, and spaces.” Currently we are working on our operating process incorporating an effective suite of systems, both commercial and proprietary, we call GPS,” says Lester. “Guaranteed Project Success is a framework to ensure efficiency, quality and the best experience possible for both our team and our clients.” Their commitment to exceeding customer expectations is evident in the CS Erickson business ethos: “People Matter. Plan Forward. Deliver an Exceptional Experience.” By putting people at the forefront of their business, both internally and externally, they prioritize nurturing relationships. The posi- tive atmosphere is authentic, creates enthusiasm, fosters teamwork, and promotes individual growth and security. It is all about people thriving. “Plan Forward” is the second BAMF Health Grand Rapids, MI BAMF Health Grand Rapids, MI | 40 DECEMBER 2023value and guides how CS Erickson acts. They believe the industry will continue to evolve, introducing a wide array of challenges which they see as an opportunity to face in a compelling and applicable way. Planning is ritualized in every action resulting in the development of curious minds for an endless pursuit of learning, continuous improvement and innovation giving them credibility, capability, and per- spective of meaningful insight when it matters most. The third and final leg of their ethos is “Deliver an Exceptional Experience.” By living out their first two core values and keeping a keen eye and ear on delivering desired outcomes envisioned they believe they have found a formula for ele- vating the experience. In the rapidly evolving landscape of their industry, CS Erick- son stands out by leading the shift to technology-led design in commercial, industrial, manufacturing, and healthcare spaces. Their recent success helping their clients deliver projects has helped solidify their approach to specialty trade contracting. By utilizing advanced technology not only for clients but also for their operations, CS Erickson ensures effi- ciency, quality, and an exceptional value through their Guar- anteed Project Success framework. Their business ethos revolves around valuing people, planning forward for industry challenges, and a commitment to consistently delivering an exceptional experience. As CS Erickson continues to redefine expectations in the technical trade sector, they are excited for the future and making their stamp on the evolving era of building and operating smarter work environments. CS Erickson Photo by Ashley Avila Photography “People Matter. Plan Forward. Deliver an Exceptional Experience.” CS Erickson Photo by Ashley Avila Photography | 41 APEIRON CONSTRUCTION| 42 DECEMBER 2023WRITTEN BY AOIFE CHANEY D an Schmidt started to think differently about lighting after a relamping job he completed for regional retailer Meijer back in 1997. There were almost ten thousand light bulbs in that one store, all of which needed to be replaced from time to time in the same way that the bulbs in our homes do. North America is flooded with retail units with similar light- bulb footprints, and in this Schmidt spotted an opportunity. He quit his job to commit fully to his mission, which was to light up the Midwest, one retail store at a time. “I started out just changing light bulbs for Meijer and then they added service work into it for interior and exterior lighting services,” says Schmidt, CEO of Reliable Relamping. Soon he had taken over their whole chain and, under the Reliable Relamping name, set out to grow their other national accounts. In the case of Reliable Relamping, business expansion came organically as a result of a job well done. “Work expanded out of just lighting into full electrical services and anything that a facility needs from a repair standpoint,” Schmidt tells me. “We do repair calls for a number of clients, with over thirteen hun- dred locations that we're servicing in twelve States. Anything from the utility all the way into the light bulb, we're dispatching the team to repair it. If a retailer is going to add new outlets, new services, or do a new display that needs power, they’ll send work orders through us for those as well.” To its valued network of clients, Reliable Relamping is a go-to for on-de- mand lighting services, scheduled maintenance programs and lighting inspections, all of which are critical in keeping stores lit, which is to keep them operational. “We primarily focus on retail based on how we started with a major retailer, but we've also done industrial, medical, hospitality, warehousing - pretty much all sectors. If you've got lighting and you've got electrical needs, it's something that that we do.” It has also done some work with Arc Flash Analysis, an engineered incident energy analysis that establishes a safety protocol for staff exposed to heat, light, and blast associated with an arc flash incident. | 43 APEIRON CONSTRUCTIONThis service work has naturally evolved along with chang- ing industry demands, particularly in recent years around the global push for