The Power to Serve by THIEL Brand Design

PPC Partners: The Power to Serve

This book was created to honor the contributions of every person who has been part of the PPC Partners story: past, present and future.

ÂŠ 2011 by PPC Partners All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without the written consent of PPC Partners. Printed in Canada International Standard Book Number ISBN: 978-0-615-54203-4

Key to electrical symbols used in the book: light fixture switch dimmer switch duplex receptacle resistor

Foreword The story of PPC Partners will arouse the interest of every reader who loves hard

work, people succeeding despite the odds, and the greatness of the craftsperson. Our culture of “customer first” and “golden rule thinking” has been passed from Julius Pieper, the company’s founder, to his son Dick Pieper. This commitment to servant leadership has been the key to our success and it will assure our future. This book details the 65-year story of our company from its inception to our role today as a preeminent, employee-owned electrical/mechanical service and construction contractor serving the Upper Midwest and the Southeastern United States. Our story follows the journey of PPC Partners as seen through the eyes of its people: tests of courage, bold entrepreneurial decisions, hard work, perseverance and a total commitment to safety, personal growth and service to our customers. Our story underscores what the American craftsman can accomplish. You will find historical milestones in this book. As America grew and advanced, so did PPC Partners. We were always learning. We developed the organizational values of trust and teamwork that made us strong. The country and the world had its ups and downs, and so did we. In our 65th year celebrated in 2012, we have employees who have spent a career with the company and those who are just starting a journey with PPC Partners. ≤egardless of our differences in longevity with the company, we agree on what is most important: people. In this book you will see the faces of PPC Partners people. Our book is a “snapshot in time.” The many faces in this book represent many more people who have contributed to the success of our company over decades. These people, the challenges, failures, and the successes have made my professional and family life a truly rich experience. To be able to serve more than 1200 co-workers and thousands of customers has been a remarkable gift.

Ronnie Hinson 2006–11

Jim Ditter 2012–

CEO of PPC Partners, Inc.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Bootstrapping Their Way to Success

Pieper Man at Your Service

Galloping Growth and Searing Setbacks

Julius Pieper yanks the back

Dick Pieper is only 23 when

How can we work like crazy,

seat out of his old truck and fills

he buys Pieper Electric from

bring in new accounts, satisfy

it with electrical contracting

his father with a $50,000 note.

customers, generate $7 million

tools and materials. He starts

“Pay it back when you can,”

in revenues and still lose

his own business in 1947 in

Julius Pieper says. Dick has

money? This is the burning

Milwaukee, Wisconsin with a

aspirations for growth and

question that Pieper Electric

clear goal: to o≠er the best qual-

success that his father never

must tackle in the 1970s. A

ity service at a fair price.

dared imagine. The dreams

huge brewery job threatens

will come true, but not without

to ruin Pieper Electric proving

struggle.

the location is no Eden.

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

101

Chapter 6

135

Georgia on My Mind

The Noble Experiment

“Our Wonderful, Exceptional Journey”

Since its inception, Pieper

Dick Pieper asks himself the

PPC Partners Inc. enters the

Electric has operated in a

seminal question: how can

21st Century with its first stock

strong union state: Wisconsin.

I help ensure that my company

o≠ering to employees and

By the 1980s, merit shops are

has the same ethical and pro-

growth that has far exceeded

challenging union dominance

gressive culture after I’m gone?

even Dick Pieper’s dreams.

in America and the company

His answer: turn it over to

Though the economy stumbles,

turns its attention to Georgia.

the people who know it best

the companies of PPC Partners

MetroPower has all the growing

and believe in it most: our

have the financial strength, re-

pains of a new venture and just

employees. But how Dick does

sources and people to reach their

enough success to turn a profit.

it is controversial.

65th anniversary milestone . . . with much more to come.

Key to Employee Portraits 178 Board of Directors 182 PPC Partners Locations 183 Acknowledgments 184 Illustration Credits 185 Index 186

Chapter One

1947–1959

Bootstrapping Their Way to Success It’s 1947. World War II is over, and the Great Depression is history. People call Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the “Toolbox of the World” because this city delivers. Think of it: we’re the hometown of self-made men like A.P. Allis, Stanton Allen, Lynde Bradley, William Harley, the Davidson brothers, and, of course, the beer barons. I’m part of Milwaukee’s “toolbox.” I learned to be a carpenter and an electrician in this town. I’ve been a stock boy, a truck driver, a maintenance man, and even a policeman. I’ve always been willing to work hard. I joined an electrical company and they gave me a temporary union card. When something went wrong on a job, I’d go back and fix the problem on my own time. Our union steward didn’t much like that, and he didn’t much like me. I lost my job. I’m 37 years old now, and I have a wife, ≤ose, and young son, ≤ichard, to support. Perhaps my best guarantee of job security is to create my own job. I’ve decided to start a little business with a “mobile workshop.” I’m going to yank the back seat out of my Packard and fill it with my electrical tools and materials. I intend to o≠er the best quality electrical work I can at a fair price. And though I’m not a businessman, I’ve learned that if I give people more than they expect, I’m likely to succeed. Thank God, ≤ose encouraged me. I’m blessed to have her in my life.

Chapter One: 1947–1959

ulius Pieper, the founder of today’s PPC Partners, took a ﬂyer in 1947 when he started his own electrical contracting business in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. By age 37, he had held many jobs, but the electrician’s life attracted him. He wasn’t the most skilled, but he made up for it with a perfectionist’s attention to detail. Never mind that Milwaukee was a staunchly union town and newcomers weren’t welcome. Pieper would buck the norm. In his own way, Julius’ father had done that, too. Born in France, but raised in Germany, Arnold Pieper was the son of an aristocratic Huguenot family that su≠ered religious persecution at home and relocated to Königsberg, Germany (today, Kaliningrad), on the Baltic coast. Germany granted the Protestant family land in exchange for using their considerable skills raising horses for the German Army. Arnold’s father wanted him to become a physician, but Arnold longed to become a landscape architect. They argued and neither budged. Teenaged Arnold was dispatched to America with an uncle as chaperone who carried enough money to pay for Arnold’s premed education. The uncle ditched Arnold in Wisconsin and took o≠ with the money. Left on his own, Arnold went to work for a Milwaukee bakery; he soon married, and the young couple celebrated the birth of their child, Julius, in 1910. Julius Pieper remembered little of his mother because she was absent much of the time. And when Julius took the streetcar to visit his dad at the bakery, Arnold had little time for him. All too soon, Arnold would slip his son money for the next streetcar home. Arnold never pursued landscape architecture; the closest he came to horticulture was having his own greenhouse. Eventually, though, he became part owner of the Shorewood Bak-

ery, a popular enterprise on the east side of Milwaukee for generations. Arnold’s marriage disintegrated, leaving Julius to be raised largely by his father’s maiden aunts.

A Sharpshooter with an Electrician’s Belt Julius attended Milwaukee Boys and Girls Tech (today, Bradley Tech), where he learned to be a carpenter and an electrician. He loved working with his hands. In the summers, he lived on his Aunt Geisey’s nearby farm, harvesting hay and milking cows. In the winters, he helped prepare meals and washed dishes at another aunt’s boarding house on State Street, a gathering spot for his large, extended family. Just months before graduation, Julius left school for an appendix operation and never returned. Instead, at age 17, he went to work at a cabinet shop and soon decided the work simply wasn’t for him. Was it the su≠ocating dust? Was it simply the wrong trade? Being an electrician was what Julius wanted to do. People relied on electricity to live their lives with increasing convenience. With all those volts and amps surging around them, they needed to be safe. But before Julius managed to land a job in his chosen trade, he settled for readily available jobs: he was a machine operator, a stock boy, and a truck driver. Finally, he was hired as an electrician’s helper with a company that went belly up around 1930, just as America began imploding during the Great Depression. When his job evaporated, Julius had mastered enough electrical tasks to freelance until 1936. He o≠ered flat rates—for example, 50 cents for installing an electrical outlet. It was a tough way to eke out a living. Scanning the newspaper one morning, Julius saw an opportunity: the City of Milwaukee wanted new recruits for police work. Why not me, he thought? Out of 1,200 ap-

Bootstrapping Their Way to Success

plicants and 60 chosen, Julius ranked number 30. Why? He was a sharpshooter and never missed a bull’s-eye in the tryout test. (No one knows where he learned to shoot.) Julius proved his resourcefulness many times in his new job. Because ammunition was in short supply during the Great Depression, he taught other policemen how to make their own bullets using melted lead and recycled cartridges. All they needed to buy was gunpowder. When Julius noticed that policemen carried several small notebooks with lists of responsibilities, he consolidated all the information into a pocket-sized version that each man could carry. It was a simple solution for an organized man. Fortunately, Julius had a solid, civil-service job because he had a wife, ≤ose, and an infant son, ≤ichard, by 1936. ≤ose was an extraordinary helpmate: hardworking, inventive, and ambitious. ≤ose’s resilient mother, Anna, had been an orphan who emigrated from Czechoslovakia to New York City where she met her husband. After her husband, a supervisor in a Milwaukee tannery, died of cancer in his early 40s, Anna and her four children struggled. Living the life of a widow on the Wisconsin prairie, she had a strong faith. Anna’s eldest daughter ≤ose scrubbed floors to help her family. Though she never graduated from high school, ≤ose always valued education and read widely to educate herself.

With America in World War II, six-year-old ≤ichard played soldier using bricks as hand grenades in a neighborhood alley near the family’s second home on Kilbourn Avenue. Then he turned to wartime money-making pursuits, going door to door collecting excess fat and selling it to the local butcher or gathering newspapers and selling them to the junk dealer. Dick handpicked plums from the backyard at the family’s third home on Appleton Avenue and sold them on the roadside. Persevering until every plum was sold, he used a toy cash register to store his earnings, and he positioned a bright light on his fruit cartons so he attracted passing cars at night. Dick collected more cash than his little cash register could hold, and he banked everything he made until his first, big purchase: a new Schwinn bicycle.

“I never had an allowance, but I always had an opportunity to work.” Richard Pieper

When resourceful ≤ose Pieper traveled to local fairs with her custard stand and games of chance, Dick was her shill. He urged fairgoers to taste the goods or test their accuracy by pitching hoops and maybe, just maybe, winning the teddy bear he waved in the air. ≤ose was the brains behind more than one lucrative business. “Mom got involved in real estate during the era when you could buy a house and double your money in two or three years,” Dick recalls. “Dad and I drove around town looking at lots and bidding on them. There were a lot of city lots available if we just paid the taxes due. Mom had the idea to buy foreclosures, fix them up, and resell them.” Though the family moved often, sometimes occupy-

Directing Traffic in Diapers Little ≤ichard Pieper was a handful even before he grew out of diapers. The day he waddled from his family’s home into the middle of Teutonia Avenue and began directing tra∞c is part of Pieper family lore. A few winters later, he hurled snowballs at passing cars on Teutonia, a busy North Milwaukee street.

Chapter One: 1947–1959

ing these houses during restoration, their farmhouse on Appleton Avenue and Capital Drive became the Pieper’s most enduring home. Within biking distance for Dick were two boarding houses on 18th Street and State Street run by his enterprising aunts, Minnie and Lizzie Kiefer. There, young Dick met Fred Kiefer, his father’s uncle, who taught him about the stock market using an engaging method: Fred asked Dick questions to help him discover the answers himself, rather than telling him the answers. It was a technique called the Socratic method, and Dick Pieper would use it often in his long business career. Uncle Fred was unforgettable. “He had the best space in the rooming house in the front living room,” Dick remembers. “His rolltop desk was about 10 feet long, with lots of cubbyholes filled with papers. He piled his desk with stock reports. He had several chairs for visitors, tall bookcases against two walls, and a squawking parrot in the corner. Fred even wore a green eyeshade. We had a fictitious portfolio, and I picked the stocks and kept track of the gains and losses. The only advice he gave me outright was ‘buy low and sell high.’ ” Uncle Fred watched Dick make a fortune in theoretical dollars, and the boy learned just enough about investments to show o≠ a little by o≠ering unsolicited financial advice to his elders.

Esther Wolf, Dick’s aunt, told the boy he could accomplish anything. Because Dick was so sensitive to other people’s needs, she said he would make a great doctor. Esther was a tuberculosis patient who needed regular inoculations to help her breathe. At the young age of six, Dick learned to give Esther her shots, though it unnerved him. Dick remembered Esther disappearing from family gatherings in an ambulance more than once.

“I had a lot of assertive women around me, starting with my mother.” Dick Pieper

To help her raise pocket money, Dick took the small, stu≠ed-felt animal pins Esther made and sold them for her. Later, after Esther moved to Seattle to join her brother, George, Dick visited them. Esther urged him to practice his newfound Christian faith by making up sermons. Esther recorded them on a dictating machine: “You’ll make a great evangelist one day,” she assured him. Dick began making those trips to Seattle as early as 1941. Dick’s mother put him on a Northwest Airlines (NWA) DC-3, and he was the youngest passenger in NWA history at age five. He made the front page of the Milwaukee Journal, and the Federal Aviation Administration never knew that Dick sat in the captain’s lap and briefly “steered” the plane. Dick’s Uncle George Wolf was a loving and devout man who introduced Dick to Christianity. George was a mechanic and supervisor on the flight line at Boeing, where he ran rigorous tests on airplanes before their first test flights. He owned a used car lot and invested in real estate. Later in his life, he wrote poetry. A man of simple needs, George was frugal with money but generous with

Unflinching Faith Throughout his youth, Dick Pieper was surrounded by strong influences, and many of them were women— from the aunts who ran boarding houses and farms to his mother, the resourceful entrepreneur who also made time to quietly help others, to Aunt Esther, the woman who believed unflinchingly in him.

Bootstrapping Their Way to Success

his time. He took a keen interest in Dick, becoming his informal godfather and tending to the boy’s awakening spiritual side. The relationship ripened over decades.

riding his bicycle to a dime store, scanning the goods, and settling on a woman behind the counter: “I started watching her with my nose at counter level,” he says. “Finally, she noticed and asked, ‘Why are you looking are me?’ I was so focused, I didn’t realize I was being rude. I was studying her.”

“Uncle George asked me if I wanted to put the Lord in the center of my life when I was a teenager. It seemed like the right thing to do. I remember feeling, ‘Something special has happened to me.’ ”

A Swift Kick into Entrepreneurship As Dick Pieper grew, his dad grew restless. Julius Pieper traded his police badge for an electrician’s belt in 1940 when he joined Lemberg Electric on State Street. His boss gave him a temporary union card as long as he paid 2 percent of his wages to the union. But there was no proof or receipt for those payments, and Julius asked why. It wasn’t the first time his behavior annoyed the union steward. When Julius chose to go back on his own time to fix an error on a job, this also irked the steward. Putting in extra time without pay just wasn’t done in the highly regulated world of Milwaukee unions. Julius kept asking for his permanent union card, but even after six years with Lemberg Electric, he never got it. Instead, the powerful International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) told Lemberg Electric to fire him. Who wants a troublemaker? This was the beginning of Pieper Electric. Just to get by, Julius took a nighttime maintenance job at Milprint Industrial, and he spent his days outfitting the family Packard for his new business, Pieper Electric Company. It was 1947. Dick Pieper was 11, and he helped on some of his dad’s first jobs: “He worked on remodeling houses, fishing the wire, and installing new outlets,” Dick recalls. “I was small enough to stick my hand into the partitions and find the fish wire. I crawled up into attics and into tight corners.”

Dick Pieper

Two other uncles o≠ered opposite life lessons. Dick remembered one uncle driving and littering the highway. Worse still, he abandoned his family. The second uncle bought partially rotten truckloads of produce and sold them fast, leaving his customers with the spoils. He picked up war surplus tools from ships for 25 cents each and sold them for $2 each to hardware stores, even though they were designed for marine use only. Dick never forgot these disturbing lessons in ethics gone bad.

“Looking back, Dick was both dyslexic and a little hyperactive. If he were in school today, he’d be diagnosed with ADHD.” Sue Pieper, Dick’s wife and a retired teacher

Dick wasn’t a good student, in part because he was dyslexic long before the condition had a name. He had a young tutor who helped him in grade school, but he seemed to substitute curiosity for book learning. “I was always asking, ‘Why, why, why,’ ” he recalls. “My dad often answered in exasperation, ‘You just asked me that!’ ” Human behavior fascinated Dick Pieper. He remembers

I work 100% because itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in me.

