Archive for May, 2022

The Electric Roundtable Visits Egan Company HQ

Tuesday, May 17th, 2022

Over the past month, Egan Company was honored to host two visits with principals and members of the Electric Roundtable (ERT) peer group, a national association of contracting service providers striving to be the best of class in all aspects of their business. These two visits served separate purposes – first a ‘New Member Visit’ and second a ‘Safety Subcommittee meeting.’ When joining ERT, all new member companies host an introductory visit in which the other peer organizations visit to learn about the company – past, present, and future. While Egan joined in 2020, the pandemic slowed the ability to gather in-person for this meeting, pushing it until spring of 2022. During the safety subcommittee meeting, members of the respective safety teams gathered for a variety of safety discussions.

Traveling from across the United States to visit Egan, these representatives were able to gain the full Egan experience. The visits included:

  • Business overviews for each of our business groups
  • Company strategic direction 
  • Roundtable discussions
  • Tours of our facility and shops
  • Social activities and more!

WHY ELECTRIC ROUNDTABLE?

As part of our commitment to the industry and providing the most innovative solutions, being part of this peer group allows Egan to access the “cream of the crop” companies in the electrical and speciality trades contracting field. In an iron-sharpens-iron fashion, we’re able to share and discuss everything from big picture goals to new technologies and strategies we’re using on the jobsite. 

The Electric Roundtable members include:

Alterman

B&D Industries

Baker Electric

Bruce & Merrilees

Cleveland Electric

CECCo

E-J Electric

ERMCO

Frischhertz

Project Manager Named Top Women in Construction Finalist

Friday, May 13th, 2022

Shannon Kangas was recently named a finalist of the Finance & Commerce 2022 Top Women in Construction awards. Kangas is a Project Manager working within Egan Company’s Industrial Controls team and was nominated for the “Outstanding Project Management/Estimating” category, based on her high performance and going above and beyond for the industry and community. 

Kangas began her career in the AEC industry as a part of Local Union 292 in 2000. During this time, her interest piqued and she knew she wanted to stay in the industry, attending Minnesota State University – Mankato where she studied Electronic Engineering Technology. She has served in various roles in the industry including Electronic/HVAC Technician and Application/Controls Engineer before landing in the role she holds today, as a Project Manager for Egan’s electrical control panel manufacturing business unit. She continues to exceed the standards in this role by managing customer accounts and major vendors as well as up to seven panel shop technicians that produced 3,134 electrical control panels last year alone. Not only a star in her field, Shannon is an assistant coach for the Andover High School Girls Hockey team, who recently competed in its fifth consecutive state tournament. 

This is the third annual Top Women in Construction awards that Finance & Commerce has presented, recognizing the impact women make daily on the construction industry across the state of Minnesota. The Top Woman in Construction was awarded on May 12. Congratulations to Shannon and all of the other local women who were nominated! 

For more information and to see all winners, visit Finance & Commerce.

The Leading Edge of Building Automation with IP-Based Controllers

Monday, May 9th, 2022

Speed. Processing power. Security. All of which are part of the future of IP-based building automation controllers. When it comes to the optimization of Building Automation Systems (BAS), many believe this is where the future is headed. 

MODERNIZE + OPTIMIZE

To meet the needs of customers in the automated building universe, implementing IP-based solutions is the most logical path. While IP-based building systems haven’t always been widely spread, the recent IP adoption has greatly increased, providing the potential to make them run at the highest level of reliability—while remaining cost-effective. Extremely resilient, these IP-based networks provide unmatched operations, guaranteeing that business runs as usual. As for security, these solutions are encrypted, protecting the operations of the building. 

Using these secure IP-based configurations, the time and money that goes into managing a BAS system is significantly decreased.

The IP based product—both wired and unwired—provide a standard for integrating down to the device level, while allowing typical and advanced configurations that other media and systems can’t do without additional hardware, software, and time.

Egan Company Building Automation Group Manager, Kirk Wahlstrom

REAL-TIME PRODUCTIVITY

Solving problems regarding building performance needs to happen in real-time. Working on an IP-based network allows for much more bandwidth, allowing building owners, property managers, and engineers access to the data analytics they need, as fast as they need it. Egan Company Building Automation Account Manager, Michael Miller states, “IP is a faster, more secure smart building solution. It will be the technology all Building Automation Systems will migrate to in the future.”

IP-BASED CUSTOMER CASE STUDY

One of Egan’s most recent modernization projects involves the Centennial Lakes Office Park in Edina, Minn. With consideration of the most relevant and impactful migration, Egan was able to provide a full IP-based network to move away from aging networks and controllers and invest in a sustainable and serviceable future. Seamless installation allowed for the new systems to be easily integrated within multiple buildings. Installing the network backbone has provided a migration path that allows the customer to dictate the timing and areas of greatest concern.

While implementing IP technology is still the newcomer on the Building Automation block, the future of simplifying, upgrading, and modernizing is here and it’s IP-based.