sustainability. Retrofitting conventional lighting systems with LEDs can significantly reduce energy consumption, and as a result energy retrofit initiatives have become a big part of Reliable Relamping’s business today. “We've completed thousands and thousands of retrofit projects saving millions of kilowatt hours from the energy consumption from our customers,” Schmidt tells me. “We do retrofits across the country for companies like Party City and Foot Locker. A lot of the retrofit projects have come in phases where they may have started with the sales floor only and then later added the rest of the store, whether it's the offices in the stock room or the exterior. We’ve been to so many of these locations multiple times because they often focus on the customer experience first. It's kind of interesting to be involved with the projects as the technologies evolve.” Well established now in the industry, Reliable Relamping has completed some major national rollouts for customers across the country. “One of our recent ones that we are just wrapping up now is 380 locations for Lowe's stores from California to Delaware. It was a pretty big initiative with that geographic spread. Because of the number of locations there were challenges with the different municipalities, licensing and permitting and those types of challenges. We've done a super-center chain who wanted to have their refrigerated fresh pet food displays on their end caps, and we had to add outlets for that. We had one big electrical roll out project for another retailer who wanted to add a bunch of refrigerated coolers closer to their front doors for online grocery orders.” Reliable Relamping rolled this out across 270 stores in just over a month, catering for the growing demand for e-com- merce in this post-pandemic and digitally aware society. What may not be seen on the surface of these projects and in the day-to-day customer experience in these stores, is the important work that Reliable Relamping does behind the scenes to keep essential services up and running. “One of the larger things we've been doing for the last few years is replacing the standby generators for Home Depot. In most cases we're increasing the size of the generator and adding different services, which basically requires us to rework the electrical system. We're doing our own concrete for the generator pad, new fencing, a kind of complete construction project with us as far as a lot of that goes. Part of the rea- son stores like Home Depot are expanding their services is because they're kind of a forward base during natural disas- ters,” Schmidt says. “Like when a hurricane comes through and wipes out entire communities, Home Depot and Lowe's are often the first stop for many of the residents of the com- munity to come and try to get the hardware and tools they need to put their homes and lives back together. Our services allow them to have better systems that are up and running, as well as keeping their forklifts charged, keeping their store lit safely, adding their paint desks so that they are able to produce paint. Having their store fully operational even in a time of disaster, so that the communities can rely on them to be there for them.” Reliable Relamping also provides a 24/7 emergency response service, which includes connecting standby generators during power outages to keep its customers operational and prevent a loss of product. By its very nature, Reliable Relamp- ing is a company that essential services can rely on. “One of the Generator projects that we did recently was for a senior “Reliable Relamping also provides a 24/7 emergency response service.” | 44 DECEMBER 2023care facility,” Schmidt tells me, providing another example of the essential services that form part of the Reliable Relamp- ing portfolio. “We were approached kind of late in the game to replace their generator because there's some new regu- lations that require care facilities to have a GCC Generator Connection Cabinet. This means that if their standby genera- tor goes down, they're back online much quicker with power by having portable generators brought in that can plug into their electrical system.” Reliable Relamping was able to come in on relatively short notice and get the replacement done in time. This allowed the client to maintain its federal funding and its ability to continue with its Medicare patients, which it had been at risk of losing. “Another major project we’ve been working on is complete upgrades to parking lot lighting, not just new LED fixtures but also the replacement of light poles and concrete bases as they reach their end of useful life. In some instances, we changed the layouts significantly and had to add new pole locations, underground circuiting, and directional boring.” As Schmidt takes me through these projects and services, it’s evident that Reliable Relamping is much more than a lighting contractor. “We’re way past due for a rebranding because the relamping name kind of pigeonholes us into just being a lighting contractor,” he