Bootstrapping Their Way to Success

Within a year of starting Pieper Electric, Julius hired his first employee, ≤oger Heinritz, for $1 an hour. Heinritz wanted to learn the electrician’s trade, but apprenticeships were hard to find. Julius o≠ered to personally train the young man, as he would every employee for several years after that. Bonnie ≤ode, Heinritz’ daughter (and wife of PPC employee Joe ≤ode) remembers her father saying that Julius used astrological signs when selecting people: “Dad said Julius believed that someone born under the Pisces sign (February 20–March 20) was a hard worker. Dad’s birthday was March 3. Perhaps there was something to it. Julius was born March 4.” Every morning, Heinritz strapped his battered metal lunch box to the back of his 1947 Harley and rode to work. There, he met Julius, and they drove to their customer calls in Pieper’s truck loaded with tools and materials.

he’d count it twice. If it was an outlet involving a 3-horsepower motor, he’d multiply by three. It was guesswork.” Julius’ business skills were meager, but he seemed to make up for these shortcomings with a relentless focus on quality work, fair dealing, and customer service. He had a simple definition of success: after paying all his bills, he wanted to have cash left over. In those days, a big job for Pieper Electric was a 3,000-square-foot restaurant or a 15-classroom school. Again, the union played hardball with Julius Pieper. When he tried to join the IBEW as a contractor in 1950, they wouldn’t have him. No dice with the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) either. The union controlled the Milwaukee market, and its leaders turned away Julius and a handful of other fledgling contractors. It may have been a simple matter of putting a lid on new competition. A union boss told Julius he could have his union card on one condition: fold up his business. No thanks. What to do? A nonunion business in Milwaukee would never fly. Julius and the other small contractors formed their own association. With Julius as president, the group approached the Allied Independent Worker’s Union for membership. They were accepted, and all of them finally had union cards, but they lacked one important qualification: they were not part of a construction union, and an electrician’s work is integral to construction. The IBEW picketed the small contractors, and a lower court sided with the powerful union. Take your case to the state court, Julius Atkins, Julius’ close friend, a builder and an attorney, advised. They filed their brief with the State Supreme Court, and the IBEW “welcomed” them into their ranks, even without an entrance fee. Just drop the suit, the union bosses grumbled. The case never

“Leonard Zahn never made a move that didn’t count. We installed an electric hot water heater, separate meters, new electrical service, and removed the old heater, all in four hours.” Dick Pieper

By 1950, Julius had three employees that he nicknamed “the big three”: Heinritz, Leonard Zahn, and Harry Hodgson. They all worked hard, e∞ciently, and fast, and more work came their way from appliance dealers, home remodelers, and even the power company. Julius did not keep project records, and he had no reliable estimating system. “He based his bills on the cost of an outlet,” Dick remembers. “If it was a 110-volt outlet, he’d count the job as a single unit. If it was a 220-volt outlet,

Chapter One: 1947–1959

went to trial. Pieper Electric became an IBEW union contractor and NECA member on January 1, 1952.

it cracked and bled. ≤ose Pieper took her son south to Florida to visit her Uncle Henry for a long weekend, and Dick’s skin quickly improved. That’s when ≤ose made a decision. The family would relocate to the southern latitudes. ≤ose had learned that St. John in the US Virgin Islands did not have a cement plant, and she decided to build one. Barges were hauling concrete blocks 1,000 miles from Miami to St. Thomas. The island’s growing popularity in the early 1950s signaled an inevitable building boom. Never mind that ≤ose had no experience with concrete production. She would find the experts. But when ≤ose visited St. John to do her exploration, she discovered a deal breaker. There were no suitable schools. Locals said they sent their children to New York for schooling, and this, ≤ose concluded, was no way to keep a family together. She settled for the Florida Keys, another area that, her uncle assured her, “was just coming out of the swamps. Development had already begun.” Julius, ≤ose, and Dick moved to Marathon in the Keys, and Julius left Pieper Electric in the hands of a new employee who represented himself well, but he turned out to be unethical. Julius attempted to build an electrical business in Florida and commute to Wisconsin to oversee the work there. Before long, Julius discovered that his righthand man in Milwaukee just wasn’t up to the job. It was back to Wisconsin for Julius, while ≤ose and her son made a life in the Keys.

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines By the late 1940s, Dick Pieper was a typical teenage boy enthralled with cars. To assuage his mother’s fears, he was allowed to buy a Studebaker with a small engine, using the earnings he had carefully squirreled away from childhood. Just a year later, Dick convinced his parents he could handle a hot car, and he bought the V-8 Mercury Club Coupe he always wanted. When he totaled the front end of the car while speeding, Dick was grounded for six months. He spent some of that time rebuilding his beloved coupe.

“Dick didn’t have a lot of rules, but he had a lot of attention. His parents were serious about bringing him up right, and he was a serious kid. I helped him learn how to laugh.” Sue Pieper

Dick joined a Boy Scout troop with Julius as the scoutmaster, and he was attracted to leadership: first becoming an assistant patrol leader on camping trips and then rising to patrol leader, senior patrol leader, and assistant scout master. He’d sit on his bed for hours into the night planning excursions and organizing troop meetings. When his troop sold Christmas wreaths to raise money, Dick set sales records. Dick had su≠ered from eczema since early childhood, but by the time he was 17 year old, it had become agony in the cold Midwestern winters. His skin was so dry that

“Basically, I didn’t study; I just took the tests. When I had trouble with advanced trigonometry, I got a tutor.” Dick Pieper

Bootstrapping Their Way to Success

To attend high school, Dick had to catch a school bus at 5 a.m. for a 1.5-hour ride some 50 miles to Key West. “I convinced my parents that it wasn’t much of a school,” Dick recalls. “I found an ad on a matchbook cover for a correspondence course. I could get my high school diploma for $1.69 a month in four years.” When the school’s representative met with ≤ose, he assured her that Dick’s diploma would be accepted at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

big catch was tarpon, but in that area abundant with fish, you never knew what might take the bait. “We were anchored along a cut at Islamorada and there was a lot of action there,” Dick recalls. “Nearby, a crew was filming a promotional film about the area. I put a pound and a half yellowtail on one of our guest’s hooks, and soon there was a strike. The fish was so large, I knew we had to get in the ski≠ to follow it. I asked the angler if he wanted to get in the ski≠, but he gave me the rod and said, ‘You go!’ We followed that fish for 90 minutes until it wore out and came to the surface. It was a 250-pound Jew fish, caught on 30-pound test line. The fish, and my customer, a judge from Detroit, wound up on the front page of the Miami Herald.” Looking for a more e∞cient way to run the bait and tackle shop, Dick bought bait shrimp in bulk and packaged it for sale in the quantity they needed for an hour of fishing. He sold those premade packages to anglers at a considerable markup. Similarly, rather than buy premade leaders for fishing line, Dick bought the cat gut and hooks and made his own, selling them at a better margin. The owner was pleased and put Dick in charge of a driving range he opened to entertain tourists when they weren’t fishing. Dick also served as first mate on a 65-foot yacht called the ≤um ≤unner that his boss, a land developer, used to entertain influential Floridians. Customers liked Dick Pieper, and he knew he turned a tidy proﬁt for his boss. “I asked Mr. Sidowsky if he would consider giving me a raise from 75 cents an hour,” Dick recalls. “He put his arm around me and said, ‘Dick, it’s not how much you make; it’s how much you save.’ And he walked away.” It was Marathon, Florida, where Dick Pieper’s heavy foot earned him his ﬁrst speeding ticket. “I was a lunatic in the car, and I was speeding across the Seven Mile Bridge

Wielding a Machete, a Shovel, and a Fishing Rod In the Florida Keys, ≤ose jumped back into the business she knew: building houses, buying lots, and selling them for a profit. Meanwhile, her son had his own moneymaking opportunities. With a machete, he cleared land for a retired engineer and helped build a hurricaneproof house made largely of concrete. “I lifted concrete in buckets to pour into large construction beams, and I wanted to know how much I could lift in a single day. It was 12,000 pounds. I liked to test myself.” He worked for a builder, using dynamite to blast away coral to clear land. Dick shoveled thousands of pounds of granulated coral rock to create a foundation. It was hot, laborious work. When others took breaks, Dick often didn’t: “I pushed myself,” he says. When the houses were built, Dick tackled the electrical work with skills he learned from his dad. Dick was hired to help build a motel in Marathon, and the plumbing contractor showed him how to handle the hookups. He was left to do the work while the plumber visited the local tavern. Dick also ran a bait and tackle shop and became an able fishing guide and captain who scouted locations, baited hooks, served his customers lunch, and supplied the colorful fishing guide patter known to the Keys. The

Chapter One: 1947–1959

trying to get to a session with my advanced trigonometry tutor. My speed was more than 20 miles an hour over the limit,” he recalls. “A patrolman pulled me over and took me to the Key West jail.” After that, Dick saw some rugged cells in the south on three separate occasions, where he was usually the youngest inmate among repeat offenders. ≤emarkably, Dick saved his speeding tickets in a scrapbook from his college years, mixed in with black and white photos of swimsuit-clad lovelies, sailboats, and more than a few hot cars. The tickets trace his travel: 1955, clocked at 90 miles per hour, Georgia State Patrol, Tifton, Georgia; 1956, excessive speed, 80 miles per hour in a 50 mile-per-hour zone, Florida Highway Patrol.

Dick was lieutenant governor of the University of Miami School of Engineering and he organized extravagant, annual Engineering Expositions, drawing major corporations, nationally known speakers, and military brass to the campus. Engineering luminaries aside, it was the Exposition robot that carried a promotional placard and got a ticket for jaywalking on a crowded Miami street that made the national news. Dick was editor of the engineering newspaper, even though he couldn’t spell very well. He was president of his fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE), and vice president of the Inter-Fraternity Council. He managed successful political campaigns on campus, and he honed his election projections to a science, accurately predicting how many votes would come from each student group. All of this left little time for study, and his grades showed it. Dick Pieper was no stranger to probationary status or awkward come-to-Jesus meetings with the dean of the engineering school. Perhaps the FBI investigation gave Dick an easy out. It was the 1950s, and underage drinking on college campuses had reached a new high. Draft cards were easy to duplicate with a fictitious birth year. “They Bought Adulthood–Face Court,” the May 23, 1959, Miami Herald declared. “A campus forgery ring that sold overnight adulthood to fuzzy-cheeked drinkers was smashed Friday as federal agents nabbed 16 University of Miami students, an expelled coed, and a Miami printer,” the newspaper reported. Agents said the fake draft cards– nearly a thousand of them–were so well forged that even the US Printing and Engraving O∞ce might have had a hard time spotting them. Indicted as ring leaders in the scheme were three students, including ≤ichard ≤ay Pieper, 23, a senior. “The FBI picked three universi-

“Maybe speeding is a metaphor for my life. I’m always overbooked. I’m always overcommitted. I’ve been given the gift of life. Why wouldn’t I use it to the fullest?” Dick Pieper at 74 years old

Majoring in Extracurricular Activities When Dick was ready to leave home and attend college, ≤ose eagerly returned to Wisconsin and her life with Julius. Dick applied to the University of Miami in 1954. After the university initially said it didn’t accept correspondence course diplomas, they relented, gave him an admittance test, and he squeaked by. When he declared a major, Dick wrote “engineering.” Not that he really wanted to be one: “I wanted a technical background, but I didn’t want to be an engineer,” he says. “My real major was extracurricular activities. I wanted to organize student volunteers and be successful. I ﬁgured if I could do it in school, I could do it for pay later on.”

Bootstrapping Their Way to Success

Catch Him if You Can age through Dick Pieper’s college scrapbook, and it illustrates the young man’s eclectic life. A leather-encased diploma certifies that Richard Ray Pieper earned his high school diploma on December 30, 1954, from the Chicago-based American School, chartered in 1897. A yellowed issue of the Miami Hurricane student newspaper of the University of Miami carries a boldface, front-page headline heralding the 1958 engineering exposition, chaired by one Dick Pieper. There are also abundant photos of comely coeds in dresses and swimsuits and a snapshot of Dick in a “Super Zen” t-shirt, sun

glasses, and sport coat dancing at an SAE frat party. As president, he cheered, commended, and exhorted his fraternity peers in a house newsletter: “Brothers, pledges, there she stands. Our house is now becoming the envy of all the fraternities on campus.” He shared a little gossip about a brother, “I understand that the nightlife and his paper route were too much for him . . ., ” and he blasted his brothers, “You miserable eggheads are doing a lousy job of rush. . . . We’ll need one hell of a lot of pledges with this new house.” He closed his newsletter with a pithy, “That’s it, men . . . Just me. Pieper.” To keep the souls of the SAE men intact, Dick introduced prayer at meals, and he accompanied every new pledge class to church.

Pages of old photos capture Dick and his friends on docks reaching out into the Gulf, on sailboats and clustered around trophy cars: all smiles, tanned, bleached hair, and no body fat. Dick saved clippings and posters for candidates whose campaigns he managed— all fresh-faced young men in crew cuts and sincere expressions. A handwritten matrix of dates and times showed when and where campaign volunteers would post themselves to get out the vote and elect their man. The plan was quintessential Pieper. Perhaps most memorable in the scrapbook was a low-key, engraved University of Miami School of Engineering program from a breakfast held in Coral Gables on February 22, 1958. The event was held in conjunction with National Engineers Week and Richard R. Pieper, chairman of the Engineering Exposition, gave the welcoming address. Right next to that program is a name tag in faded ink: Mr. Julius Pieper, Visitor. n

Chapter One: 1947–1959

ties to investigate and set an example. Ours was one of them,” says Dick. “The campus was in an uproar with FBI agents pulling people out of classes.” Creating and using a forged draft card was a federal o≠ense, and the US Attorney got 25 convictions. Ultimately the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor and every student was expelled. Dick was just a month from graduation when he was expelled. Ironically, he had been singled out in January as a new member of “Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges,” a prestigious honor, and he was recognized by the faculty as a founder of the University’s leadership honorary society. At least Julius and ≤ose were proud when they read that in the University of Miami Parent Age newspaper.

modeling services, Dick gave a modeling agency plenty of press. Every international exhibitor had a “Miss” representing its home country, and Dick fired o≠ photos and press releases publicizing each model and the exhibitor she represented. Dick had sent handwritten invitations to every printing executive and newspaper or magazine editor and publisher in the Northeast. “We had highquality people standing in the streets waiting to get into the show, and they were greeted by all the Misses.” This global entourage of Misses competed for Miss Spectra 59, and the winner’s photo appeared in most of the printing industry’s new-hungry trade magazines. Adding to the excitement, Dick convinced the French government to o≠er an all-expenses-paid, first class Air France trip for two to the next year’s exhibition in Paris. Every day, Dick cranked out press releases about some new piece of equipment, new exhibitor, or advanced technology. Exhibitors were so pleased with the event that they were ready to sign up for the next year’s show, even before this one ended. But there was a dark side to the experience, Dick recalls. “I saw how people took unfair advantage of other people, how the union controlled exhibitions, and how industry insiders made it tough for newcomers like us. The ethics were repulsive. A publisher pulled me aside and said, ‘You’re up against some very tough characters, and if you run the next show, they’re going to get a lot more organized. They’ll be harder on you.’ ” On top of that, Dick worked day and night, seven days a week. “New York was so extreme, I couldn’t live a balanced life,” he says. “I made a conscious choice not to pursue it, even though the City of Chicago had already volunteered the new McCormick Place as a venue.”

When in Doubt, Barter Did Dick Pieper know that entrepreneurs are usually nonconformists, tend to defy authority, often are poor students and have strong mothers? These were just a few qualities that appeared early and set him on a path with others who built American companies. With no pomp and circumstance and no diploma from the University of Miami in 1959, what was Dick Pieper to do? His college friend Joe Sugarman called from New York: “I’m running the ﬁrst international graphics arts exposition called Spectra 59, and I need a promotions director. Why don’t you join me, and we’ll split the profits?” Dick packed his Ford and drove north. There was one problem. Sugarman had spent all of the exhibitors’ fees getting the project started and paying a tiny sta≠. “So the question was, how do you run an international program with no money?” Dick says. “That was my assignment.” He relied on creative bartering. In exchange for

Bootstrapping Their Way to Success

Crazy Confidence

in a noninterest bearing note. “Pay it o≠ when you can,” Julius said. Pieper Electric became a corporation on May 17, 1960, with ≤ichard Pieper as its president and owner. “Julius must have had a lot of confidence in you,” an observer remarked to Dick Pieper. “Crazy confidence,” he answered. “Holy cats!”

