Power Plus Inc.

Power Plus Inc. (Power Plus) in Boise, Idaho, is stronger today than ever, and makes it a point to reevaluate its business regularly in order to stay that way. An electrical contractor completing industrial, commercial and traffic signalization work, Power Plus has become well-known for its many projects in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon. Founded in 1993 by Mark McKibben, president, as well as and Ron Hanna, corporate secretary/treasurer, Power Plus is a labor of love.

As a member of the Idaho Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), Power Plus stays current in its industry. Dan Krishnek, vice president of Power Plus, came to the company in 1997 and is proud of what the company has achieved over the years.

A Honed Operation

As most companies suffered major set-backs during the recession, Power Plus was no exception. However, the company coped in its own way, without being dragged into a low-bid war.

“We decided we would not pay to do work,” explains Krishnek. “We didn’t play into the desperation of buying work and losing money. Instead, we really cut down on overhead. We had to clean house, be more frugal and condense our operation.”

What Power Plus was left with at the end of this exercise was a honed operation: a leaner, more efficient, better business. “Through attrition we got down to our core group of people,” says Krishnek. “Everyone gained a renewed sense of hard work, and realized just what had to be done in order to stay in business.”

Furthermore, the company took the time to tweak any problematic areas and improve. “The downturn made us all rethink things,” continues Krishnek. “We took a hard look at things we’ve been doing for a long time and we made many small efforts to trim the fat, reduce our overhead and lower our costs.”

No stone was left unturned. “We looked at every aspect of our company to see where we could improve,” he continues. Now, the company runs an extremely streamlined operation.

Krishnek started with Power Plus in 1997 – after working with Micron Technology and Quality Electric – and has since been an integral part of the company’s success. “It’s the people we have here,” he says of what gives him the most pride and satisfaction. “We have a large group of dedicated qualified employees working for us.”

The Projects of the People

The amount of dedicated employees is driven by workload, but Power Plus is able to maintain 60 to 75 on a regular basis. However, Krishnek is quick to note that number can swell to over 100 when there is a spike in overall projects.

The team has a wide range of talent to ensure customer satisfaction across a wide range of projects, including industrial, commercial and traffic signalization.

For commercial projects, Power Plus completes: new work, power and panel assessments and upgrades, lighting audits and upgrades, energy use audits, lighting maintenance, data cabling and fire alarm system/generator and UPS/security system installation and maintenance.

Meanwhile, for industrial projects, Power Plus completes: new work, instrumentation installation and maintenance, controls systems, NFP70E arch flash studies, thermal imaging and design-build electrical systems. Industrial customers include: food processing plants, computer chip manufacturers, process gas suppliers and many small manufacturing companies.

For its signalization work, Power Plus completes: excavation, traffic lights, lighting controls, gate sensors and loops, and illumination for roadway roundabouts, streets, parking lots, pathways and airport runways. Signalization is a specialization for Power Plus. The work varies, between new installations and upgrades, and Power Plus has full design-build capabilities.

Work Continues to Come in

Some of the work for Power Plus is completed through ongoing maintenance contracts, such as the one it has with Saint Alphonsus hospital and Simplot Technical Center. Many customers are repeat customers, like the Boise Veteran’s Administration and Micron Technology.

“We’ve done a lot of work at Micron over the years,” says Krishnek. “And we’ve done multiple jobs over the past three years for the Boise VA. The largest one was a site-wide high voltage distribution upgrade and generators that back up the system.” Recently, the company completed a big portion of Micron’s Building 50 consisting of all the instrumentation and special systems.

Another recent project was at Scentsy’s new headquarters. Scentsy sells wickless scented candles and has found a great amount of success in doing so; Power Plus just completed the electrical work on a six-story building on their sprawling campus in Boise. Other projects include several health care facilities, including Saint Alphonsus, Life Care Center, Saint Luke’s Medical Center, and the Boise VA Medical Center.

The company’s recent traffic projects include: Boise Airport runway upgrade, Meridian Town Center, Meridian Corridor, Cotterell rest area and I-86 Chubbuck bridge interchange. The Boise Airport Parking Garage was completed in November while the Capital Mall Parking Garage is still in progress.

The company’s current work includes the National Guard’s Operational Readiness Training Center (ORTC), which is a substantial, phased project. Signalization work continues to abound for Power Plus.

“We just completed Meridian Corridor phase two,” says Krishnek. On the $8.5 million project, Power Plus completed traffic signals for new roads and lighting upgrades. After projects are completed, Power Plus offers ongoing servicing in its continual effort to meet all of its customers’ needs.

Prepared for Future Success

In many ways, the economic downturn benefited Power Plus, as it provided the company with the chance to become lean and more efficient. The company is now positioned to better withstand another recession, should it come to pass.

“The goal is to stay profitable without becoming greedy,” says Krishnek. Power Plus is looking to maintain a comfortable profit margin and a mentality of diligence in order to survive. “Fortunately,” he says, “We are better prepared than we were before.”

There will be no resting on laurels or getting too comfortable. “We regularly assess how we did on our recent projects,” Krishnek says. “We evaluate all our completed jobs and are always looking for ways to improve, and be more efficient.” It is evident that Krishnek’s mentality has proven to help make the company successful, and also that he is proud of the company. Power Plus Inc. will continue to prevail for years to come.