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Egan Company Consolidates Twin Cities Facilities Due To Long-Term Hybrid Work

Tuesday, June 8th, 2021

Building in Brooklyn Park pending purchase agreement with local medical device developer

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Specialty trades contractor Egan Company announces the consolidation of its Twin Cities facilities in preparation for becoming a hybrid workplace.

Following a year of enabling remote work for many office employees—due to the COVID-19 pandemic and local Executive “Work from Home” Orders—the Company’s need for two office locations in the Twin Cities has decreased significantly. Its 126,000 square foot Brooklyn Park, Minn. facility is pending a purchase by a local medical device developer. This location has been Egan’s headquarters since 2003.

Egan’s Champlin, Minn. location will become the Company’s new headquarters and the designated hub for flexible workspace and collaboration. The 200,000 square foot space was purchased in 2015 and underwent a full renovation to fit business growth needs.  It currently houses 145 workspaces, fabrication shops, garage, and warehouse. 

Consolidation readiness renovations will take place within the Champlin facility over eight weeks and result in collaborative enhancements, new conversation rooms, a training center, additional breakroom, and outdoor recreation space. Over 60% of the existing workspaces will be converted to flexible/hybrid. An additional 27,000 square feet will be left unfinished to allow for additional office growth flexibility and shop expansion. The first phase of this consolidation of Egan’s Twin Cities offices will be complete by Fall 2021.

Employees will continue to work from locations that best fit their role and schedule, including jobsites, customer facilities, fabrication shops, or a home office. 

Egan also operates in a Southern Minnesota location in Rochester.

About Egan Company

Egan Company is a privately-owned, specialty contractor providing building trades to general contractors, engineers, building owners, property managers, and facility engineers. Specialties include: electrical, mechanical, curtainwall/glazing/metal panels (InterClad), millwrights, building technology, controls and system integration, and 24/7 service. Egan serves every stage of a building and provides in-house expertise in planning, design and engineering, construction, and maintenance. For more information about Egan Company, visit www.eganco.com.

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Excellence In Safety Earns Six Governor’s Workplace Safety Awards

Friday, June 4th, 2021

The Minnesota Safety Council awarded Egan Company with six Governor’s Safety Awards for achievements in occupational safety for 2020.

Four Outstanding Achievement Awards were earned, acknowledging continuous improvement with an Incidence Rate that is 51-90% better than the industry average. Two Meritorious Achievement Awards were also achieved, recognizing incidence rates that are better than the industry average for at least three years.

This marks the 14th year in which Egan has received multiple Governor’s Safety Awards. Safety is a core value and always the number one priority at Egan. Our motto “Safety Brings You Home” represents our commitment to keeping employees safe at their jobsite 100% of the time.

To learn more about the Governor’s Safety Awards, visit the Minnesota Safety Council website. The Minnesota Safety Council has honored Minnesota employers that are committed to workplace health and safety since 1934.

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Retirement of Vice President Brad Drews

Friday, May 28th, 2021

After nearly 40 years in the industry—32 of those at Egan Company—Vice President Brad Drews is retiring.

Drews at an Egan Company Golf Outing in 2006.

In 1983, Drews began his electrical career as an apprentice at “the Egan’s shop” (then, a significantly smaller company) then returned in 1989 as a journeyman. He attributed Egan as the “first and last place I’ll work” and has experienced Egan from many levels. Joining the workforce as an apprentice, he moved into roles as a foreman, general foreman, manager, and group leader. He’s wrapping up his tenure as Vice President for the Outside Electrical business.

When reflecting on his career, Drews gives much credit to the team: “If I could pass along one thing I’ve learned in my career to others, it’s to treat people with respect and the way you want to be treated – they will be loyal, hardworking employees,” said Drews. “These are the core people that make your business successful.”

Drews singing karaoke at an Egan Company event.

After retiring, Drews plans to spend his time with his wife, children, parents, and grandchildren, with frequent trips to Mille Lacs Lake. He hopes to spend the winter months in Florida where he can golf and bike all season.