By 1959, Julius Pieper was 49, and he’d never taken a vacation. He worked seven days a week, and he loved the electrician’s trade. His satisfaction came from building things and having satisfied customers. Julius and ≤ose lived modestly and saved carefully. He had no aspirations to grow his business. Dick joined his father in the fall of 1959 with a plan to organize Pieper Electric and find a supervisor to take the load o≠ his dad. “I thought I could get that done in 60 days so that my dad could take a little time o≠,” he says. “I didn’t realize that my dad didn’t need a vacation. He was on vacation every day doing what he loved.” Working as an electrician by day and an estimator at night, Dick examined Pieper Electric. He saw ways to make the business more e∞cient and more profitable. He saw opportunity: “In the late 1950s, America’s interstate system was being built,” he says. “Developers were putting up o∞ces, restaurants, and hotels up and down those interstates. I figured they would want high-quality, ethical suppliers to work with them. Why not us? I created our first business plan. My idea was to build Pieper Electric into a national organization with o∞ces in every major city. We would deliver consistent electrical service everywhere we went.” Oh, the limitless aspirations of youth. Dick Pieper was 23 years old when he drew this word picture for his father. A pause was followed by another, long pause. “Fine,” Julius finally told his son, “You take care of all the problems, and you do it with your own money. I just want to keep doing what I’ve been doing and making what I’ve been making.” Julius sold Pieper Electric to his son for $50,000

Chapter One: 1947–1959

19O3

1903 Arnold Pieper, 15, the son of a Huguenot family, leaves his home in Königsberg, Germany, and immigrates to America with dreams of becoming a landscape architect. Virtually penniless, he goes to work for a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, bakery. 1901 Following a “century of steam,” the “century of electricity” begins. 1910 Arnold Pieper marries and the couple celebrates the arrival of their child, Julius. 1914 World War I begins when Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian throne, and his wife are assassinated. The war lasts four years.

wide economic collapse; 13.7 million people are out of work in America.

1936 Julius and his wife, Rose Wolf, celebrate the birth of their son, Richard. Julius lands a better job as a Milwaukee policeman; he is one of 60 men chosen from among 1,200 applicants. 1940 Julius joins Lemberg Electric and works there for six years. 1941 Japan bombs Pearl Harbor on December 7 and America enters World War II. The war ends in 1945 with the surrender of Germany and Japan.

The first truck, 1947

1947 At age 37, Julius Pieper founds his own electrical contracting business in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, called Pieper Electric. Eleven-yearold Dick Pieper helps his dad install electrical outlets in remodeled homes.

1930 Never finishing high school, Julius becomes an electrician’s helper and later a free-lance electrician trying to support his family during the Great Depression. 1932 Approximately 30 million people are unemployed in a worldOpen for business: the company’s first sign in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Dick Pieper was on the go from an early age, taking his first ﬂight at age five.

Timeline

1959 1950 Julius Pieper has three employees: Roger Heinritz, Leonard Zahn and Harry Hodgson. A big job is a 3000-square-foot restaurant or a 15-classroom school.

1957 The USSR launches Sputnik 1 and 11, the first space satellites, setting off a “space race.”

Pieper Electric company picnic, 1954

in the hands of an employee, but he soon returns to oversee operations.

1959 Though he is an engineering school and fraternity leader, Dick is also part of a campus scheme that falsifies draft cards. That little caper leaves him without a college diploma. He travels to New York to help a college friend run an international graphics exposition.

1954 Jonas Salk develops the polio vaccine.

Julius, ≤ose and Dick Pieper

1954 Dick Pieper earns his high school diploma through a correspondence course and is accepted at the University of Miami.

1951 Color television is introduced and “I Love Lucy” debuts. There are about 15 million TV sets in American homes.

1955 Dick Pieper earns his first (of several) speeding tickets in Tifton, Georgia, an early indication of his accelerated life.

1952 Pieper Electric becomes an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) union contractor and National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) member.

From 1958 to 1962, Pieper Electric’s second location was 4236 N. 76th Street in Milwaukee.

Dick Pieper was going just a little too fast to enjoy the sights in Tifton, Georgia.

1953 Dick and Rose Pieper relocate the family to the Florida Keys because of their son’s severe eczema. Julius leaves Pieper Electric

1959 After the New York exposition, Dick Pieper returns to Milwaukee and joins his father at Pieper Electric, expecting to organize the company and find a supervisor to spell his hardworking dad.

Chapter Two

1960–1969

Pieper Man at Your Service Dad had confidence in me, but some didn’t. In 1960, I bought Pieper Electric with a $50,000 note that represented the full value of our accounts receivable, our trucks, and our inventory. We didn’t own a building. Dad told me to pay the note back when I could. Years later, I discovered that a few people told my parents that I’d surely put the family and business into bankruptcy. It’s true: the 1960s was a tough time to build a business in Milwaukee. The local economy was climbing out of a recession, and our population increased by less than 1 percent per year. Nationally, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) took a roller coaster ride, and our new President John F. Kennedy demanded that the Soviets remove their missiles from Cuba. It was a showdown and we were all scared. Pieper Electric had good electricians, but we weren’t all that skilled in commercial work. I relied on the union for my field people, and I seemed to get the least experienced. I picked foremen to lead our larger jobs, and I didn’t know how to choose them. What characteristics and skills did a foreman need? I had no one to ask. I didn’t have a peer group in Milwaukee because I didn’t go to high school or college there. I felt like an outsider. Maybe those people cautioning dad and mom had good reason to speak up.

Chapter Two: 1960–1969

ick Pieper’s father believed in him, but Julius was never a mentor to his son. “He wasn’t a nurturer,” Dick recalls, “because he wasn’t nurtured himself. He was a high-compliance guy, and he had to do everything himself. You couldn’t do it right, unless you did it his way.” Starting in 1960, Dick would run Pieper Electric his way. Julius was satisfied to show up every day, organize the warehouse, run errands, take care of older customers, and nag people about keeping their trucks clean and their tools orderly.

those customers unwilling to pay. Next, Dick hired Pete Chappy, a seasoned electrician and foreman. “Go out and sell all the work you can,” Chappy told Dick. When he succeeded, the little company was overwhelmed with new contracts. That’s when Chappy delivered his ultimatum: “Guarantee me a lifetime contract, a percentage of the company’s profits, and part ownership,” he told Dick in writing, “or I’ll walk at the end of the week.” Dick went to his dad and told him the story. “What do you think?” he asked. “I don’t think too much of it,” Julius sni≠ed. “My inclination is to fire him right now. You take half the jobs, and I’ll take the rest,” Dick told Julius. That’s what they did. Dick took a job wiring a Big Boy ≤estaurant in Point Loomis Shopping Center on the south side of Milwaukee, and he learned to check his work carefully. “The owner, Joe Lubar, gave me a set of plans. I bid on it, and he said, ‘Very good, Dick, you’ve got yourself a job.’ Here are the plans, get started immediately.’ ” “When I got back to the o∞ce and rolled them out,” Dick recalls, “they were di≠erent from the ones I bid on. I’d kept a copy of the originals, and they didn’t match. I went back to him and said, ‘Sir, this isn’t the same job,’ and he insisted, ‘Yes, boy, it is.’ ” The new plans involved more work, and Dick Pieper had to say so, risking loss of the relationship altogether. In the end, Pieper Electric was paid fairly but not without considerable anxiety. Ultimately, that job led to more projects at the same shopping center. Julius Pieper did troubleshooting. He was an ace at correcting the errors of incompetent workers, and there were some who worked for Pieper Electric in the early years. Meanwhile, a new electrician, Martin Maiman,

“When you start something, you should have the end in mind. I wanted to deliver ethical, quality services using common systems and discipline. I wanted to set an example with the values I believed in.” Dick Pieper

After leaving the family farmhouse, Pieper Electric operated out of a small apartment behind a dentist’s office in a four-unit building on North 76th Street. “We converted a bedroom, the kitchen, and the living room/ dining room into our o∞ces,” Dick says. “I had my estimating table in the basement, and I had trouble with the leaky pipes dripping on the drawings.” The company had about 20 men working on crews in 1960, and revenues were projected at $250,000. That was a big jump from the previous year when Pieper Electric had enough work for only 3 to 6 people, including Dick and Julius. In that first year, Dick hired Ken Snyder to handle the company’s bookkeeping and accounting, and his wife pitched in, as well. Snyder was excellent with accounts receivable, the lifeblood of any small company, especially

Pieper Man at Your Service

tackled the wiring of a sauerkraut canning operation that was behind schedule because frozen ground in the winter delayed construction. Maiman, a survivor of Hitler’s concentration camps, had the toughness to turn any job around, and he eventually took charge of major construction for the growing company.

just used our creative intuition, and it seemed to work. Dick immediately took to Pieper Man.” About the same time, Spiderman and Marvel comics became part of America’s pop culture. Pieper Man fit right in with his “power wand” and red cape emblazoned with a thunderbolt. A bit corny, some may have thought, but unforgettable in the otherwise dull and predictable world of electrical contracting. If it meant that Dick Pieper would don a cape and show up as Pieper Man at the events including the Milwaukee Home Show, then so be it (and he did).

Build That Image Pieper Electric’s biggest competition was largely composed of small shops o≠ering residential services. Some, like Pieper, were breaking into commercial work, but few, if any, advertised their services. Dick Pieper ignored industry tradition and called on Advertising Design Studios, an upstart advertising firm operating out of an apartment in a tough part of Milwaukee. “We were three college friends back from the service, maybe a couple years older than Dick,” recalls Ken Eichenbaum. “He was energetic and thorough. He wanted to grow his company far beyond the trunk of his dad’s car. There were some electrical contractors going after really big business, such as wiring a subdivision, a whole o∞ce building, or a hotel. Dick was moving into commercial work, but he also pursued smaller contracts. He envisioned an organization with di≠erent divisions and skilled people in each one. Dick wanted to appeal to a variety of markets, and he needed an image. In those days, we didn’t call it branding; it was called image building. “Dick wanted us to create a logo that he could use on multiple entities: signage, stationary, invoices, business cards, and trucks. We decided to take a little license and create a personality. That’s when we came up with ‘Pieper Man,’ a comic book hero a lot like Superman or Batman. We didn’t use focus groups or ‘mall intersects’ to do market research or generate ideas in those days. We

“The electrical contractors were like plumbers. I mean, they were just very dull.” Ken Eichenbaum, cofounder, Advertising Design Studios

Pieper Man was an audacious idea in a conservative market. That red-clad hero was as likely to inspire smirks as he was to motivate new project calls to Hopkins 2-2700, the company’s o∞ce. Pieper Man later morphed into the planned, more professional PieperPower. The original superhero had a modern makeover, but he never lost his thunderbolt. “We needed a symbol that conveyed the idea of strength and recognized the broader number of services we now perform,” Dick Pieper told a Wisconsin newspaper after the makeover in the late 1960s. “Pieper Man, while a schmaltzy thing, served us well. Three years after we introduced him in 1961, our customer surveys showed that 40 percent of the people we surveyed knew our logo, and only 3 percent recognized the symbol of our next competitor.”

Chapter Two: 1960–1969

Cracker Jack™ Tactics

commercial customers. Why not o≠er our services to realtors and appliance dealers so new homeowners have the ready help they need? How about partnering with plumbers and heating, ventilation, and building contractors? The bigger question was this: Why wasn’t the competition taking part in the show? Visitors to the Wisconsin State Fair in 1962 spotted a three-by-two foot incandescent lightbulb made by General Electric for Pieper Electric. The company challenged fairgoers to guess how many 100-watt household lamps or fixtures it would take to equal the output of that oversized bulb. Winners took home electric heaters, decorative lampposts, and electronic dimmers. Everyone, of course, got to shake Pieper Man’s hand. Pieper Electric also bought radio ads and even weekly television spots in 1962 on local WTMJ-TV’s Women’s World. Not surprisingly, when Dick Pieper totaled up his company’s expenditures for advertising, it was more than all of his competitors combined.

Thanks to Dick Pieper’s flair for promotion, customers—and potential customers—around Milwaukee saw his company’s name more and more. At an industrial company, when a plant engineer checked his mail, he might find a Cracker Jack box. Searching inside for the promised prize, he discovered a message: “We know that someday you will need a Cracker Jack™ electrician— Pieper Electric.” At another company, the daily mail might include a tiny package containing a fortune cookie and a tailored message: “We predict that you will need a great electrician—Pieper Electric.”

“We had a big marketing program. We put our name out there. We were drawing flies and scaring the hell out of our competition. We probably drove the prices down, too.” Dick Pieper

There were direct mail o≠ers and weekly newspaper ads in the major newspapers serving Milwaukee, featuring the company’s commercial/industrial and residential expertise: “PieperPower electrifies the Kane’s Family ≤oom,” one residential ad declared. “Our ≤esidential ≤emodeling Division is specially trained for the job . . . to not only install lights and outlets but also guarantee year-round comfort through modern electric heat and air conditioning.” “PieperPower electrifies Howard Johnson in Oshkosh,” another ad announced. “Commercial enterprises on the move need quick-response electricians to handle their rapidly developing wiring needs.” Pieper Electric was the first electrical service company to participate in the Milwaukee Home Show in 1960, giving them introductions to plenty of potential

By the Numbers Did all this energetic promotion pay o≠? The company’s high visibility had much to do with the numbers. In 1961, Pieper Electric’s quarterly earnings eclipsed the company’s annual revenues for any preceding year. Total revenues for 1961 reached $628,921. A single contract exceeding the previous $50,000 all-time high was no longer an exception. There were big, local projects in the works: among them, the seven-story Coach House Inn, the Washington County Courthouse and Jail, and an addition to the US Army ≤eserve Center. By 1962, Pieper’s annual sales topped $818,408, and in 1963, the company reached its first million-dollar year with revenues totaling $1,171,014. The only discouragement lay in the com-

You can learn

all your life.

Chapter Two: 1960–1969

pany’s profits. They were anemic, compared to the company’s overall growth, year after year, and no one could figure out why. By 1963, ≤eddy News, an industry magazine, reported that Pieper Electric had grown 600 percent in three years, and the Wisconsin Department of Commerce named the company the fastest-growing electrical contractor in the state. Adding luster to those accolades, Pieper Electric also won the eighth annual LOOK magazine Wiring Advancement Award for outstanding performance in residential wiring sales and promotion. Pieper shared the honors with two utilities, another electrical contractor, and a wiring bureau. Dick and Julius were there for the big event, held in Milwaukee that year. In those days LOOK magazine, like Life and the Saturday Evening Post, were national news, pictorial and lifestyle magazines. Apparently LOOK thought that wiring the nation’s homes was a major lifestyle advance worth recognizing.

managing, organizational development, building the business, and seeing the big picture,” he says. “Making and having money was not my priority. Later on, I learned about mentoring, and I loved that.”

“I took everything I learned, brought it back, and put it to work in the business. For the first 40 years of my career, I averaged 250 hours of continuing education each year.” Dick Pieper

The year 1963 prompted a move into larger quarters. Because the company didn’t have the capital, Julius and ≤ose Pieper, bought Pieper Electric’s first building—a five-story former piano factory at 5070 North 35th Street in Milwaukee to accommodate its workforce of about 50 people. Built in 1899, the building was originally occupied by Barnes, Sturber & Smith Piano Company. When workmen began remodeling some of the unused floors for Pieper’s growth a few years later, they found some of the walls decorated with cartoons from Milwaukee newspapers dating back to the early 1900s. In its heyday, this North Milwaukee neighborhood was considered one of the most flourishing and promising suburbs where horse-drawn buggies rolled over unpaved streets, and pedestrians took to wooden sidewalks.

