Glesco Electric Inc.

Glesco Electric Inc. (Glesco) has been building longstanding relationships since 1988 when Glenn Mueller and Larry Martin founded Glenn and Larry’s Electrical Service Company out of a small basement office. “Mueller and Martin started the company in one of their basements and began offering residential and some small commercial electrical contracting,” recalls Kevin Mitchell, now president of Glesco. “I joined the company in 2000 and worked my way to a 30 percent ownership and purchased Glesco in 2008 from Mueller, acquiring full ownership.”

After 25 years in business, Glesco has moved from Mueller and Martin’s original basement office to a 14,000-square-foot site in Urbana, Ill., and a second location 35 miles east in Danville, Ill.

“Today, we do a great deal of large-scale commercial, institutional and industrial electrical contracting,” says Mitchell. “Now, we do everything but residential. We have performed a lot of water treatment work, hospitals and countless projects for the University of Illinois.”

Glesco continues to serve a wide range of property types, including office buildings, retail facilities, hotels, apartments, condominiums, as well as critical care facilities, restaurants, warehouses, parking lots, schools, hospitals, government sites, distribution centers and waste water and water treatment plants. The company’s in-house capacity has enabled Glesco to forge relationships with clients from an array of industries.

Versatile In-house Service

Over the years, Glesco has emerged as one of the region’s leading electrical contractors offering a seasoned workforce of approximately 60 to 90 NECA-IBEW trained electricians, high-voltage expertise, in-house engineering, energy savings solutions and data, telecom and fiber optic troubleshooting capabilities. “From long-term maintenance to replacing old wiring with a new system or ensuring task critical electrical equipment is running, we have it covered,” states Mitchell.

Glesco’s in-house expertise installs and services lighting systems, generators, motor control centers, critical power supply systems, 120 to 480 volt and three-phase circuits, computer circuits and data processing power systems, all the way to low voltage distribution centers to programmable thermostats.

The company delivers retrofits, additions, maintenance, repair and replacement work with the efficiency and skill of industry-leading tradesmen. From additional electric circuits to switchboard installations, tenant improvements and energy audits and management, Glesco offers a broad spectrum of services with an in-house guarantee.

“We typically self-perform about 87 percent of our work,” reveals Mitchell. “The audio-visual market has skyrocketed and as a result we often subcontract that and smart systems like fire alarms and telecommunications. We run the conduit and wire and the other trades put together the smart system.”

When dealing with such high-risk, specialized systems, Mitchell says Glesco relies only on a close network of suppliers and subcontractors. “Not to say we wouldn’t give someone a chance, but there is usually a great deal of risk involved so we generally go with the people we know and trust so we don’t have to worry so much on our end,” he explains.

The Spotlight on Trusted Service

Glesco’s reputation for reliability and specialty service has attracted clients such as the University of Illinois (UI), the Danville Area Community College, Christie Clinic and the Carle Clinic and Hospital in Urbana, along with numerous water treatment facilities. “About 10 years ago, we did the scoreboard at UI when the Chicago Bears played,” notes Mitchell. “The spotlight was on UI because the Bear’s usual home stadium was under renovations. We also put heat in the bathrooms so games could continue through the winter.”

About three years ago, Glesco completed UI’s major cafeteria expansion. “At the time, the cafeteria was the largest out of any college in the country,” recalls Mitchell. “By the time it was finished it still ranked the third largest.”

More recently, Glesco has completed a $22 million heart and vascular center expansion at Carle Hospital in Urbana. “We’re also gearing up for a large solar project for the Illinois Mass Transit Department, a $1.2 million, federally-funded job.”

Even with a portfolio as extensive as Glesco’s, Mitchell emphasizes the importance of client relationships and repeat business. “We take great pride in the repeat customers we have built over the last 25 years, but these relationships really hit home during the economic downturn,” he reveals. “We were fortunate to have work, even with last summer being one of the slowest we’ve had. We relied on several plants and factories to keep us going. They were still up and running and so were we.”

After 25 years, Glesco Electric Inc. maintains an excellent EMR rating and some of the best electricians in the industry, wiring success one client at a time.