Drews leaves the Outside Electrical business in qualified hands, with Paul Liveringhouse as Operations Manager. Liveringhouse has been with Egan Company since 2011 following the merger of Collins Electrical System (ColliSys). As part of a planned succession, he’s held his management role since October 2020.

Thanks to Brad Drews for his years of service and dedication to Egan Company!

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Why Hire a Union Contractor?

Tuesday, May 11th, 2021

Hiring a union contractor presents a number of benefits, all of which ensure project needs are exceeded. By relying on their relationship with the labor unions, union contractors are able to promise necessary resources and quality results. Hiring a union contractor, like Egan Company, allows you to tap into a wide pool of resources with high safety standards. 

BENEFITS OF HIRING A UNION CONTRACTOR

Union contractors have an abundant labor supply of trained professionals who are skilled, safety-conscious, and experienced from apprenticeship programs that ensure first-rate preparation. These skilled trades personnel complete regular continuing education and frequently update their skill sets. Further, unions often employ market-specific craftspersons who are trained to excel in their expertise. 

Quality union workmanship means projects are completed faster and there’s room to implement innovative concepts in construction and building techniques. Workers are held to high expectations upon arrival beginning with showing up on time, prepared, and ready to work. They are qualified with the required skills, certifications, licenses, background checks, and clean drug test results that are not guaranteed with a non-union contractor.

Beyond their trade skill, union foremen and supervisors are trained on leadership, customer service, and project planning and layout skills to adapt to the needs of each project schedule. 

Union contractors are safety-oriented and as such, the risk or rate of injuries is greatly decreased. The health and safety of workers has always been a large concern of unions, which ensures that standards and regulations will be followed. As a further result of members’ training, they are proficient in assessing safety hazards.

Operating as a union contract for over 75 years, Egan is affiliated with several union partners in Minnesota, amongst other states. By working with these unions, Egan can continue to build on promises kept by providing safety-oriented, well-trained workers. The IBEW Code of Excellence is upheld across all of our jobs.

Egan Company Union Partners:

  • Local 6 – Rochester Plumbers/Pipefitters
  • Local 10 – Sheet Metal Workers
  • Local 15 – Minneapolis Plumbers
  • Local 22 – Nebraska Electricians
  • Local 34 – St. Paul Plumbers
  • Local 49ers – Operating Engineers
  • Local 110 – St. Paul Electricians
  • Local 160 – Lineman
  • Local 242 – Duluth Electricians
  • Local 292 – Minneapolis Electricians 
  • Local 343 – Rochester Electricians
  • Local 455 – St. Paul Pipefitters
  • Local 512 – Ironworkers
  • Local 531 – North Indiana Electricians
  • Local 539 – Minneapolis Pipefitters
  • Local 548 – Millwrights
  • Local 553 – North Carolina Electricians
  • Local 1091 – North Dakota Millwrights
  • Local 1324 – Glazers & Glassworkers
  • Local 1426 – North Dakota Electricians

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A+ Testing for InterClad’s Curtainwall Systems

Monday, January 4th, 2021

Quality assurance is a promise Egan Company continues to provide customers on every project from every team and business offering. From placing that last electrical plate over an outlet to testing the integrity of a building façade, Egan will ensure the utmost quality on everything we construct, install, or remodel. 

Recently, Egan’s curtainwall system manufactured by Erie Architectural Products for the Essentia Health Vision Northland project in Duluth, Minn., underwent a series of performance tests to ensure even the toughest environmental elements wouldn’t compromise the integrity of the system. Over the course of two full testing days and an additional week in -30 degree weather conditions, a full size mockup section of the system had to pass 17 performance tests before any of the 2,700 units (almost 200,000 square feet) of curtainwall could be installed on the project. 

An airtight chamber was constructed on one side of the curtainwall system. The first tests completed are the Static Air Infiltration and the Static Water Penetration tests. These set a baseline for all additional tests, and both of these tests are completed after every round of testing to ensure the performance has not been affected. If either of the tests were to fail, the entire testing process would need to start over. 