The “Sweet Stuff” and More Though young and ambitious, Dick Pieper had enough humility to know what he didn’t know about business, so he started his own continuing education quest. He took management courses and read every business text recommended to him. He joined the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and soaked up their educational offerings. He bounced ideas o≠ ≤ay Cook at M&I Bank (his father’s bank). There was so much to learn . . . and even more to do. The jobs were coming in fast. And more electricians from the IBEW showed up for Pieper Electric projects. Looking back, Dick Pieper says that 90 percent of his work required tasks he was not naturally attracted to doing. “The 10 percent was the sweet stu≠: conceptual

Just Ask Them When Dick Pieper wondered what customers thought of electrical contracting services in Milwaukee, he went to the source. He personally called on people and company owners: “I asked them what their best and worst experience was. I asked what they looked for in a contractor. I discovered that even if people had been doing business

Pieper Man at Your Service

with the same firm for 20 or 30 years, they had never met the boss of the company. No one had ever thanked them for their business. That made me realize there was a void in the marketplace.” Was it possible that most electrical contractors privately thought, “The customers need us more than we need them?”

this year, traditionally the slowest, were busy months for you. So remember, between just plain ‘doing a good job’ and our well-planned advertising program, there will never be ‘slack’ work periods for any Pieper Men.” The sentiment was right on the money, if a little naive. Pieper Electric would know its agonizing slack periods, but its leaders learned how to take care of people—to persevere and rebound.

“We asked customers if they were happy with their present contractor. We asked if they’d consider using us. It was probably pretty threatening to our competition.”

Here a Branch, There a Branch That ambitious plan to build o∞ces in major cities across the country was going to take a little longer than Dick Pieper originally planned. In the early 1960s, Pieper Electric acquired Advance Electric Company, a small Milwaukee contractor, and gained two good people and several customer accounts. Next they ventured outside of Milwaukee for the first time to Janesville, Wisconsin, about 90 miles to the southwest. The company bought a small, local company called Setzer Electric and set about building that existing book of business. After false starts with managers who couldn’t do the job, Dick hired the son of an electrical contractor. He was an energized, aggressive guy who hunted new business well beyond Janesville and discovered an opportunity in ≤ichland Center, about 60 miles away. A foundry was under construction, and it had to be functioning by March. Pieper Electric had nearly finished the electrical contracting job for the foundry, but there were no power lines running to it. and the line contractor refused to do the work until spring. “Our manager in Janesville asked his dad what to do, and he led us to a retired line foreman from a contractor called L.E. Myers,” Dick recalls. “We needed equipment, so I flew to Detroit and bought a used line truck for $1,200 from the local utility. I drove it back to ≤ichland

Dick Pieper

When he talked to companies that used electronic equipment (in those days, an IBM Selectric typewriter or a Xerox copier), Dick learned that many had to call more than one company to handle their electronic and electrical systems. There was no “one-stop-shop.” In a letter to his employees in the early 1960s, Dick described his customer service philosophy, no doubt influenced by his talks with customers. It all started with Pieper Men (and later women): “Our company owes its remarkable growth to its basic philosophy of service first,” he wrote. “Nothing is more important to a growing business than employees who constantly sell the best of service and quality workmanship to their customers. The best-selling tool available to any service organization is always the all-important ‘man on the job.’ And, as you know, a growing company o≠ers continuous and full employment to you, the employees, even when times are slack. “Our advertising schedule has been planned to bring in business during the months when work is hardest to come by. This is the reason that the first four months of

Chapter Two: 1960–1969

Safety on the Line t’s not an overstatement, says Ken Bergmann, a retired lineman who joined Pieper Electric in 1965. Line work is fundamentally dangerous, and Bergmann says it has claimed more lives than any other type of electrical contracting. When Pieper entered the line business in the 1960s, safety equipment was nonexistent, and practices were risky. “Looking back on my career, I can count 10 people who were killed, either falling off a pole or being electrocuted,” Bergmann says. “It was a bad business.” In those days, linemen attached climbing hooks to their work boots and scaled 50-foot power poles without a safety line. They attached a safety belt to a pole only when they needed both hands free. They climbed poles and traversed cross arms with no fall protection. Sometimes those wires were hot. Poor weather conditions made it worse: driving rain, ice, sleet, heavy wind, and punishing cold. If people were out of power, linemen worked in the worst conditions to restore electricity. Getting to and from the job was tough too, as line trucks slid off slick highways.

“Young people don’t realize that they’re going to die if they don’t do what they’re supposed to do.” Ken Bergmann, retired lineman, estimator, and manager

Line crews quickly became tight family units. “When I worked with another person, especially on live wires, I’d watch him, and he’d watch me,” says Bergmann. “We’d pay closest

attention to where our hands were and where our feet were all the time.” Bergmann says that Dick Pieper “started preaching safety” early on in the company’s life: “Dick was always on our case about it.” The 1960s predated the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), which wasn’t signed into law until December 1970. Efforts to ensure workplace health and safety were minimal before that. Every company was on its own.

Accidents Are Avoidable It was 1965 when the leadership of Pieper Electric put safety front and center by telling employees this: “A majority of accidents are

avoidable and happen only because someone was careless.” Believing that the company could reduce its accident rate, the first step was to publish a “safety corner” in the employee newsletter. Every time an accident occurred, it was described, and the newsletter ticked off ways it could have been avoided.

Pieper Man at Your Service

Half the time, the root cause of accidents was not recognizing the inherent hazards of a job. The other 50 percent of accidents seemed to start with a distracted person.

“ At the heart of safety is this: the boss has to be committed daily to it. Safety has to be a priority in how he or she makes decisions, what he says, and how she acts.” Dick Pieper

In 1966, Pieper Electric launched its first annual campaign to go “accident free,” and in 1968, each division started recording the number of accidents per man-hour. The best safety records won company-wide recognition. Pieper Electric set its first safety goal: only one recordable accident in 30,000 man-hours. At the time, the industry average was one accident in 16,000 man-hours. By 1969, field crews started their own safety discussions on the job site; they brainstormed how they could protect themselves and their coworkers. “Early on, I realized that if we cared about our employees’ safety and put time and resources into safety, that was the biggest statement we could make about how important people are,” Dick recalls. Pieper’s safety program was all about awareness and engagement. “Safety Test– imonial,” the headline read in the Sparks company newsletter. “What’s your safety IQ?” Readers tested themselves with six questions

and multiple-choice answers: What is the first thing you do when involved in a vehicle accident? (Check to see if anyone is hurt.) What time of day do most accidents occur? (Between 4 and 7 p.m.) What percentage of accidents is caused by unsafe acts of people? (88 percent.) If an employee causes an accident and violates Wisconsin code, how much workmen’s compensation can he lose? (15 percent.) During the last six months, what type of accident was most prevalent at PieperPower? (Lacerations and abrasions.) What can YOU do to prevent accidents? To this question, all the answers

were correct: perform your job in the proper way and in a safe manner, report unsafe job conditions to your supervisor, and report all accidents to your supervisor immediately.

Some things never change. Now, five decades later in the company’s life, PPC Partner’s safety record far exceeds industry standards at one accident in 114,000 manhours, and the company’s goal is zero recordable accidents. n

Chapter Two: 1960–1969

Center in the dead of winter. The truck had holes in the floor and no heater. My legs got so cold that I could barely get out of the truck. That retired lineman borrowed some stringing equipment from one utility and, rubber goods from another, and we bought a few tools. He ran those lines through the middle of town, even through a stockyard. It was a tough job.”

house. But ≤ichard had this vision. He told me he wanted to start a line business, and I could help build it.” On his first day, Nelson saw the single, beat-up line truck and wondered if he had made a mistake. “We already had several jobs. And it was up to me to find more, while building up our line crew. When we won a contract with Wisconsin Electric around 1967, that helped tremendously. We needed trucks, but we didn’t have the money to buy new ones, so we bought them used, fixed them up, and painted them white. As it turns out, they were old Wisconsin Electric trucks, and they rented them back from us! It was a good deal for the utility and us.”

“ A retired line foreman started with virtually no equipment, no tools, and no people, but he built that line, and that’s how we got into line construction.” Dick Pieper

“Richard was likable and a little bit intense. He had this vision and he was determined.”

In the aftermath of that job, Dick realized that his resourceful, young manager was a manipulator, a womanizer, and a con. When he fired him, Dick stepped in as Pieper’s branch manager in Janesville, serving that town and nearby Beloit, Wisconsin. It was just one more task for a willing multitasker. He was up and out by 5 a.m. to reach Janesville by 6:30 or 7 a.m. each morning to visit job sites. Then he’d be back in his car and on his way to Milwaukee by 9 a.m.

Mel Nelson, employee since 1964

Between line jobs, Nelson tackled inside electrical work, and, because he was wiry, they called him a “narrowback.” “In the old days when houses were wired for the first time,” he says, “a guy had to wiggle through narrow places in the basement and attic. The skinniest ones could navigate those spaces best, so they nicknamed us ‘narrowbacks.’ ” Nelson was in charge of training green electricians who knew nothing about climbing 30-to 80-foot poles and working safely with energized lines. Those trainees were becoming part of a lineman culture that sneered at risk and sweated macho male. They worked hard and played hard. It would be years before concerted safety training at Pieper Electric began to change that culture. “Sure, I’d worry about the beginners,” Nelson says. “I couldn’t watch them all the time. We had several crews going. I couldn’t help but get personally involved.”

Mel Takes the Long View After the ≤ichland Center job, Pieper Electric started bidding on line work in Milwaukee and landed contracts. Luckily, the company also landed Dick Pomeroy and Mel Nelson, foremen from L.E. Myers. “When ≤ichard called me about a job, it was scary to think about changing horses,” Nelson says (at 83 years old, Mel o∞cially retired from PPC Partners when his son, Wayne, did on May 31, 2010.) “I was young; I had a wife, a couple kids, and a new

Pieper Man at Your Service

“I’ve never turned down a job. When I first started with Pieper, who was going to do the work, if not me? Now I say to people, ‘Who’s going to do it, if you don’t?’”

company in the early 1960s as sales manager, and his energetic team. Eventually, Bob suggested that we back o≠,” Dick remembers. “He said, ‘you can’t grow the organization as fast as we can bring business in.’ ” Along with having too much work to manage, another issue was customer service. Hanson’s team sold many commercial and industrial jobs of all sizes, and each one required people within Pieper Electric to deliver on the service level that the customer expected. It didn’t always happen. People were busy with their own accounts, too. “It was during that time that we decided to focus on customer satisfaction as the driver for our company,” Dick says. “Ultimately, we eliminated our sales and marketing department.”

Mel Nelson

A decade later, around 1976, when Wisconsin Electric decided to put most of its resources into a new power plant and interest rates at 18 percent made investments costly, the line contracts dried up for Pieper Electric. That’s when Mel Nelson took the initiative to court the “munis,” those small, city-owned utilities or electrical cooperatives providing service in towns all over Wisconsin. “We had all these line guys and all these trucks. What were we to do? We went out and wooed the munis, and we started building friendships,” Nelson says. “Some people had even seen our Pieper Man logo.” Business was modest, at best, but Dick told Nelson that if he could break even, he’d keep the line business alive. Pieper’s line business would eventually grow and receive its share of “attaboys.” “≤ichard had powwows when we could all fit in one room,” Nelson says.” He’d tell us how the company was doing, what kind of jobs we had, and singled out people for praise. He was big on safety, and he always talked about it. At the end of each powwow, all of us stepped up on our chairs and hollered ‘Charge!’ No kidding. That was ≤ichard’s motto: ‘Charge straight ahead.’ ”

“Bob Hanson went to Janesville and Beloit and, in only a week and a half, he covered every business in town. He brought in so much work, we couldn’t possibly handle it all.” Dick Pieper

The company hired its first management trainee, Bruce Companik, in 1966. He ran a good-sized job for the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and opportunity seemed abundant in that growing, university town. The next year, 1967, the Howard Johnson restaurant chain announced plans to build in Oshkosh, about 70 miles north of Milwaukee, and Pieper won the electrical contract. Companik handled that job, too, and opened a Pieper Electric o∞ce there. Pieper acquired Badger Electric in Oshkosh to expand its services. Before long, the company dedicated a truck and crew to serve other businesses in the Fox ≤iver Valley area of Wisconsin. Meanwhile, construction was underway in Janesville for Pieper Electric’s own o∞ce and warehouse building.

Love Thy Customer Any business owner will tell you that growth that is too swift is just as dangerous as no growth. Pieper Electric didn’t have the systems or people in place to handle the new business generated by Bob Hanson, who joined the

We are our only limitation.

Pieper Man at Your Service

Globe-Trotting Pieper

The idea was to expand the company’s electrical contracting services to three surrounding counties—Green, ≤ock, and Lafayette—and become solid citizens of Janesville. Pieper called it their Janesville-Beloit branch because the company had contracts for a major shopping center and corporate o∞ces in Beloit; city hall and public library projects in Janesville; and a county courthouse, clinic, and high school in towns nearby. A reality of small town business life became clear: if you have an o∞ce in our town, we’ll do business with you. If not, you’re an outsider.

By the mid-1960s, some of America’s largest companies were expanding outside the United States, with plans to be the first in their industry to go global. Proctor & Gamble marketed soap around the world. 3M sold sandpaper. Wisconsin’s Allis-Chalmers, Square D, Allen Bradley (today ≤ockwell), AC Delco, and General Motors were all companies with their eyes on global growth. If Pieper Electric wanted to be part of their customers’ global expansion, they better know what was involved in wiring warehouses, plants, and o∞ces abroad. Dick sought “ground truth” by traveling the world. “I was going to Sydney, Australia, for an international Jaycees convention, so I thought I might as well go around the world,” Dick recalls. “I asked M&I Bank to send a letter to each of their correspondent banks in major countries, asking them to introduce me to the most progressive electrical contractor in their country. I had many questions: How do you train your people? How do you inspect and ensure good quality? What are your methods of contracting? How do you price your work? How do you organize your people and jobs? It was a long list.”

“Most entrepreneurs learn by doing. That’s how I learn.” Dick Pieper

Fast growth can raise havoc with tracking costs and profitability (or loss). In its early years, Pieper Electric had a mix of residential, commercial, and light industrial jobs, plus line work. The jobs were all di≠erent, it seemed. A small, two-hour residential job might involve 10 percent materials and 90 percent labor. The electrician could price the job, do the job, send the bill, and collect the payment. On a commercial contract, 80 percent of the cost could involve materials, and 20 percent might be labor. The job probably required a purchase order, special billing, and clerical support. Each job had a specific size, labor required, materials involved, and support time needed. How in the world could all these variables be taken into account in a reliable, consistent way? Without a system, there was no way of knowing if a job was actually profitable. It would take years and multiple controllers to find someone who could take on the challenge.

“I have a habit of bouncing things o≠ other people continuously. If it’s really serious, I make a list, and I go around to the smartest people I know on the subject and ask them.” Dick Pieper

The inquisitive entrepreneur had meetings in Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, India, Singapore, Thailand, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, France, and England. After each meeting, Dick sent letters from each

Chapter Two: 1960–1969

country he visited back to plant engineers of major companies in Milwaukee. The message was simple and direct: “If you are considering expanding into this country, we hope you will call on Pieper Electric. We have important contacts with key resources in this country, and we have knowledge concerning what you can expect.” The trip generated a congratulatory article in the February 27, 1966 edition of the Milwaukee Journal: “Electrical Contractor Strings Connections around the World.” The article began, “Pieper Electric Inc., an electrical contractor here which has grown steadily since its establishment 19 years ago, has gone ‘worldwide.’ ≤ichard Pieper, the 29-year-old president of the firm, recently completed a globe girdling trip to put the company into an international theater of operations.” Dick told the newspaper about his plan to create an information service focused on the details of handling electrical contracting overseas. The industry has needed this for a long time, he said: “As far as I know, it’s the only service like it. The hodge-podge of codes and regulations in all these countries is absolutely staggering.”

tive press, in addition to the ubiquitous Pieper Man appearing on trucks, in ads, and on radio and on television was beginning to grate on the elders of Milwaukee’s electrical contracting fraternity.

