Premier Power Maintenance Corporation

As a second-generation family business, Premier Power Maintenance Corporation is maintaining tradition while breaking new ground in the electrical maintenance, testing and construction market. Established in 1985 in Indianapolis by Andy and Eileen Templeman, the couple’s three children are transitioning smoothly into ownership. Kevin, Brian and Megan Templeman share the responsibility of ownership — which goes beyond traditional management.

“The core of what we do and the core of our company is electrical testing and maintenance,” says Kevin. “Years ago, that set off our electrical construction division. We’d be out doing maintenance and find problems that were more complicated than a field repair and they needed to be replaced. That expanded over time and now we have a full, dedicated construction crew.”

Premier Power’s ability to deliver a suite of turnkey services has offered a significant advantage in the market. The team runs the gamut from new construction to commissioning, testing, repairs and preventative maintenance, while many competitors offer either just construction or just testing and maintenance.

NETA accredited

One of the greatest recent developments for the Premier Power team is accreditation through the InterNational Electrical Testing Association (NETA). With just over 90 accredited electrical companies in the world, this accomplishment is significant. Accreditation allows the business to compete on a higher level and satisfies the requirements of many larger clients.

“Many current and new customers won’t even look at you to do their maintenance and testing if you’re not a NETA company,” says Kevin. To become accredited, 25 percent of team members must pass testing at level three or four of the organization’s stringent requirements. “We have heavily invested in training,” adds Megan. “As a result, our team members are in higher demand.”

This recognition has allowed Premier Power to significantly expand its target market over recent years. The business has added a number of large new clients to its portfolio, including customers in existing markets as well as new ones.

“One new area we are moving into is utility protection and control relay work,” says Kevin. “We’re working with American Electric Power (AEP) and Duke Power already. These utility companies look to us because they don’t have enough internal resources. With baby boomers retiring, they’re outsourcing third-party commissioning, function and acceptance testing on all of their protection relays.  We are looking forward to seeing our relationships grow with utility companies in this market.”

Premier Power is in a comfortable position – Kevin does not anticipate any major changes to company structure in the coming years. “Our goal is to maintain our current clients and our market,” he explains. “NETA accreditation has been helpful in marketing our services and we expect to see sustainable growth.”

Powerful company culture

The company’s 30-year history is marked by a unique culture. “One thing that sets us apart is our team,” explains Megan. “Quite a few of our engineers and technicians have been here for 10 to 20 years. They bring in family members — brothers, sons, cousins, in-laws — because they feel this is a great place to work. We’re very family-oriented; outside of the Templeman family, about 20 people here work with their relatives.”

“A few months ago, we were starting a job in Fort Wayne, Indiana,” Kevin adds. “I got a message from one of our technicians telling me that some people from AEP corporate were there and asked if he was with the company that had its owner out in the field. He said, ‘Yes that’s us.’ People respect that our leaders are out in the field working hands-on with our customers and our other team members.”

Safety is of utmost importance to the company. “It’s important everywhere in the construction industry, but especially in electrical work,” Kevin explains. “Safety is our No. 1 focus — keeping our customers safe and our team members safe. We do rigorous safety training on all aspects, from basic electrical training to the processes we have in place for projects. We hold safety meetings every morning before every job and any time the scope changes or people move around. We also have weekly safety meetings — each Monday before they go out to jobs, we go over safety topics and concerns from the week prior.”

Maintaining integrity

In the immediate future, Premier Power is focusing its energy on expanding the new Michigan office as well as better serving the utility P&C customers in the Midwest. “Things are really taking off and we see the P&C division as our biggest area for growth over the next five years or so,” Kevin notes. “We recently hired an operations manager for the P&C division and now are recruiting additional team members for substantial growth.”

The business is also adjusting to a leadership change. Kevin, Megan and their brother, Brian, are taking over the business. While the siblings note that they worried there would be some hesitation, the Premier Power team has been welcoming and the transition has been smooth. “Our goal is to just continue to treat team members the way we’ve seen our parents treat them over the years,” says Kevin.

“It’s important for us to keep the same culture and family values,” adds Megan. “As we grow, it can be difficult to maintain those, but we’ve done a good job keeping them intact. We do want to grow, but we never want to get so big that we can’t maintain our core values.”

With those values intact, Premier Power Maintenance Corporation continues to break new ground in the electrical contracting market throughout the U.S.