All curtainwall systems installed on any Egan project undergo field testing to assess proper installation. A lab test is unique and is typically conducted when the curtainwall system is custom-designed and fabricated for the job. This project, for Essentia Health located in Downtown Duluth, has very stringent structural and thermal requirements which necessitated the lab tests be performed prior to starting the project. The project is a $900M hospital tower, clinic, and outpatient center that will add approx. 942,000 sq. ft. to Essentia Health’s Duluth campus. 

Additional tests that the system had to pass included air from a large wind generator directed at the curtainwall as water is sprayed; this is the Dynamic Water Penetration test. Other tests that focus on the structural design and movement, both vertically and horizontally, place additional stress on the system. Finally, the lab created a temperature simulation in the airtight chamber that lowered the ambient temperature to -30 degrees; the crews were unsure if they’d be able to sustain the extreme temperature requirements since this is 10 degrees lower than a standard test. Thankfully,  the curtainwall system passed all performance tests and installation on the project can proceed as planned.

The curtainwall unit went through extreme conditions, not only extreme weather conditions, but structural and movement testing as well,” said Ryan Woodruff, Egan Company Vice President and InterClad Business Leader. “It was great to see our curtainwall pass all performance tests and solidify that we install some of the best curtainwall products in the Midwest.

Curtainwall performance tests included:

  1. Static Air Infiltration Test
  2. Static Water Penetration Test
  3. Dynamic Water Penetration Test
  4. Uniform Structural Design Load Test
  5. Repeat Static Air Infiltration Test
  6. Repeat Static Water Penetration Test
  7. Interstory Differential Horizontal Movement Test
  8. Repeat Static Air Infiltration Test
  9. Repeat Static Water Penetration Test
  10. Interstory Differential Vertical Movement Test
  11. Repeat Static Air Infiltration Test
  12. Repeat Static Water Penetration Test
  13. Thermal Cycling Test
  14. Repeat Static Air Infiltration Test
  15. Repeat Static Water Penetration Test
  16. Building Maintenance Equipment Load Test
  17. Uniform Structural Overload Test

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Annual “Best Of” Promises Kept Awards

Wednesday, December 30th, 2020

Exceptional customer service means going above and beyond what a customer expects. At Egan, an important piece of our culture is annually recognizing our employees who exemplify this level of outstanding work and service.   

Many times throughout the year, stories are sent to us from customers. Long narratives or short commendation, each story is shared with our Board of Directors who recognize the team or the employee with a gift for keeping their promises.

At the close of each year, two of these special stories are chosen for a Promises Kept Award. This “best of” award recognizes those who have truly gone above and beyond in service to our customers. The winners are usually announced, presented, and celebrated at our annual Employee Christmas Party. Like many things this year, we had to get creative when presenting these awards without the formality of an all-company gathering. In 2020-style, the recognized Egan employees came together in a virtual party to receive their awards for continuing to keep their promises to our customers.

Congratulations to the Individual and Team Promises Kept Award winners! See below to read the customer stories selected for these awards:

Bryce Gransee went above and beyond the call of the job last week when responding to a serious incident. While on the jobsite, Bryce witnessed a worker from another contractor become pinned between some steel and a concrete wall. Bryce and other workers jumped in immediately to provide assistance. When I spoke with Bryce and thanked him, his response was “I just hope someone would do the same for me.” On behalf of Kraus-Anderson and myself, we’d like to say we greatly appreciate Bryce’s ability and willingness to help!


Taylor Klitzke, Safety Coordinator with Kraus-Anderson Construction 

We would like to thank the entire Egan team for the leadership, planning, scheduling, and overall safe execution of the 5400 turnaround and switchgear cleaning. This was the largest turnaround event that has been executed and it wouldn’t have been successful without Egan. Everyone was extremely professional and kept safety and quality as the top priorities. Egan had over 75 employees on site, many being brand new to the facility, and all were receptive to the safety culture. The LVSG cleaning and inspection was completed safely and with the utmost quality. Lastly, the process panel was worked on around the clock to ensure timely execution. The work ethic and quality both crews displayed were above anyone’s expectations. Excellent performance from the Egan team- thank you for your professionalism and support for our 2020 turnaround!