Who’s Got the Ring? While Dick circled the globe, there was a kindergarten teacher back in suburban Milwaukee wondering when she might see an engagement ring. Sue Stau≠ had been raised in Portage, Wisconsin, the youngest of four girls. She earned her teaching degree from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and joined the sta≠ at Glendale Elementary School in a nearby suburb. She and Dick met in 1965 at the Shorewood Inn, a popular hangout for young professionals. Dick Pieper showed up alone at the restaurant about 6 or 7 p.m. almost every night after work. “I was dating a friend of a salesman who worked for Dick,” Sue recalls. “We had played tennis and went to the Shorewood Inn with two friends. When we got there, the other fellow in our group said, ‘There’s my boss at the bar.’ Dick had some hair then, and he looked very young. I was surprised and said, ‘That kid at the bar is your boss?” Sue met Dick briefly that night. Sue saw him again when she and a group of girlfriends stopped at the restaurant for dessert and invited him to join them. “We felt kind of sorry for him. He was always alone,” she recalls. When they ran into each other again at a local bar that served free shrimp hors d’oeuvres during happy hour on Friday, Dick assumed that Sue couldn’t eat meat on Fridays. He o≠ered to introduce her to his Catholic roommate. Sue remembers, “The bar was so crowded that night, I said, ‘Let’s just go somewhere else for a hamburger.’ ” “Aren’t you Catholic?” Dick asked.

“Pieper’s trip is an example of the far-sighted attitude he has developed in his company.” Milwaukee Journal, February 27, 1966

The whole trip took a month, and, to Dick, it seemed “the most logical way to step up above our competition” while providing information for his peers about electrical contracting practices around the world. It was a form of “benchmarking” long before that term gained popularity. Back home in conservative Milwaukee, the response was mixed. “Some people thought I was a lunatic,” he says. “Besides, what did a young kid know?” All the posi-

Pieper Man at Your Service

“No, I come from a long line of Lutherans.” Dick never introduced Sue to his roommate. The couple dated through 1965. Dick bought an engagement ring and hid it in his sock drawer. He left on his around-the-world trip, but he wanted to ensure that Sue kept him close to her heart. Every Friday, a dozen roses arrived at her home. Dick returned just before Christmas in 1965, but he waited until their New Year’s Eve ski trip to Indianhead Mountain in Michigan to ask her to marry him. “At our wedding in April 1966, some of Dick’s aunts took me aside and said, ‘We hope you can slow him down a little bit. He just works, works, works all the time.’ Dick’s mom told me the same thing,” Sue recalls, “and I thought, fat chance. I honestly didn’t know how high Dick’s energy level was when we married. I’ve learned since.”

A complex, high-voltage distribution system delivering 26,000 volts to a $8.5 million addition to Waukesha Memorial Hospital Wiring the new, $12 million Lake Geneva Playboy Club resort in just six months (with occasional site visits by bunnies) Wiring of a never-before-seen environmental system in the Milwaukee Arena designed to control temperatures in the seating area and on the arena floor (spectators, performers, and athletes could participate in ice shows and basketball in near-perfect conditions) Installing the entire electrical system for the 22-story structure housing the Milwaukee Greyhound bus terminal Laying underground power distribution systems in new Milwaukee residential neighborhoods to do away with unsightly overhead wires and poles To expand its array of services, Pieper Electric also acquired Control Service Company of Milwaukee, a specialist in installing and servicing electrical temperature control systems. In addition, the company started a new Protection Division that was focused on the sale and installation of fire extinguishers and fire and burglar alarms, particularly in restaurants, drive-ins, and institutional kitchens. The fire protection system installed in kitchen hoods and ducts automatically released carbon dioxide gas to smother a fire. “Ninety-five percent of restaurant fires start in hoods and ducts,” Dick told a local newspaper. “Our system is essential to fire safety.” Not only can the system put out fires fast, he said, but it can also help reduce fire insurance rates. In 1967, Pieper Electric also began o≠ering electrical control panel construction and service, not just the wiring of someone else’s custom-made panels.

“We have always practiced looking out 5, 10, and 20 years to be sure the ship that we are steering is going in the correct direction.” Dick Pieper

High Voltage . . . and Bunnies, Too By 1965, Pieper Electric had about 100 employees filling more and more square footage at 5070 North 35th Street in Milwaukee. That year, the company’s sales totaled $2.25 million; in 1966, they rose to $2.4 million; in 1967, $3.2 million; and in 1968, a robust leap to $6.8 million. By 1968, the company’s employee base had more than doubled since 1965, and 70 “traveling warehouse” service trucks emblazoned with PieperPower made the rounds of customers in Milwaukee, Janesville, Beloit, Madison, Lake Geneva, and Oshkosh. There was plenty of work, but the following projects were particularly notable:

Chapter Two: 1960–1969

During those years of challenging growth, Dick also made time for community and industry leadership. For his community involvement and “development of a relatively unknown electrical firm into one of the Midwest’s leaders,” Dick received the Milwaukee Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) Distinguished Service Award in 1967. Not to be outdone, the Wisconsin Jaycees gave him similar recognition in 1968. Though he never formally retired, Julius Pieper was more than comfortable with his son’s leadership of the company he started. Through the 1960s, Julius kept his hand in the business with new assignments. Along with giving safety awards to a growing number of Pieper employees, Julius also told the company’s story at meetings of community groups, including Kiwanis and ≤otary. His message focused on the core values that shaped the company. The same values that Julius passed to his son: act with integrity, put service first, give more than you receive, and work to get ahead.

Koster, an experienced foreman and electrical engineer with customer service and branch experience. “We are no longer just a Wisconsin electrical contractor,” Pieper Electric’s monthly employee newsletter declared. “We have seen fit and are capable of doing work outside of the Wisconsin area. PieperPower is unique in building a national organization, while most of our competitors are strictly local.” But there were labor pains in Tucson. They underbid a million dollar-plus job by about 20 percent, and, even after being given the chance to step aside, they held firm. Once the job was underway, the estimating errors surfaced. Ouch. The branch won a $1.6 million contract to wire all nine new buildings of Pima Junior College, a high visibility project in Tucson, but the job only broke even. Finding electricians to work on the project was also tough because the better jobs were in nearby copper mine installations where electricians were paid premium rates and as much as triple time on weekends. “There was ‘feather bedding,’ too. A job in Arizona might take 60 percent more manhours than the same one in Wisconsin,” Dick remembers. “The union was losing its market share in Arizona, but the union bosses didn’t seem to care. They had the mines.” He assembled statistics showing the patterns and lost business to merit shops, and an international IBEW union rep accompanied him to a meeting with the union business agents. “I’ll back you up,” he told Dick, “but business agents don’t trust statistics.” “I gave my talk, nothing happened, and eventually the union electrical contracting business in that area eroded,” Dick says. Pieper Electric didn’t give up easily. Before selling the business and exiting Arizona 11 years later in 1978,

Stepping Out With a Milwaukee headquarters and new branches operating in Wisconsin, Pieper Electric was ready to step outside the state and into a new region, never forgetting the ultimate plan to “go national.” The best opportunity surfaced in Tucson, Arizona, where Kermit Oestreich, a well-liked small businessman, performed commercial, industrial, and residential work with a crew of about 30 electricians and some 13 service trucks. His sales fluctuated from about $400,000 to $700,000 annually, and his company’s profits were modest. Oestreich was active, involved in his community, and ready to sell. True to textbook human resource advice, Dick sent one of his best people to learn and run the operation in Tucson: ≤oland

I like gettinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; my hands in it.

Chapter Two: 1960–1969

Growing Oak Trees xpelled from the University of Miami, what did Dick Pieper know about hiring, motivating, and developing people? Sure, he was a leader in his fraternity, the University of Miami School of Engineering, and campus politics, but he didn’t know the first thing about attracting and developing the best people for an electrical contracting company. “I had no peers to coach me or tell me what to expect in the business,” he says. “Besides, I was so aggressive I might not have heard anybody if they’d told me how vital people are to organizational development.”

“I wasn’t thinking about developing people when I bought the company at 23 years old. I was thinking about organizational development.” Dick Pieper

So Dick took his lumps: a key employee issued an ultimatum; another was more a womanizer than a manager; another was all talk and no action; and still another showed promise, but he didn’t have the skills to lead. “I had a lot of surprises in a very short time,” he says. So he looked outside for expert help. Dick had much to learn, and he was becoming a willing student. His deeply held values and the hard realities of business combined to produce a personal epiphany in the 1960s. In his brief exposure to the graphic arts industry right out of college, Dick saw the dark side of business: employees were mistreated,

payoffs were common, and unions were heavy-handed and arbitrary. The whole scene repelled him. It didn’t square with his upbringing. As a teenager, Dick had become a follower of Jesus and his faith shaped his worldview. His parents, by setting an example, showed their son the importance of treating everyone with fairness and respect. “Having a concern and interest in the total lives of people came directly from my parents,” he says. “I saw their ‘social motivation’ at work when my mom ran errands for homebound people and dad did electrical work free for families who couldn’t afford to pay for the work.” When Dick bought Pieper Electric from Julius, he took a good look at the electrical contracting business in Milwaukee and thought about the company he wanted to create. “I decided my number one goal was to make Pieper Electric a great place to work where we did business with long-term, exceptional results,” he said. It was the start of what a Pieper board member would many years later call “the noble experiment.” When Dick Pieper told a few people that he planned to use his faith principles as a basis for shaping the character of his company, some of them winced: “You can’t mix your personal faith journey with business,” Dick was told. “Personal is personal, and faith belongs in church.

Business is business.” His answer was, “How can you not mix them? How can you lead two different lives? Either you’re a person who believes and acts on these values . . . or you’re not.”

Getting Real At the same time, Dick examined the role of his core values in business practices and he also faced the hard realities of the electrical contracting business. “Electricians were making about $15 per hour. I realized that the price of labor was so high that we couldn’t be competitive unless our electricians had more skills so they could do more,” he says. “Why couldn’t we teach them to develop an estimate, process a work order, handle billing, and keep their own time cards? That way, we could eliminate expensive jobs that involved simply running errands from the field to our corporate office. My belief was that our electricians were more than capable of learning new skills, but we had to make the training available.

Pieper Man at Your Service

He made an arbitrary announcement in 1961. “In the next five years,” Dick told the Pieper staff, “we want to see our electricians take at least 8 hours of continuing education a year on their own time. You tell us what you want to learn, and we’ll provide the classes.” The number one request was electrical code updates and training. “We started a pilot continuing education program with our customer service branch,

and, after that first year, they blew away my five-year goal,” he says. “We raised the number of hours to 12 a year, and they blew that away in the second year. We said, ‘let’s move this education plan out to the whole company and raise the yearly expectation to 18 hours.” By the end of the 1960s, a majority of Pieper’s electricians had taken advanced training. The company started a 40-hour training program to teach people how to read blueprints

and develop estimates. Employees could take free monthly seminars on skills involved in electrical contracting and how to use new equipment. The company also announced a tuition reimbursement plan for anyone who wanted to take job-related courses at local universities, colleges, and the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE).

“Quality people grow with the speed of an oak tree. We’re in the business of growing oak trees that can withstand the storms.” Dick Pieper

By the early 1970s, key Pieper Electric employees were also introduced to development reviews. “What is a development review?” Dick explained in a Sparks newsletter. “This is an opportunity you have to rate yourself regarding your qualifications and skills: intellectually, technically, and communication wise. Your boss also rates you on an independent basis. You then get together to compare notes and see where the differences are. The ultimate purpose is for both of you to gain a better understanding of your talents, motivation, and objectives.” Although this is a common practice in 21st century business, it was a bold step then. Pieper Electric’s “people development” program would grow dramatically during the decades and distinguish Pieper Electric as a standout in its industry. n

Chapter Two: 1960–1969

the company also acquired two, small contracting shops and tried to expand its client base by adding an o∞ce in Phoenix. Looking back on the experience, market conditions and union rates were not the only things that killed the opportunity for Pieper Electric. It also involved people who were simply unprepared for the job and, in some cases, lacking the leadership characteristics they needed to step up. Dick Pieper had seen this before. Learning how to develop people to their highest potential was becoming his focus.

O≠ering guidance in management techniques through the franchise system is a real breakthrough in our industry.” He explained that Pieper Electric was most interested in contractors with 4 to 30 electricians, as well as supervisors in business who wanted to form their own companies. Franchisees would carry the PieperPower certified electrical authority name. The company planned to o≠er its franchisees training and continued assistance in accounting, estimating, marketing, purchasing, sales, materials management, personnel training, and employee relations. “For example,” he told the Journal, “we will teach franchisees how to estimate costs in 25 percent of the time spent by their competitors. We’ll show them how to fit, stock, and paint a truck at half the average cost. Our accounting and control system will create profit centers for each division of service.” He estimated that franchisees could expect profits that would be twice the industry average. It all looked good on paper. Pieper Electric had hired a professional to design its franchise program, and the systems were finely tuned. The huge variable was people. “I thought franchising was my solution to developing people,” Dick recalls. “I thought the franchise owner would already have management capabilities.”

A Costly Experiment If selecting and developing people was so tough, why not bring on ready-made managers by starting a franchise operation? In the late 1960s, his research indicated there was a potential national franchisee market for electrical contracting worth about $500 million. That was roughly 5 percent of America’s total electrical contracting business.

“One day there is nothing; a garage, six employees, and three trucks. The next day— zap—a big business appears. The day after that—zap—an acquisition. There is talk of national franchising.” Milwaukee Sentinel, October 1968

“I mistakenly thought that because you were a business owner, that automatically made you a capable manager.”

Pieper Electric announced the launch of its franchising system in October 1968. “We can’t recruit and develop people as fast within our own organization as we can through this method,” Dick told the Milwaukee Journal. “More than 22,000 electrical contracting companies operate in the United States and many su≠er from poor or nonexistent business systems or management.

Dick Pieper

John P. Mader Electric Inc. of Lacrosse, Wisconsin, founded in 1949, was the test case. Even with Pieper Electric’s support and coaching, the first franchisee and

Pieper Man at Your Service

new owner of Mader struggled. When he was hospitalized, there were projects left undone and a $250,000 bill owed Graybar Electric. “They called me,” Dick says. “We think you ought to pay this bill, and I said, the bill’s not with us, it’s with Mader Electric. But Dick, they said, we wouldn’t be doing business with him if it wasn’t you.” Valid point. The $250,000 bill was 50 percent of Pieper Electric’s net worth. Even so, the company completed the work, paid its bills in full (over time), and shut Mader’s doors. There were no more franchisees. “Our reason for going into franchising was escalating the development of people and avoiding having to do it ourselves,” Dick says. “We learned along the way that we still had to develop all those skills in people, but I just didn’t know how to do it. I was barely into my 30s, and I had no peers or mentors to look to.” He hired Jack ≤oberts, who was second in command of personnel at Cummins Engine, a highly respected American company. Surely ≤oberts could help Pieper Electric select and develop managers. “I told him I was building an organization that needed professional management. I wanted us to be in the top 20 percent of the best places to work in America. I asked Jack to develop policies and practices for selecting people, but I made the mistake of taking all his recommendations for hiring without factoring in my own judgment and intuition. I learned that you can’t rely on anyone else to do it all for you.” Even so, those e≠ective policies that ≤oberts put in place would last for decades. Dick Pieper called those early years of acquisition and franchising “a time of foundering and acknowledging our shortcomings.” Decades later, in his own overview of failures and successes in the company’s life, he wrote cryptic and instructive notes describing the Arizona venture and the franchising plan: “Oestreich: Failure—Never could

find correct vice president or branch manager. Huge difference between an o∞ce you can drive to . . . and one you have to fly to. Franchising: Failure—Ownership does not eliminate or replace good management. You cannot abdicate good management.”

Chapter Two: 1960–1969

196O

1960 With his father’s help, Dick Pieper buys Pieper Electric with a $50,000 note. The company becomes a corporation on May 17 with 23-year-old Dick listed as president and owner. Pieper Electric has about 20 men working in crews and revenues projected at $250,000. 1960 America’s population is 179.3 million and its Gross National Product is $592.6 billion. 1961 Pieper Electric introduces the Pieper Man logo featuring an action figure decked out in a red cape, carrying a coil of electrical cable and wielding his own “power wand.”

1961 Pieper Electric starts its first continuing education program for electricians and a pilot education program for the customer service group. It soon expands to the whole company. 1962 Pieper Electric’s operating overhead is allocated to company profit centers for the first time. 1962 Radio ads and television spots feature Pieper Electric. Visitors to the Wisconsin State Fair guess wattage of a giant light bulb and go home with prizes and a handshake from Pieper Man.

In 1963, Pieper Electric earned national recognition from LOOK magazine.

