METRO POWER

18 BAINBRIDGE LIVING / Winter 2022

a vision of leadership

Now celebrating their 75th Anniversary, MetroPower has created a name for themselves spanning from Jacksonville, Florida to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

MetroPower is in their 75th year of servicing the greater part of the Southeastern United States. Started by Julius Pieper in 1947, the company prides itself on delivering high quality products with commitment to its customers, no matter the hour.

In 1967, Pieper sold the company to his son, Dick, who had a vision centered around servant leadership. His vision was for all employees to eventually own some of the company.

“He wanted each of his employees to go through an apprenticeship program, become an electrician and have the opportunity to become a management person or a person in leadership,” Ben Harrell, MetroPower Bainbridge branch manager said. “Once in that position, they then have the opportunity to buy stock and get ownership in the company, and watch it grow.”

A prime example of watching the company grow was when Harrell helped expand the company into Jacksonville.

“Last year we hit a little over $5 million in revenue down there and this year we are projecting to hit $8 million,” Harrell said. “We have more work than we can get people to do.”

Harrell has 12 managers at his branch that he has scattered throughout Georgia and into North Florida.

“We take those people and expand into their direction, whichever way we can go,” Harrell said. “Th at’s the way we see us continuously improving and getting better.”

Harrell’s dream is coming true, as MetroPower is continually expanding in various directions.

Bainbridge’s plant does only Industrial work, but their various sister locations off er industrial, Department of Defense work, Healthcare work, Mission Critical work and prime commercial work.

When he fi rst started at MetroPower, he worked in their Atlanta Division. However, he saw a lot of potential for the Bainbridge area and asked if he could transfer.

“At MetroPower, they encourage you to transfer; they want you to be happy,” Harrell said. “Th ey would rather accommodate you than lose you.”

Harrell then began his journey servicing the Bainbridge area with only one electrician. He said it took almost two years to get into their fi rst paper mill, but then they were set.

Working on the Industrial side, Harrell began to see a lot of outages.

“We did a lot of outage work,” he said. “We may get called 7 days a week. My phone sits right by my bed and it has gone off many of nights.”

Harrell said they would work on machines, and be given a certain amount of days before the outage had to be fi xed.

“It was very fulfi lling to see it fi xed before the drop dead date,” he said. “If you didn’t perform them well, you wouldn’t get to do that work, but we were always able to put the right people together and get the job done right.”

Harrell said he may not know all the answers to every outage situation, but he always knows who to call in a situation.

“I don’t pretend to be the smartest person in the room, but I surround myself with the smartest people in the room,” he joked.

In all seriousness, Harrell said he has been very blessed by the people he works with and the knowledge they have brought him.

“We know we have to have the best people to be a leading company,” he said. “We have to have continuous growth, and we aren’t perfect, but we try to have the good jobs outweigh the bad ones.”

To thank the community for trusting them with the jobs, Harrell said they put 10 percent of all their profi ts back into the community.

“We’ve enjoyed the ride,” he said. “We are excited to celebrate 75 years and sponsor River Town Days this year.”

Winter 2022 / BAINBRIDGE LIVING 19