Jennifer Rehder & Richard Thiele of FilmTec – DuPont Specialty Products Division

To share an experience with us or to submit a story for Promises Kept recognition, visit: www.eganco.com/customer-feedback

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Reflecting on 75 years as a local commercial contractor

Tuesday, December 29th, 2020

There’s craftsmanship in the trades. A plan comes to life. A team creates a piece of history. This is why we love what we do. Working with customers. Taking care of every detail. Leading the way. Insisting on safety. Keeping promises. All to ensure every single project is seamless. We do it with passion, we do it with pride, we do it for each other. One for all—one source.

Joseph Egan with sons Bill and Costney

The story of Egan Company is one of grit and growth. Before our 12 trades, nearly 1,000 employees, and countless customers, there was one man in a single room pipe shop on the Northern Minnesota Iron Range. In 1905, Joseph Egan was ready to put his dreams into motion. While his new business slowly grew, the country and the world were unsettled. Change was coming, war was on the horizon, building materials were short, and enlisting was the expectation. The small business would eventually have to wait. After ebbing and flowing for decades between serving our country and raising a family, the dream of running a business full-time was restored. And in 1945, as World War II was ending, Joseph and his sons used $3,000 and opened their doors in the Twin Cities. Egan and Sons Plumbing and Heating Company was officially founded.

Innovators by nature, the mission of our founders is still very much a part of today – delivering high-quality craftsmanship and innovative solutions while upholding the promises we make to our customers. This framework has helped us grow, kept us safe, and has played a fundamental role in the tens of thousands of projects we’ve touched in our community, across Minnesota, and throughout the greater Midwest.

Seventy-five years later, we too are navigating an unsettling landscape. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought us great challenges, but also a new perspective and much progress. In many areas of our lives, disruption has been inevitable. But we’ve held onto that disruption as an opportunity to build for the future by slowly evolving our business to strengthen and get lean, elevate the customer experience, and drive steady growth. We’re experiencing a time in history that’s required flexibility and pivots to meet the needs of our customers and communities—as well as maintain the health and safety of our employees and their families.

We want to thank you for being a part of the Egan Company family. It’s because of you, we love what we do. Cheers to 75 years! 

Dig into history further by walking through an interactive timeline >>

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Fire Impact Requires Rapid Response from Egan Trades

Monday, December 28th, 2020

For over 75 years, Egan Company has committed to providing exceptional service and keeping our promises to our customers, no matter the time of day nor the severity of the need. When a fire destroyed part of Burnett Dairy Cooperative’s Grantsburg, Wisc. plant this summer, Egan was consulted immediately to develop a plan to get the plant fully operational as soon as possible. 

UNDER AN ‘AS SOON AS POSSIBLE’ DEADLINE

Known for producing award-winning, high-quality cheese products for over 120 years, and with customers waiting for products in their stores, the need to get the plant fully operational as soon as possible was of utmost importance. Working around the clock, multiple Egan crews comprised of six different trades partnered with Burnett Dairy and additional contractors to demolish and rebuild the infrastructure that was damaged in order to get the production lines back up running.

“We’ve worked with Burnett Dairy for the past few years and have formed a strong relationship,” said Dan Reintjes, Egan Company Project Manager. “When the call came in that we were needed to help after the fire, we were there as fast as possible to get the infrastructure and  production lines in perfect working order again.” 

The fire is believed to have started in the boiler building, which will require a complete rebuild. In the meantime, a temporary operation was conceived and constructed to ensure cheese production and assembly continued.  Egan’s process controls team worked late into the first night getting power to three of the plant’s electrical services and started a complete demolition of the fourth 2000 amp 5-section service gear which was then designed, built, installed and operational in nine days. The ammonia compressors were also powered up with generators on the first day in order to get Burnett Dairy’s warehouse coolers running to save all the products that were  already produced. Egan’s Mechanical team worked to make damaged piping safe and get temporary water piping installed as well as planning for a temporary boiler installation.