1963 Pieper Electric has its first $1 million year ($1,171,014 to be exact). 1963 The company moves to larger quarters— a five-story, former piano factory at 5070 North 35th Street in Milwaukee. 1963 President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas; Lyndon B. Johnson succeeds him. 1965 Dick Pieper travels the world to learn about electrical contracting practices. Pieper Electric has about 100 employees and annual revenues totaling $2.5 million.

1961 “Freedom Riders”—largely young, black and white Americans organize to test and force integration in America’s south. Many are attacked and beaten. 1962 The company ventures outside Milwaukee for the first time to Janesville, Wisconsin, and buys Setzer Electric. This leads to Pieper Electric’s first high voltage power line project.

1965 Martin Luther King Jr. wins the Nobel Peace Prize. He is assassinated three years later. 1965 When a relay switch in Ontario malfunctions, the entire northeastern U.S. and

Timeline

1969 1968 Pieper Electric revenues total $6.8 million and 70 “traveling warehouse” service trucks with the PieperPower logo make the rounds of projects in Wisconsin and Arizona. 1968 The company launches a franchise venture believing that it can recruit and develop people to expand its electrical contracting services faster and more effectively. It is a mistake. On a roll in the marketing department: typing letters to potential customers.

parts of Canada lose electrical power; the blackout affects 30 million people. 1966 Pieper Electric launches its first annual campaign to go “accident free.” Within three years, all Pieper Electric divisions start recording the number of accidents per man hour.

1969 Pieper Electric starts formal, periodic development reviews that encourage twoway feedback between employees and their supervisors. Not every contracting call involves a “bunny sighting.” Pieper Electric wired the Lake Geneva Playboy Club in the 1960s.

1968 Senator Robert Kennedy is assassinated in Los Angeles. A company brochure in the 1960s highlighted Pieper Electric’s sta≠ and expanding capabilities. Here, key people representing core functions of the company are joined by ( front, third from left) Julius Pieper.

1967 The company opens a new branch in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and acquires Oestreich Electric in Tucson, Arizona. 1967 Dr. Christiaan N. Barnard performs the world’s first human heart transplant in South Africa.

1969 Approximately 225 million telephones are in use all over the world with 114 million of them in the U.S.

Chapter Three

1970–1979

Galloping Growth and Searing Setbacks Dick Pieper studied the year-end results and shook his head. “We’re working like crazy, bringing in new accounts, satisfying our customers, winning repeat business, doing our best to be e∞cient. Yet, when I look at the hard, cold numbers, Pieper Electric’s profits are puny. Sometimes nonexistent.” Since Dick bought the business from his father, Julius, Pieper Electric’s sales had grown from $628,000 in 1961 to $1.1 million in 1963; $2.2 million in 1965; $3.2 in 1967; more than $6 million each year from 1968 through 1970; over $7 million in 1971, 1972 and 1973; and a whopping $9.2 million in 1974. Great growth. But the net profit line showed a totally di≠erent picture: paltry profits virtually every year, and two years of losses in 1971 and 1972. “What gives?” Dick wondered. “Sure, we’re operating in a no-growth economy in Milwaukee, and, yes, we have firmly entrenched, able competition, but we’re landing contracts and working smart. At least I think we are.” Dick asked a savvy professional from the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) to take a close look at the company. The examination took many days, and he came back with an evaluation sheet, single-spaced, 14 inches long. “I’ve looked at everything,” he told Dick, “and I’ve never seen an electrical contracting firm that’s doing everything on this list.” “Then, why aren’t we making better profits?” The answer to this question would become clear in this decade. 41

Chapter Three: 1970–1979

he early 1970s was not an era for sissies. Americans faced double-digit inflation; gasoline shortages (or no gas at all); and wage and price controls under the Nixon administration that led to material shortages, higher prices, and diminished productivity. Milwaukee’s population dropped by about 30,000 people in 1970 as some residents left the city for nearby developing suburbs. Demographers called the national phenomena “white flight” as some whites left urban centers. Others in Milwaukee were jobless as the Midwest’s “rust belt” saw manufacturing plants closed in tough economic times. Observers used the “rust” label because the shuttered factories stood empty behind often-rusted security gates. Pieper Electric made a conscious decision to stay in the inner city. It was a tough time to keep a Milwaukee business going, much less growing. “Are we beset with strikes, labor stoppages, price increases, diminishing retail sales, industrial production o≠, tight financing and customers delaying their expansion plans?” Dick Pieper posed the question to employees in the June/July 1970 Sparks employee newsletter. “The answer to these questions is ‘yes.’ ”

ago have certainly diminished. We’re involved in a young industry that doesn’t seem to have the planning or management ability to cope with changes in the marketplace, but I believe we do.” Pieper Electric had the winner’s edge, Dick said. Ten years of strong growth proved that the company could “move with the markets,” better than its competition. Pieper’s backlog of business had reached an all-time high by 1970, and employment had as well (reaching about 200 employees). Most important, Dick told the employees, the company had put together an e≠ective organization to o≠set the economic slowdown. The strategy focused on developing people in Pieper’s branches, divisions, and departments. He called the 1970s “a time of consolidation, refinement, upgrading of skills, and preparing to move forward” because Pieper Electric had entered a new stage. “We’re going from being a large, small company to a small, large company,” he explained. “This was predictable and anticipated, and we’re probably 80 percent of the way through.” Was that “small-large” comparison just a play on words? What exactly did it mean? Small companies, by their nature, had fewer employees, informal policies (if they existed at all), lower expenses, smaller jobs, and, often, less to lose if catastrophe struck. Larger companies had more of everything: people, expenses, equipment, projects, and higher risk. Of course, there were some beneficial economies of scale, but big companies had more to lose. A “small, large company” like Pieper Electric now required more thoughtful planning; teamwork; people with advanced skills; and reliable, tracking systems to ensure that the company used its resources wisely and earned more than it spent.

“Dick taught me not to be afraid of problems. Problems are challenges. Challenges lead to discoveries that will probably solve your problems.” Ray Golabowski, retired Pieper Electric employee

The youthful Pieper (who still had a full head of hair in those days) was optimistic. “The opportunity for business in our industry continues to be substantial,” he explained. “However, the opportunities compared to a year

Galloping Growth and Searing Setbacks

To weather the economic storms of the 1970s, Pieper Electric had to be the most productive, e∞cient, and profitable company it had ever been. And a little bit lucky. Ken Phelps, an apprentice electrician who joined Pieper Electric in the 1970s and went on to become vice president of Pieper’s Construction Division, explained “luck” this way: “It is when preparedness meets opportunity.” That is exactly what Pieper Electric was positioning itself to do.

In the largest, fully automated coal-handling facility in Wisconsin, located in Oak Creek, Wisconsin and owned by the Wisconsin Electric Power Company, Pieper Electric installed wiring for an automated conveyor system that handled 10,000 tons of coal each day. In Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Pieper Electric handled wiring connections for 142 “room modules” built at an o≠-site plant and assembled like a jigsaw puzzle to create a new Holiday Inn. In a $2.5 million modernization of Milwaukee’s St. ≤egis Paper Company plant, Pieper Electric installed a control center that contained 50,000 feet of wiring for 35 electric motors used in coating paperboard. For the enclosed, 500,000-square-foot Janesville, Wisconsin, shopping mall, Pieper Electric wired some 80 new stores, the mall, and its parking lots. At a new Hormel Foods chili and hash plant in Beloit, Wisconsin, Pieper Electric installed electrical switch gear, controls, and a distribution system lighting its entire plant and powering its equipment. Signaling a new construction specialty for Pieper Electric, the company installed electrical fittings and connections for Waukesha Memorial Hospital, and, later in the 1970s, they landed a contract for the massive, $28-million, eight-story expansion of St. Mary’s Hospital in Milwaukee. Pieper Electric installed a 50-kilowatt, diesel-electric back-up generator outside the Carlyle Nursing Home in Beloit, Wisconsin, that was ready to switch on automatically. If the power failed, the generator took over lighting, heating, water circulation, fire alarm, and smoke detector operation with none of the residents even knowing it.

We’re Big Enough The “small, large company” made its case to Wisconsin architects when its Construction Division ran this ad in a professional journal: “We’re proud of our continuing expansion and growth. We think architects can find positive benefits by working with a growing electrical contractor. It’s not our bigness that counts. What’s important are the management skills we practice to produce e∞cient work. We deliver a closely supervised job—on schedule and at low cost.” With Wisconsin o∞ces in Milwaukee, Beloit, Oshkosh, Lake Geneva, Janesville and, soon, the Fox ≤iver Valley and Madison, Pieper Electric had aspirations to be “the nation’s certified electrical authority” (a theme that began with franchising). By the early 1970s, Pieper Electric was indeed pulling in bigger and more complex jobs. At the Fox Valley Technical Institute in Appleton, Wisconsin, Pieper Electric landed a $750,000 contract to handle wiring for a sophisticated educational communications system with a private phone system tied to Bell Telephone, closed circuit television, a master antenna system, a television studio, and classrooms and a library designed to receive taped programs.

Chapter Three: 1970–1979

When highways moved, so did power lines. The State of Wisconsin moved ≤oute 117 in central Wisconsin, and Pieper Line won the contract to move and construct 13,800-volt power lines along the new roadway. In rural Waupaca County, they rebuilt and relocated 7,200-volt lines on town roads. By the early 1970s, Pieper Electric had regular business with major utilities that served the Wisconsin cities of Milwaukee, Appleton, Green Bay, and Manitowoc, as well as several city-owned utilities. Annual consumption of electrical energy was increasing at close to 7 percent a year, so the future was bright. The company’s trained construction line crews were the “men for all seasons” because they often worked in the worst weather when power was lost. That included a storm in the early 1970s that had winds clocked at 90 miles per hour.

Dick Pieper gathered his management team in 1971 for the company’s first annual review of the company’s progress and its near-term plans. “If we’re careful about our planning,” he told them, “We can still have our hellacious, sometimes unachievable goals.” Just because the business environment was brutal didn’t mean that Pieper Electric’s leadership had to check their aspirations at the door. The company’s management also saw the value of establishing a formal board of directors composed of experienced, outside advisers to guide them in making policy and decisions aimed at more e∞ciencies and stronger profits. That first slate in 1971 included Wisconsin business people with broad experience in manufacturing and finance. More and more, Pieper was looking like a “small, large company” after all.

And though their work never garnered news coverage like the stalwart linemen and the company’s major construction crews, Pieper’s residential electricians delivered fast, a≠ordable work (and ongoing service) when homeowners remodeled, bought more power-hungry appliances, and built new homes. Proving it was an “early adopter” of new technology, Pieper Electric was one of the first electrical contractors in Wisconsin to use a computer in 1970 (for payroll, saving an estimated 40 hours per week) and among the first in business to put radio dispatching units in its trucks. During that same time, Pieper Electric acquired the manufacturing portion of the bankrupt Dietz Electrical in Milwaukee to help expand its automation controls and panel shop business. In addition, the company bought DK Electric to boost its business in the Fox ≤iver Valley.

Crunching the Numbers But Pieper Electric had serious growing pains. The company had become a complex business, composed of line work, construction, service, and control panel manufacturing. There were no reliable information systems that could show where the company was making or losing money. “We simply didn’t have access to the information we needed to run a diverse, decentralized business in multiple locations,” Dick summed it up. “If you don’t have a current, dependable information system including applied overhead, how can you evaluate performance and give feedback to the people responsible?” Not only that, you run the risk of going broke without even knowing a financial train wreck is imminent.

Show people, train people,

and share with them

the mistakes youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve made.

Chapter Three: 1970–1979

A Code of His Own

at year-end—after sorting through all the inventory and costs—that they didn’t make that much after all. They had no way of knowing how they were doing because the record keeping just wasn’t accurate,” Bierbaum says. When Bierbaum arrived in 1972, Pieper Electric was a few months into an arrangement with the Wisconsin Bridge and Iron Company to share computer time on their IBM 360 for $3,000 per month. “The reports were wholly inadequate from a job management point of view,” Bierbaum says. “The system just kept totals of costs to date without the ability to access the underlying details. It had minimal information for managing projects or costs. I realized we’d save money by having our own computer and designing our own reports.”

≤on Bierbaum followed four other controllers, all CPAs, who each lasted about a year. He was a Minnesota CPA whose first job after graduating from the University of Minnesota was as a programmer for a large, St. Paul insurance company. He wrote code for IBM computers as early as 1963, and he successfully broke the code for Pieper Electric.

“I kept hiring and firing controllers until one was recommended to me by a fellow Young President’s Organization (YPO) president. Ron was a genius. He and I were exactly on the same page.” Dick Pieper

“I was the fifth controller in five years. They were starting to have o∞ce pools betting how long the new guy would last.”

“At the time I interviewed with Dick,” Bierbaum recalls, “I didn’t know I was the fifth controller in five years. My understanding of what computers could do was the key to my entire business career. As a junior programmer at the insurance company, I saw how miscommunication between programmers and end users would lead to poor or failed applications. As Pieper Electric’s controller, I was in the unique position of being a producer and a consumer of information.” Bierbaum found that previous controllers were victims of a primitive system for keeping records, the worst being little slips of paper recording hours of labor on different jobs. If a few slips of paper fell to the floor, that time didn’t get charged to a customer. Pieper Electric had “cost centers,” such as purchasing, technical services, and personnel. Each of those needed to be accountable on paper, but they weren’t. “Over the years, the controllers told Dick how much money the company was making, only to find

Ron Bierbaum, hired in 1972

Pieper Electric leased an IBM System 3, Model 6 in 1973 at a cost of about $1,400 a month. It was an entrylevel computer, and it looked like a desk with a typewriter built in. The operator typed on a keyboard, and a dotmatrix printer produced information on a sheet of continuous paper. To the left of the operator was a drawer that held two disk drives, one of which was removable. “We had one removable disk for each part of our system, such as payroll, general ledger, and payables,” Bierbaum says. “Each drive could store and retrieve up to 2.4 million characters on a magnetic disc, about the size of a big pizza. (Today one digital picture has four times as many bytes.) To the right of the operator’s desk was a large box about the size of a refrigerator: the central processing unit.

Galloping Growth and Searing Setbacks

The IBM computer came with a construction accounting package, but Bierbaum quickly discovered that an o≠-the-shelf application wouldn’t work. “Imagine a Christmas tree,” he says. “You throw it in your backyard after the holidays, it dries up, and you set it on fire. What’s left was how much we actually used of the IBM package. Only the IBM payroll system was of any use. It could produce paychecks and the numerous benefit reports required by the unions supplying electricians to the company.”

managers and foreman. When trends became clear, we revised the expected profit for the project. The result was a lot fewer surprises. Project managers and management knew exactly how they were performing every step of the way as the project moved to completion. The annual audit confirmed the accuracy of the internally generated statements.” Eventually, each Pieper Electric foreman on a major product had a report showing the productivity of just his crew. The right information was being delivered to the right person at the right time. It was also possible to develop a measure of productivity for each individual electrician.

Drilling Down Bierbaum and his team scaled a mountain of job detail, with the help of Pieper Electric project managers, foremen, and accounting sta≠. “To make a management system work, we had to store every transaction on every job online as long as that job was open. Bigger jobs might last more than two years,” Bierbaum says. In those days, Pieper Electric had about 200 service jobs a month of varying length and 5 or 6 larger projects. To track the details of every job on a computer with limited storage, Bierbaum was forced to use “packed numbers” that stored two digits in one computer byte. Like all programmers in the 1970s, he dropped the first two digits of the year to save additional space (which was the cause of the Y2K problem 30 years later.) “We had to have one set of reports for short-term service type jobs and more elaborate reports for the larger jobs,” he says. “On large projects, we broke labor down into dozens of smaller tasks. We were able to calculate labor productivity for each task and the whole project in hours and in dollars for the most recent week and job-to-date. We could identify low labor productivity immediately, in time for corrective action by project

“While all of this is Management 101 today, making it happen on a current basis was cutting edge for the construction industry at the time.” Ron Bierbaum

“On large, long-term projects, we budgeted non-labor costs into seven major categories,” Bierbaum says. “We recorded large purchase contracts and subcontracts as they were issued. If the contracted amount was higher than the original estimate, we revised the expected profit immediately. We took a more cautious approach when there were savings on equipment purchases for a job. We included that profit only when we were sure of it.”