says. “There's a lot of focus for us on the electrical side of it now, which we've been doing for a long time. We've got a big emphasis on generator projects, Electric Vehicle charging, remodels. We’re working on increasing that scope and trying to focus on that. A rebranding will allow us to really encompass that electrical side of our business as well.” Reliable Relamping’s commitment to customer service is evi- dent in its long-term relationships, and as Schmidt tells me, it all started with Meijer. “We're still a vendor and a value-added partner with them. I had a conference call with them today about updating their produce spotlighting. I also suggested some possible projects to protect their investments in their LED lighting by adding transient Volt surge suppressors to their electrical panels.” This partnership alone represents Reliable Relamping’s journey from that first relamping job back in the nineties, to providing it with a wide range of LED lighting and electrical services today. “So, we’re twenty-seven years with Meyer, and we’ve been with Home Depot since 2001. Having those long-term relationships says a lot about our approach to customer service and our commitment to doing what’s right for the customer. And being a valued part- ner for them for such long periods of time – that's a kind of a desirable position to be in.” With thousands of projects on the go for customers nation- wide, Reliable Relamping is investing in technology that will allow it to maintain the high-quality service efficiency its cus- tomers have come to rely on it for. “We do over 15,000 service work orders annually, so we’re implementing some new work order management software to help us with our dispatching. The industry is all about service level agreements and SLA requirements. Accept the work order within such a time, dis- patch the work order by such a time, turn your quotes around, turn your invoice around. Because of the remote nature of facility departments and all these multi-site locations, they really rely on the metrics from these work order management portals to provide a scorecard on your services.” This score- card is ultimately how efficiencies are measured against expectations, and the investment in this software is a com- mitment to maintaining these service level agreements as demand increases. “The new software will allow us to auto- mate some processes and turn things around faster, helping us support our customers' technology initiatives.” Reliable Relamping has its sights set on future expansion, with plans to embrace growth opportunities as they present themselves. “I think we've probably worked in every state by now, self-performing in a lot of them, but we’re always looking to increase our geographic footprint for our self-performing and service territory. We currently have employees in the major markets throughout twelve States and we’re on the lookout for opportunities to expand beyond those. We've got employees based out of Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Del- aware, and some other project teams out of Louisiana, Texas, and Tennessee.” Reliable Relamping’s footprint continues to spread across the nation, lighting the way to a bright future in the electrical contracting industry. “We’ve got a great team of people and a long tenure,” Schmidt says. “We’re very thankful for our organization and the people we have here that are com- mitted to our mission. Our motto is to ‘do what’s right for the customer.’ We try to live and breathe that.”WRITTEN BY MEGHAN BARTON I n the heart of Cleveland, Ohio, a remarkable construction company is building its reputation as a formidable partner in the federal market space. With an unwavering com- mitment to delivering innovative custom-built solutions for complex and safety-critical projects on time and on budget, Pinnacle Construction & Development Group has established that it has the tools necessary to compete for prestigious national agency contracts. The company is built on a pioneering spirit. Founded in 2000 as a woman-owned construction business in a pre- dominantly male space, Lynlee Altman built Maintenance Solutions Inc. (MSI), a company providing primarily exterior maintenance and commercial renovation solutions. With the progressive growth of MSI, Altman nurtured the evolu- tion of Pinnacle Construction & Development Group. Part- nering with Scott Minerd in 2011, this duo’s vision propelled the company to exponential growth and success. Altman retired in 2017 after selling Pinnacle to Minerd, but this full-service construction management company continues to thrive, delivering over $10 million in projects each year. So how did Pinnacle Construction gain such a strong foothold in the federal construction space? | 46 DECEMBER 2023| 47 APEIRON CONSTRUCTION“And finally, we have our eyes wide open as we approach each project: we have contingencies for our contingencies.” This impeccable modus operandi establishes and nurtures the relationships that drive Pinnacle’s continued