Parsons Electric LLC

Parsons Electric LLC (Parsons) prides itself on being the local company with a nationally recognized reputation for premier electrical and communications contracting services. The company, which has operated since 1927, is headquartered out of Minneapolis and maintains offices in major Minnesota cities (St. Paul, Duluth and Virginia), as well as one in Phoenix, Ariz., to serve clients nationwide and into Canada. Guided by integrity, Parsons has established itself as a true partner for complex commercial, industrial and institutional projects with large-scale electrical needs, as well as requirements for security and surveillance systems, fiber optic and wireless networking, A/V, sound and paging, plus voice and data communications and low voltage systems design, installation, service and maintenance.

Parsons has established its presence successfully providing innovative quality design, service and performance to customers, delivering its solutions through three divisions: electrical, technologies and technical services. Customers continue to rely on the Parsons team for consistently exceptional customer service and its ability to provide creative and cost-effective solutions to any challenge.

The company’s design-assist/design-build services include reviewing and implementing local jurisdictional codes and life safety requirements, meeting with local authorities to ensure proper state and local permitting and licensing requirements are met, and reviewing of site-specific utilities for proper design coordination of building services. Parsons technicians are known for professionalism, efficiency and experience, and maintain rigorous industry certifications and are held to the highest standards through exceptional project management.

“We pride ourselves in being a true partner for our clients on every project,” explains Rich Ross, director of business development. Parsons offers clients help with everything from budgeting to scheduling and can add more value to a contract by bundling services from across its three divisions, streamlining the process and controlling costs along the way. Parsons technicians have been entrusted with the core building systems of a wide range of industries, including data centers, printing operations, casinos and gaming facilities, hotels and resorts, multi-unit residential, retail centers, religious facilities, educational institutions, refineries, banking facilities, manufacturing facilities, distribution centers and clean rooms.

Even after Parsons crews are out of the building clients rest assured that help is only a call away. Parsons’ service and maintenance department understands that accidents happen around the clock and staffs accordingly to solve electrical and mechanical snags with as little downtime as possible. In addition, Parsons arms its crews with the most advanced instrumentation to analyze and monitor a system’s performance and make quantifiable recommendations where needed. No project is too large or too small – from simple load balancing and parking lot and building lighting, to power quality analysis and complete voice and data infrastructure.

Committed to the Client

Parsons works with clients across all sectors both public and private because of its broad expertise. In fact, evidence of Parsons’ handiwork can be found in many of the Twin Cities’ landmarks, from the Minnesota Twins Target Field to Minnesota-St. Paul International Airport and the University of Minnesota’s Science & Biomedical Engineering Building. “We work with a range of technologies and insist on hiring the most talented professionals in the field to provide smarter, more cost-effective service,” says Ross.

Of course, establishing a reputation to attract the attention of such large developments takes years and Parsons has grown by focusing on providing a level of service to convert one-time customers into long-time clients. “We’re not going in to build projects and leave. Some of our clients have been with us for 20 years or more and we constantly challenge ourselves to prove we are in it for the long haul,” says Ross.

Currently Parsons is most active in three market segments: mission critical, healthcare and industrial. These areas have shown a high potential for growth and present many exciting opportunities. For example, in the mission critical segment Parsons is completing major data center projects in the Twin Cities area for three of the Fortune 50 companies, and the company is are also working nationally for other major corporations.

In the industrial market several clients in mining, biofuels and petroleum have contracted Parsons. The company recently completed a project for Preferred Sands, in Woodbury, Minn., which mines the sand used for “fracking” in North Dakota. Parsons’ Duluth office is working closely with several of the major mining operations, providing expansion and maintenance. The company is also doing a biofuel facility in New Mexico where algae is transformed into oil.

As for healthcare, Parsons was selected to work at the new St. Josephs Hospital in St. Paul, Minn., a project that completed at the beginning of 2011. Parsons’ relationship with the hospital dates all the way back to 1995, when Parsons completed work on a major expansion at St. John’s Hospital in Maplewood, Minn. Both St. Johns Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital are part of the HealthEast Care system and, as a result, Parsons was selected for its already extensive experience in the healthcare market. In turn, Parsons crews were part of the St. Joseph’s expansion and renovation effort, which included the construction of a new tower for the neuroscience and cardiology departments, four new operating rooms, and an expanded emergency department. The $117 million project also called for new parking lots, a redesigned lobby entrance, chapel, and education center.

The added challenge for Parsons was that the expansion and renovation efforts took place while the hospital was still occupied. Nevertheless, Parsons’s team revisited its protocol to incorporate infection control procedures and outlined expected disruptions well ahead of time to keep hospital staff informed of any expected outages in IT, Nurse-call, security, fire and electrical systems. Parsons’s extensive preparations enabled the team to install a new 15-kilovolt line with minimal disruptions. Parsons also worked in tandem with the Hospital’s IT systems director to establish priorities early on and design a system that could account for future needs.

Building with Hands and Heart

As the company grows in the coming years, special attention will be paid to supporting the local community as best as Parsons crews can. For many years Parsons’ crews have volunteered for the Twin Cities Hearts and Hammers program, a non-profit organization specializing in revitalizing homes of senior and physically disabled homeowners in the local community. Specifically, Parsons crews pitch in to take care of minor carpentry work, window replacement, and landscaping in order to weatherproof, secure and beautify homes.

Parsons will focus on staying ahead of the curve and identifying key opportunities for growth as the company awaits the nation’s economic rejuvenation. Already Ross sees signs of improvement on the way and Parsons is primed to be a major part of it. “Continued growth for us might mean reaching out into untapped geographical markets, but we will hold fast to our principles and follow our customers wherever they need to go,” states Ross.

Parsons has provided its expertise to just about every size and type of project available in its 85 years in the industry, and in the coming years the Parsons team will continue to uphold the company’s reputation for exceptional customer service and integrity and help clients from small businesses to multi-building campuses build for tomorrow. The company’s ability to provide extensive expertise across all areas of electrical contracting will solidify its place as a major competitor in the domestic market, and Parsons Electric LLC will continue to establish a roster of satisfied partners.