“Egg”-istential Growth Pieper Electric had grown into a highly decentralized organization—by design. “Think of a large cardboard box,” Bierbaum explains. “If you stood on an empty cardboard box, it would easily collapse, but if the box was more like

Chapter Three: 1970–1979

An Ode to OPS oday, people who are responsible for managing major construction projects for PPC Partners companies become certified in OPS—that’s short for Operation Production System. It is a project management system that was created in the early 1970s to accurately monitor and anticipate all the costs of a major project including such important elements as labor hours, material purchases, equipment usage, and subcontractor expenses. While the objective sounds fundamental to good business, it was not easy to achieve decades ago. “Through the 1960s and early 1970s,” Dick says, “we were growing so rapidly that we changed our procedures almost yearly to accommodate our growth. It was hard for everyone to keep up. We especially didn’t have an accurate way to manage big projects.” Dick brought in a Canadian consulting firm with a specialty in construction management to address this problem. He worked with the company’s new controller, Ron Bierbaum, as well as the company’s materials management and technical services managers. “We needed a system that was scalable for major projects, something that could be adapted as our projects—and our company—grew.” Dick recalls. “In those days, we wanted to handle projects up to 50,000 man hours. That was huge in the 1970s. The consultant recommended a new system that could be managed at

the foreman level to ensure accountability and scalability.” The resulting OPS was described in a 112-page manual and, at first, it involved record-keeping done substantially by hand. OPS became the blueprint for reporting and management of major construction projects. Over the years, OPS has been refined and automated, but its fundamental design remains unchanged. If you are OPS-certified, you’re among a group of believers who are convinced this system is vital to major project management and profitability. “Alton Moore of our Macon office asked

me, ‘If we follow OPS in detail, are you saying we’ll never have a loser job?’” Ronnie Hinson of MetroPower and PPC Partners, says. “My answer to Alton was ‘yes.’ If we follow OPS from the decision to bid on a major project to the close-out analysis, all our projects will be successful.” MetroPower’s President and Chief Operating Officer Danny Buck is equally laudatory of the system, now more than 40 years old. “I am amazed at the level of detail that was designed into the original OPS,” he says. “With only a few modifications through the years, it remains, in my opinion, one of the world’s best job tracking and accounting systems.” n

Galloping Growth and Searing Setbacks

an egg carton, it would have strength. Pieper Electric was like that, even in the 1970s. Because they were in many locations with diversified products and services, the company had almost bulletproof stability, like that egg carton. And when some parts of the company were lagging, other parts were stronger.” The important thing was that each manager received all the management information he needed to do his job. Implementing all this was not easy. Just as the new system came on line in the fall of 1973, the company faced one of its worst cash crunches. “With all of the pressure on making sure the new system was working, training sta≠ on new procedures, and still debugging certain key programs,” Bierbaum recall, “we had the added burden of being maxed out with our credit line at the bank. At the same time, we were having a major feud with the owner of our largest project. This disagreement prompted the owner to withhold payments to gain additional leverage over us. “I spent my days fielding collection calls from our suppliers who weren’t being paid on time and my nights and weekends programming and testing,” he says. “I couldn’t have succeeded if I didn’t have Merle Bergunde as my assistant controller. (Merle was a graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a temporary worker when Bierbaum arrived in 1972.) She was with me every step of the way. When I left my job as Pieper Electric’s controller in 1976 to return to Minnesota, I was able to recommend Merle as my replacement. I also hired Tom Ohlgart as Merle’s assistant.” Long hours were a way of life for Bierbaum: “I had driven home to Minnesota for Thanksgiving, but the next day, I decided to drive back to Milwaukee. I got into the o∞ce elevator, and it got stuck between floors when

the power went out. A crane had hit a power line. The elevator was not heated, and I had left my jacket in my car. The darkness was complete. I was stuck on Friday with Monday three, long days away. Things didn’t look good. Fortunately, after an hour in the dark, I was rescued by Julius Pieper who always seemed to be around the o∞ce, even on holidays!” Looking back, Bierbaum believes that development of the “overhead adder” was perhaps the most important and innovative aspect of the company’s management information system. The “overhead adder” was an accurate budgeting and reporting refinement that actually pinned down whether a project was truly profitable or not at the corporate level. It took into account all costs of a job, including corporate overhead, that was often overlooked. What was overhead? For example, how much time and expense was involved in getting a job? How much corporate support and resources were tapped to run the job? All of these varied depending upon the services needed by each job or customer.

“Planning changed the company. We went from smaller jobs to bigger jobs because we understood the sequence and all the costs involved.” Ray Golabowski, Pieper Electric construction foreman

“People started looking at jobs, and they knew how much real bottom-line profit a job would produce for the company,” Bierbaum says. “They began to recognize that if a job makes a gross profit, it might still lose money.” For a company that was built on accountability and entrepreneurship, this knowledge was essential. “≤on instituted a system that finally got the right information to

Chapter Three: 1970–1979

We’re the “Can Do Company” es, the economic terrain was tough in the 1970s, but Dick Pieper preferred to remind employees of how they had helped turn “can’t do’s” into “can do’s” nearly 14 years earlier. They would do it again, he was certain. “In 1960, we were told by our competitors and the business community ‘You can’t do it!’” Dick wrote in his letter to employees in November 1974. “It’s worthwhile to note some of the comments: Marketing in the electrical contracting business is a pipe dream. Progress reporting on a weekly and monthly basis in our business is impossible; too many things can’t be controlled. Running diversified operations, outside a given city, with other branch operations can’t be done and hasn’t been done. What’s the sense of spending money on logos on trucks and job signs? Training foremen or supervisors? That’s what they do in industry; we train mechanics and draftsmen. You can’t be in both the line business and inside wiring. Projecting work and profits for next year is impossible. Management trainees? That’s for General Motors. Policy? That’s what they learn in business school. We make decisions by the job. “All of these comments from our competitors turned into can do’s by the can do company,” Dick said. “And now we’re working on many other “can’t do” items. . . . We’ve got our own drummer and our own style.” n

the right people,” Dick says. ‘Data was broken down by companies, branches, and even departments within those branches. Individual department heads and managers were empowered to control how they used resources, and they were accountable for quality and profitability. “We still have the same information-gathering structure to this day, though it’s highly automated. Everybody knows where they stand, and everybody has authority to do what they want to do, as long as it’s within the mission of the company, our businesses processes, and the plans they’ve committed to.”

How Dare He? Pieper Electric’s 1973–1974 fiscal year had good news and bad news: sales were up 19 percent, but profits were o≠ 24 percent. In his year-end letter to employees, Dick Pieper said most of those losses could be attributed to over-budget spending for materials and labor plus shortages in skilled manpower and materials, making jobs even more ine∞cient. “There is only one thing for certain in the coming year,” he said. “Things won’t quite be the same as they were in previous years. Our continued search for better methods and improved services will be the key to our continued growth.” ≤on Bierbaum’s work in creating Pieper’s first reliable financial tracking system would soon yield rewards. Pieper Electric’s financial results weren’t closely held. Dick had taken a much-publicized and unconventional step: he decided he would announce his company’s sales and earnings publicly for the first time in 1972. He urged his competitors to do the same.

Galloping Growth and Searing Setbacks

(“Ye gads,” they must have muttered, “it’s the ‘kid’ breaking our rules again.”) “Even though the stock of Pieper Electric is privately held and we have no responsibility to make a public disclosure,” Dick told the Milwaukee Journal on December 22, 1972, “we believe that a constructive purpose can be served if all major electrical contracting firms release this financial information.” (“No dice,” the veteran contractors probably snickered.) Dick went on to explain what he was hoping to achieve: “The issuing of such reports focuses attention on industry earnings, which for firms in this area have been depressed in recent years. The low level of earnings generally has been a rather well-kept secret. A strong, progressive, and creative electrical contracting industry can survive only if the members receive a fair return on sales and investment.” Was Dick Pieper a little naive or was he daring to call the question?

more selective about which construction jobs to bid: putting greater emphasis on strict production schedules to lower costs and seeking out business that would yield better profit ratios. To this public pronouncement on the business pages of the Milwaukee Journal, Pieper Electric’s competitors were mum. “Let them open their books to the public. Not us,” his competitors undoubtedly whispered in unison.

This Is No Eden Even a can do attitude didn’t spare Pieper Electric from the company’s near-death experience in Eden, North Carolina.

“God is not on my side. Today, we start at 5:30 a.m. We last two hours. Then we are told that the switches are wired backward because they all operate counterclockwise.” Pieper Electric project lead, Mid-Atlantic Brewery construction site, Eden, North Carolina

“We’ve got our own drummer and our own style.”

The year was 1977. Three years earlier, Philip Morris had acquired Milwaukee-based Miller Brewing Company for $227 million. Along with its history in cigarettes, Philip Morris was building a beer franchise around the country through its Mid-Atlantic Brewery subsidiary. With new management and considerable financial investment by its new owner, Miller—the smaller brand in the national market share battle—had eclipsed both Pabst and Schlitz, two powerhouses also based in Milwaukee. By 1977, Miller was the second-place national beer, second only to Anheuser-Busch, shipping more than 24.2 million barrels a year, up from just 5 million in 1973.

Dick Pieper, in the November 1974 Sparks Newsletter

“Through public financial disclosure, we can communicate to building contractors and lending institutions the status of operations in the belief that they will understand when the need arises for price adjustments in the industry.” Dick reported that local electrical contracting, in his experience at least, had strikingly slim net profit figures in the 0.06 to 1.5 percent range. His company’s profits were improving, he said, because Pieper Electric was

Chapter Three: 1970–1979

Meeting Dick and Julius n many ways, they were the “odd couple,” that father and son team, Julius and Dick Pieper. One was an introvert; the other was an extrovert. One had few aspirations; the other had lofty goals. They were distinctive personalities and different in many ways, but they were guided by the same core values. When the people of PPC Partners met them over the years, Julius and Dick usually left lasting impressions. “When I’d arrive at work, Julius was usually out in the parking lot picking up nails or inside sorting bolts into boxes,” says Duane (Buck) Browning, a lineman who joined the company in 1969 and became a general foreman. “He’d take me aside and show me a nail and say, ‘You know, the crews should be more careful. Flat tires and all.’ Julius was always careful about money.”

“Dick had a way of talking to you,” Browning recalls. “He could be very serious and convincing. Three or four times a year, he’d say, ‘I’m going to ride along with you and spend the whole day. Don’t do anything different because I’m with you.’ That was intimidating, but along the way, Dick had really good ideas, and he got me thinking. He wanted to see and understand what we were doing. I sensed there was nothing to hide. If I wanted to know something, I could just ask him. “The last time he came to my house, he brought a case of bottled water,” Browning says. “He set it down and said, ‘You know your body is 90 percent water.’ When I learned to relax around him, I learned a lot.” Ray Golabowski, a veteran construction foreman, remembers Julius and Dick’s focus on high-quality tools: “They knew that people could only do so much with the tools they had. The better the tools, the better the performance.” Julius was a perfectionist, says Golabowski, and he was happiest when he was pitching in with the men. “I remember working on a 20-story building on Wisconsin Avenue years ago when we were short-handed,” he says. “We got a big delivery of building materials, and I came to ground level only to find Julius emptying out the boxes, putting everything in order on shelves in our trailer, and sweeping the place out. He

wanted us to be able to find things and have a decent environment to work in.”

“Julius was a gentleman and a very hard worker. He was satisfied to work hard enough to make his family comfortable. He didn’t have the aspirations Dick did.” Mel Nelson

To the novice John Kletti, who joined Pieper Electric in 1977 as an apprentice electrician, Julius was a “neat, older guy, like I hope I am today. He was always around until he was well into his 80s. The company had been a small ‘mom and pop’ shop before Dick took over and sprung it loose and gave his employees— including me—lots of opportunities.”

Energetic, Vivacious, . . . and Quirky Norm Doll, the retired president of Pieper Electric, remembered his first long interview with Dick: “He was quirky, and that made him interesting,” Doll remembers. “He didn’t care about standard interview protocol; he’d ask anything: Who was your first friend? What was your first recollection of your father? An interview with Dick could last hours.” John Touchett, a PPC Partners board member, met Dick at a YPO meeting. “He was like a machine gun when I talked to him. He tries to get into your head,” Touchett says. “Dick is a very people-oriented person. He really wants to know about you.”

Galloping Growth and Searing Setbacks

Dan Melstrand, Pieper Electric’s new controller who joined the company in 2010, sees Dick Pieper as decidedly unconventional in many ways but conventional in others: “If he could take 12 electricians and grow his little company into something like this,” Melstrand says, “he’s got to operate on a different plane. Selling his company to employees at book value is wildly unconventional, and that was really intriguing to me. He’s conventional in the sense that he is a systems person. He relies on process and measurement.”

“He’s a whirlwind. I’ve never seen anyone go, go, go like he does.” Patricia Avery, MaconPower receptionist, Macon, Georgia

Oh, does he. Kayanne Blackwell, controller for MetroPower, a PPC Partners’ company with branches in Georgia and South Carolina, remembers her first dinner with the leadership team in Atlanta: “I had just been hired, and I knew no one but Ronnie Hinson (PPC Partners’ second chief executive officer after Dick Pieper). I remember thinking, Dick Pieper is intense, and he sure loves measurement. After dinner, we ordered dessert, and everyone had to rate their choices numerically and explain why we chose the ratings we did. Whatever Dick does, he’s intense about it.”

Horning In Emmy Stujenske joined the accounting department at Pieper Electric in 1976, and

she’s still there. She vividly remembers her first glimpse of Dick Pieper: “We were getting organized for the day, and this man in a suit pops his head into the accounting department, blows on a big horn, and shouts, ‘Good morning, accounting!’” Christine Komp was a new Pieper Electric manager becoming Dick Pieper in the 1960s acclimated to her new role in customer service. you join us, and we’ll teach you how to run “Dick appeared with bound volumes of transaca business. If you still want to go off on your tions covering years of residential service,” she own, we’ll help you.’ That really sealed the deal says. “‘I was looking at my bookshelf, and I for me.” found these,’ he told me. ‘Welcome aboard. A few years later, when Michels was runThere might be something to learn here.’” ning the customer service branch for Pieper “The books read like diaries,” Komp recalls. Electric and showing dramatically improved “I was fascinated to see the details that people profit numbers, he had another visit from Dick. recorded. The lesson I learned was all about “He took me to lunch, and I failed miserably,” trust. Dick was telling me to build a department Michels says. “The conversation was wonderful, where people could always trust us in their and I thought it was all positive until we pulled homes.” into the parking lot and he said, ‘Let’s schedule Mike Michels, president of Pieper Electric, another lunch for tomorrow.’ I asked, ‘Why?’” recalls his first meeting with Dick. “I told him ‘You didn’t learn anything this time,’ he told I felt like a number at my old company, and me, ‘because you didn’t take any notes.’ Well, I my wife and I were considering starting a busitook lots of notes the next day. That was my first ness. He told me about what it was like to build lesson at Pieper Electric.” n Pieper Electric, how tough it was, and that he would never do it again. He said, ‘I tell you what,

Chapter Three: 1970–1979

With that kind of rapid growth, Philip Morris needed more beer production, so it invested mightily in “fasttrack breweries” in Fulton, New York; Fort Worth, Texas; and Eden, North Carolina. When those three plants were completed around 1978, Miller would ship 35 million barrels a year. Without that production boost, Miller could not meet consumer demand, and it risked sending customers to rival brands.

Even though Pieper Electric was powerless to exert any control on the schedule that was slipping further and further behind, they were still expected to meet the original project deadline. There was no consideration of lost time. No appreciation of delays and snafus. No guaranteed compensation for any of it.

“I was in Eden from Thanksgiving through January. Dick saw to it that we could fly home on Friday afternoons to be with our families and fly back on Sunday night.”

“Miller couldn’t sell as much beer as people wanted to buy. They were losing millions in lost market share a day.”

Ray Golabowski

Dick Pieper

In many cases, Pieper Electric had to perform its electrical work ahead of and out of the normal sequence. To catch up with the original construction schedule, it meant hiring more skilled manpower. The conditions were impossible, as one Pieper Electric crew member wrote in his work report: “There are at least 20 people in the control room. Wires everywhere on the floor; tags gone; people standing on bundles; and the power is on. Testers are all over the place. Christ, what a mess. Estimated lost time—unbelievable!”