Egan was one of the contractors that was onsite within 18 hours of the fire trucks leaving the scene and didn’t leave until the plant was fully operational,” said Dave Gaiser, Burnett Dairy Cooperative CEO.  “With their help, Burnett was able to get our retail store back open within a few days so we were able to open for the weekend after the fire.  Within seven days, they assisted with getting one of our packaging lines operating so we could package cheese from other manufacturers and begin shipping to our customers. Egan worked 24/7 coordinating with other contractors to get Burnett running within two months of a fire impacting all utilities servicing the plant.

Beyond the initial scope of work that was completed to get the plant operational, additional projects were finished in order to restore complete operation to the plant. Egan engineers designed and programmed a new control system for the milk transfer and CIP systems that were lost in the fire, and additional electricians were tasked with installing new power distribution panels and feeders as well as installing the new milk transfer and CIP control panels and interconnect wiring.

Working alongside the controls electricians, Egan’s Mechanical trades were tasked with setting up the temporary, 900 horsepower self-contained boiler.  The team was also responsible for hydro testing and repairing all existing piping to ensure functionality and safety due to the fire.

BACK UP AND OPERATIONAL

The plant was back up and operational in 62 days, processing milk from 150 farms, and bringing 300 people back to work.

Burnett Dairy is currently operating with a temporary boiler trailer in place and due to the work of many contractors working within a tight timeline. Next steps for the plant include the design, engineering, and construction of the new boiler building; Egan’s full-time maintenance presence at the plant will continue, and any additional help the site needs as it starts the process of rebuilding from the fire.  

“Egan is a valuable business partner and the accomplishments of the past couple of months would not have been possible without them,” said Gaiser.

MULTI-TRADE PROJECT TEAM

  • 35 Egan onsite electricians
  • 15 Egan controls and mechanical engineers contributed to the needed design and engineering
  • 31 Egan plumbers, pipefitters, and sheet metal workers were onsite
  • 5 limited energy technicians delivered network installations with all new data cabinets and cabling for the plant
  • 10 control panel technicians built eight U.L. 508A control panels on a tight turnaround

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‘Tis the Season of Giving

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2020

Because of our continued relationship with all of our customers, Egan Company has been able to commemorate 75 years in business by giving this holiday season. Our valued partners have enabled us to give back to our community through:

With humble hearts and gratitude, we thank all of our customers for their continued business and partnership!

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2020 Review – Recognition and Awards

Monday, December 21st, 2020

As the year winds down and we prepare for the colder months, we’re looking back and recapping a few notable awards we’ve received this year – both at a local and national level.

Thanks to our great customers, vendors, and of course, employees, we’re honored to be among such great companies in these various categories.

Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal Top Private Companies

Continuing to move on up! In 2020, Egan ranked #73 out of 100 Top Private Companies in Minnesota. This is a jump up from last year, where Egan was #77.

Finance and Commerce Reader Rankings

For the fourth year, readers of Finance & Commerce have chosen their most trusted brands and business partners through Reader Rankings. Egan was recognized, again, by readers as a top choice within the “Best Plumbing Company” category.

Read more about the Reader Rankings for 2020

ENR Top 600 Specialty Construction Contractors

The Engineering News-Record (ENR) ranked Egan #109 on its list of Top 600 Specialty Construction Contractors in the U.S. National recognition is an honor!

Electrical Construction and Maintenance (EC&M)

The #45 spot on the Electrical Construction and Maintenance (EC&M) magazine’s list of Top 50 Electrical Contractors in the U.S. is Egan Company’s for 2020. It’s always an exciting time at Egan when we are recognized on a national level – this year marks our fourth year in a row on the list.

NAIOP Awards of Excellence

Rafter Apartments in Minneapolis

The 37th annual Awards of Excellence recognizes exceptional developments by The National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) members and their teams. Egan had the privilege of working with multiple NAIOP partners on projects across the Twin Cities and in Rochester, namely Rafter and Wells Fargo Rochester. 

View the full list here

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