growth in the federal construction sector. A quick look at its client roster highlights its work with some of the federal government's most prolific agencies including the National Park Service, the United States Air Force, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and the General Services Administration (GSA), the single largest developer in the country. With each completed project, Pinnacle has cemented its position as an organiza- tion committed to quality, budget, and timelines creating the opportunity to be involved in increasingly noteworthy projects. “I think our reputation as a construction partner who can get the job done right comes from our three-pronged approach,” says Scott Minerd, principal owner at Pinnacle. “First, we pri- oritize the project's best interests, a commitment that may not always align with individual interests at Pinnacle or those of the end user. However, this approach consistently yields the most sustainable long-term projects and is firmly rooted in our Pinnacle Core Values.” “Second, our comprehensive understanding of FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulation) guides our collaboration with govern- ment representatives, ensuring strict adherence to policies and procedures, encompassing detailed specifications, the Buy American Act, and everything in between.” “We have our eyes wide open as we approach each project.” | 48 DECEMBER 2023Pinnacle Construction: A Stellar Reputation This reputation is evident in Pinnacle’s partnership with NASA on several exciting initiatives, specifically at NASA Glenn Research Center’s Lewis Field in Cleveland and the Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. In addition to projects like the H2 Transformer Rewind, 10x10 Corrosion Protection and Abatement, and Critical Water Meters, Pinna- cle is playing a critical design-build role for the NASA Electric Aircraft Testbed (NEAT). NEAT represents an advanced initiative in the field of aero- nautics and sustainable aviation. This revolutionary project focuses on the development and testing of electric and hybrid-electric propulsion technologies for aircraft. With the aviation industry's growing emphasis on reducing car- bon emissions and transitioning to cleaner, more efficient propulsion systems, the NEAT project is at the forefront of innovation. It serves as a vital platform for researching and validating electric propulsion technologies that have the potential to revolutionize air travel. With the development of a testbed for these emerging technologies, NASA aims to accelerate the transition towards electric aircraft, fostering a greener, more sustainable future for aviation while ensuring that safety and performance standards are met. Pinnacle’s role in this project includes the relocation of the existing test- bed and supporting equipment, and the implementation of associated building infrastructure and power modifications that will make NASA’s ground-breaking work possible. Its ongoing involvement in the NEAT project has played a piv- otal role in solidifying Pinnacle Construction's reputation as an industry leader, showcasing its ability to handle complex, cutting-edge initiatives and adapt to the evolving needs of the federal space. By partnering with NASA on this pioneering endeavor, Pinnacle Construction has demonstrated its com- mitment to innovation and excellence in service. With every project it is awarded, Pinnacle focuses on provid- ing an elevated customer experience. “We don’t focus on the negative of a problem. We strive for solutions,” says Minerd. “Our team is excited by ideas, by new ways of looking at con- struction, and we are creating more opportunities to work with clients that also have that mindset”. The Pinnacle team is central to the company’s ability to deliver excellence. “Every member of the Pinnacle team plays a crucial role in our success. Their passion for construction, commitment to excellence, and collaborative spirit are the pillars of our achievements. We strive to create an environ- ment that fosters creativity and encourages new ideas, allow- ing our team to stay ahead of industry trends,” says Minerd. “Their dedication goes beyond the job site; it's a commitment to building lasting relationships with clients and ensuring that every project reflects the high standards and values that define Pinnacle Construction.” By fostering strong relationships built on quality and vision, the team at Pinnacle wants to do four things: deliver on budget, deliver on time, exceed expectations for quality, and through these measures, inspire each client to become a raving fan. “It is because we have worked hard to impress all stakeholders on a project with our commitment to safety, professionalism, and experience, that we can continue to be the go-to provider of effective and resourceful construction services. We are dedicated to exclusively operating within the FAR moving forward, aiming to foster an ongoing collection of raving fan clients,” says Minerd. | 49 APEIRON CONSTRUCTIONNext >