Pieper Electric won the fast-track brewery job in Eden, North Carolina. It was an assignment that would require about 80,000 man-hours over nine months’ time, and it was worth more than $500,000 (about $5 million in today’s dollars). “There wasn’t enough work to bid on in Wisconsin,” Dick recalls. “We went outside of our known geographic area to an unknown place with a customer unknown to us. We were desperate. We violated our own rules intentionally.” Pieper Electric’s head of construction, Martin Maiman, said they had to have a known supervisor on the job, so he picked Frank Yokosh. He was there only 60 days before a family problem brought him back home to Wisconsin. “Then we hired a guy from outside the company,” Dick recalls. “It was sheer desperation, and it was the wrong thing to do, too.” The schedule was impossible. As the electrical contractor, Pieper Electric depended on the timely work of other contractors and on equipment being supplied in time to do the work. That often didn’t happen.

Frozen Assets It was the worst year of the company’s—and Dick Pieper’s —life. “I was totally consumed, emotionally and physically,” he says, “and I was totally depleted. The Eden job threatened to bankrupt the company, and—in that same 12-month period—we learned that our daughter had lost her hearing and my mother was dying of cancer.” An accomplished amateur photographer who burned through film like a National Geographic photojournalist, this was the only year that Dick Pieper didn’t take a single photo.

Galloping Growth and Searing Setbacks

Instead, he took countless trips back and forth to Eden to meet with the construction czar of Philip Morris, Yuri Turala, a man raised in Communist China by a ≤ussian army o∞cer. “Yuri thought all contractors were trying to cheat his company because that’s what he knew. In China and ≤ussia, he learned that people couldn’t be trusted, and he assumed all contractors behaved that way. A smart, demanding guy, Turala had $500 million in spending authority (worth around $5 billion today). No one but the board or the CEO of Philip Morris had more financial authority, and Turala had earned their respect. He built all of Philip Morris’ plants throughout South America, on time and on budget.

All the while, Pieper Electric shouldered the additional project costs with no guarantee of what the settlement would be. “We were paid on the original contract but not for the escalation. The costs were tripling, and we were financing a lot of it,” Dick says. “Pretty soon, the change orders exceeded our company’s net worth.” When Pieper Electric protested, Yuri issued an “order to proceed under protest” that insisted the work continue and a financial settlement would follow. “We’d have meetings in Eden and the next day, Yuri called a meeting in Milwaukee and the next day another meeting in Eden, going right through the weekend. Back and forth, back and forth. If we didn’t show up at a meeting, our contract could be terminated.” When Dick went to his bank president for long-term credit and described the entire scenario, the first answer was, “Yes, we’ll back you,” even though Dick didn’t have a change order in hand reflecting the higher costs of the job. About one month later, Dick asked his bank for the assurance in writing. Time passed. The executive committee overturned the president’s original promise. All Pieper Electric had was month-to-month short-term credit, leaving them in a weakened position with Yuri.

“We knew how the project was supposed to work, but the actual work didn’t resemble the plan, and Yuri kept pushing us.” Dick Pieper

Meetings with Turala were like a day in the ≤ussian gulag. “He would muscle people,” Dick recalls. “He’d say, ‘If you don’t do what I say, Mr. Pieper, I will put your money in the freezer!’ He’d say that in a big construction meeting with 30 people around the table.” ≤ather than abide by contractual rules that required written approval for changes in work plans and schedules, “the czar” expected Pieper Electric to work in good faith and settle up later. In many cases, Yuri held out on issuing change orders until a contractor agreed to take the next job with him.

“I was a young apprentice electrician, just married, and we just bought a house. I remember a number of weeks when our checks were days late. That job in Eden was a≠ecting everyone in the company.” John Kletti, project manager, major construction, Milwaukee

“That was the scariest time in our history. The project could have bankrupted us.”

Turala insisted that Pieper Electric hire more union people from the area to make up for lost time in the schedule, but there weren’t enough skilled people avail-

Tom Ohlgart, retired Pieper Electric controller

Chapter Three: 1970–1979

able in North Carolina. Some who showed up at the job site were either unsuited or determined to disrupt work and slow it down. “I stood right in the middle of that job, and there were guys walking around with guns and knives in their sheaths,” Dick says. “Some of them would drive around the parking lot and shoot their guns o≠.”

I witnessed a construction meeting. It was the same old, ‘I’ll-put-your-money-in-the-freezer’ speech. “By continuing that work, we could have quickly turned Pieper Electric into a big, national business. Yuri was building breweries all over the country. Huge facilities like small cities,” Dick says, “But I said, ‘Thanks but no thanks.’ We didn’t do business Yuri’s way, and we weren’t going to train our people to do it.”

“It was 23 degrees outside, and it seems colder inside. We have to put the Brady labels in our pockets to keep them warm; they won’t stick if we don’t.”

Thank God As Pieper Electric persevered through the tough years of the 1970s, Americans had their own challenges. Nine million people lost their electricity for 25 hours in 1977 during a massive New York City blackout. It was becoming apparent that the appetite for energy was outstripping the nation’s power grid. Gasoline shortages once again plagued Americans, and a disaster at America’s Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in 1979 was narrowly averted.

Pieper Electric project lead, Eden, North Carolina

Sue Pieper will not forget those days. Her most heartrending moment occurred when Dick arrived home dogged with despair: “He said, ‘I can’t even pray, I’m so exhausted. Would you pray with me?’ ” The company finished the job and—when all the dust settled and the bills were paid—Pieper Electric made a modest profit. Their ace was the company’s OPS (Operation Production System) financial tracking. “We could document the job in detail, and we just kept giving Yuri the facts,” Dick said. In the end, Pieper Electric submitted a claim for compensation that was fully documented and showed what the delays and accelerated schedule cost Pieper in unreimbursed labor, materials, direct job expenses; home o∞ce overhead; and interest costs. The claim totaled $1,010,885.20. Most important, Pieper Electric kept its word. “We were in jeopardy,” Dick remembers, “but we didn’t walk away from the job. In the end, the job was successful, and Yuri congratulated us. He wanted us to work all over the country for him. He invited me to take the Miller corporate jet down to the next big job in Albany, Georgia, and

“The previous year has been one of the most di∞cult in our history. . . . While I give full credit to the Pieper Electric family for what we have been able to manage, had it not been for the grace of the Lord, I’m certain we wouldn’t be in the position we are in.” Dick Pieper, SPARKS newsletter, October–December 1978

Antiwar demonstrations blazed during the 1970s as America fought an unwinnable war in Vietnam and Hanoi reasserted its Communist control in 1975. Only a few years later, unrest in Iran would lead to an overthrow of the Shah and the Ayatollah Khomeini, his successor, taking 100 US Embassy sta≠ and Marines hostages.

We stand behind what we say

and what we promise.

Chapter Three: 1970–1979

At least the United States had its bicentennial to celebrate in 1976. Though there was no celebration glitz, Pieper Electric was elated about its entry into the wastewater treatment plant business, a specialty construction niche that was becoming more sophisticated and profitable with each year. At the start, though, Pieper Electric and every other electrical contractor was a beginner. In the 1970s, Wisconsin was one among many states that had government money to clean up its rivers and process waste more e≠ectively. As the environmental movement gathered steam and national policy caught up with public awareness, federal construction and retooling grants were abundant. Wisconsin had a long list of new wastewater treatment plants up for bid, and Pieper Electric joined the race to win projects. None of Wisconsin’s electrical contractors had experience. “It was a matter of survival of the fittest,” Dick says. “We learned as we went along, starting first with smaller projects. Over time, the quality and expectations kept increasing, and we moved up the food chain. It quickly became a specialized business, and, if we were going to be good at it, we had to dedicate people to it.”

systems yielded revenue that even dwarfed the power installations. With their increased magnitude, the plants also required disciplined project management, a skill that Pieper Electric people were perfecting. The two biggest projects that opened doors for Pieper Electric were the South Shore and Jones Island wastewater treatment plants in Milwaukee, as well as smaller plants in Kaukauna, Whitewater, and the Fox ≤iver Valley—all won in the late 1970s. In a listing of the company’s most-profitable projects, many of these were included. And in those days when Pieper Electric was feeling financially anemic, profits were appropriately called “plasma” in the company’s employee newsletter.

“In electrical contracting, there are projects that most any capable firm can bid. And then there are niches like waste and water treatment that require very special experience and expertise. And we developed it.” Tom Ohlgart

Create Your Own Job Milwaukee had an eyesore, right in the middle of downtown. West of the Wisconsin ≤iver on Wisconsin Avenue, there was a two-block-long section that was virtually abandoned. Like other American cities struggling to regain their relevance in the 1970s after suburbia’s siren song beckoned, Milwaukee had work to do. It started with a major public-private partnership. Fifth district Congressman Henry ≤euss, a Milwaukee native and a graduate of Harvard Law, threw his political weight behind the public side of the partnership with the understanding that 20 percent of the project would represent private involvement and investment.

“The team at Jones Island pulled a 700-foot run of 15 KV cable in very good time. It took eight men. This cable weighs about half a ton per reel, which is about six feet tall.” Sparks newsletter April–May 1978

These plants were expensive and complicated installations that required materials that were water and corrosion resistant. Powering the projects involved many complex components. As the plants grew in size, control

Galloping Growth and Searing Setbacks

Frankly, Pieper Electric needed the work. “Business was so poor in the late 1970s,” Dick recalls, “there was hardly a job to bid on. So, what do you do in that situation? You create a job.” Why not assemble a team with all the talent needed and bid on that job, Dick thought? We all have something to gain because we’re all short on business. “I started putting the pieces together,” Dick says. “I selected the smartest people in the state in various disciplines for the project, and they agreed to a meeting. They also told me why it wouldn’t work.” There were other naysayers and discouraging words, but he kept going. When the prospective project team met that day to consider Dick Pieper’s plan, all the players were present: developer, general contractor, mechanical contractor, engineers, Pieper Electric, building management, retail management and leasing, experts in interim and longterm financing. The proposed building would be worth $56 million ($150 to $200 million in today’s dollars). “We sat in that conference room and reviewed the assignments on a grid simplified to one sheet of paper,” Dick recalls. There were benchmarks along the way: initial plan review, viability of interim and long-term financing, a final plan, and a firm bid to own and operate the building for the US General Services Administration (GSA). All but one person at that original meeting remained on the team (even he suggested a solid replacement). After that one meeting, it was a go. Congressman ≤euss won the federal financial support needed to rejuvenate the site and build a new o∞ce building leased by the GSA. It would house all the federal agencies scattered around Milwaukee. Acquisition and demolition of the old buildings came first, then construction began. The 13-story, blue glass

o∞ce building on Wisconsin Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets had angular tiers, an open-air atrium, and room for future skyways leading to shopping, a convention center, and a luxury hotel. It would house about 40 federal agencies along with class A o∞ce and retail space. It would be named after its congressional champion, Henry ≤euss. No one expected the strike. “The building was halfway up,” Dick says. “We had a strike plan at Pieper Electric that we’d review about every three years when union bargaining was on the calendar. We always hoped we wouldn’t have to use it.” It was a detailed plan with a timeline, assigned tasks, and frequent “hotline” communications to minimize the rumor mill. At the time, Dick was president of the Milwaukee chapter of the NECA and this same strike plan was theirs, too.

“When you start something, always have the end in mind.” Dick Pieper

“Everybody from the Pieper Electric o∞ce went out on the jobsite, except our accounting people,” Dick says. The strike lasted more than two months, and the business/labor recrimination that follows most strikes was held to a minimum. “The plan worked so well, and the communications were so e≠ective, that our contractors felt empowered,” Dick recalls. “The strike didn’t delay completion of the project.” There was more to gain from cooperation, and everyone knew it. Perhaps most importantly for Pieper Electric, the project gave the company work to do, and it helped keep the company’s workforce intact. It was the only strike in Pieper Electric’s history.

Chapter Three: 1970–1979

What’s Your Cleaver? nyone associated with PPC Partners for more than a few hours has probably heard of the Cleaver DISC, an evaluation tool that examines behavior, motivation, and suitability for certain jobs. People with the fabled “hook” profile seem destined for management and leadership. But make no mistake, a company full of “hooks” would be a lopsided organization, indeed. Dick Pieper first learned about the Cleaver tool in the early 1970s while attending a YPO seminar where John Cleaver was the presenter. John “Clipper” Cleaver (he had a big ship’s wheel in his home) was a psychologist and an industrial engineer. Cleaver believed that assembly line thinking about productivity—a popular concept in the 1950s and 1960s—wrongly ignored the human factor in jobs. An Olympic swimmer at Princeton University, Cleaver knew a lot about human motivation. Cleaver adapted the DISC profile, a fourletter acronym reflecting four behavioral styles based on the work of William Marston, a social researcher, in the early 1900s. Many companies, including Pieper Electric and the Milwaukee Bucks professional basketball team, began using Cleaver’s DISC in their selection and

development of people. The objective of the profile is to effectively match people with jobs and supervisors so that they can prosper and grow. At the heart of the profile are behaviors and motivating values that John Cleaver identified. This same set of factors is used to identify the behaviors and values that each job requires. When the profiles of a person and a job coincide, it is often a good fit. Like the Meyers-Briggs Personality Inventory that became a buzzword in corporate America in the 1980s (so much so that some people had their four-letter profiles on their desks), the Cleaver DISC has become a shared language and enduring tool at PPC Partners. The Cleaver profile is a strong indicator of a person’s strengths, but it is not an infallible tool. Norm Doll, the retired president of Pieper Electric, took the Cleaver test, and the results didn’t bode well for the job he was seeking. He didn’t get it. At first, that is. As it turned out, Doll had a high drive factor and a high compliance (rule-following) factor in his DISC evaluation. As the theory goes, people with that profile might have a hard time making decisions, though for Doll, his career history at

PPC Partners negates that assumption: construction manager, project manager, branch manager, vice president, and president. Today, Doll includes the Cleaver method in his teaching at the University of Wisconsin College of Engineering. “DISC stands for drive, influence, steadiness and compliance,” he says. “The Cleaver system uses word association to get a person to identify which of these four factors are dominant or not dominant. The way the evaluation is designed, you’re forced to quite narrowly appraise yourself. Drive relates to being dominant in style and relationship. Influence has to do with how much you like to influence others or see yourself as influential. Steadiness relates to working consistently and carefully, often on one thing at a time. Compliance means that you like to follow the rules.” The classic “hook” profile for a leader/ manager is a high D, a high I, a lower S and a moderate to lower C. These folks are strongwilled and effective in building and influencing relationships; they can work on several tasks at one time, and they will sometimes bend or break rules to achieve their objectives. Chris Surges, Pieper Electric branch manager focused on major construction, says he

Galloping Growth and Searing Setbacks

uses the Cleaver tool to identify “what people like to do and how they want to do it.” When he’s assembling a team for a major construction project, Surges says the DISC descriptors help him immensely: “What I want on a team is a strong, outgoing person who can do a million different things and make decisions. That’s a person with a high D, a high I, a low S and a lower C. But I also want my right-hand person to focus on every detail to make sure things get done right and in sequence. Such a person has the opposite profile: low D, low I, high S, and high C.” For example, these are the skilled electricians who do their work based on a strict code book.

“I use the Cleaver in the hiring process. It gives me a good idea of how someone will react under pressure. It’s a revealing snapshot.” Clay Griffith, Albany, Georgia, branch supervisor for MetroPower

“An effective team has multiple people with different strengths and weaknesses,” says Surges. “My job is to understand each person’s strengths and bring these people together into a cohesive team.”

Some people don’t have the classic profile, but they are leaders nonetheless. They include Ronnie Hinson, second chief executive officer, PPC Partners; Norm Doll, retired president, Pieper Electric; John Kletti, branch supervisor, Pieper Electric; and Gary Johnson, project manager, Pieper Electric. Eric West, branch supervisor, Pieper Electric, has a high C in his Cleaver evaluation, but he says he is “the first one to break the rules to make something work. I want to instill rules within our branch, but I also want us to have the flexibility to make us successful.” It is true, he adds, “that engineers—by their very training— are taught to be steady, focused, and follow rules.”

Pursuing the Prom Queen “Most engineers have the same profile as an accountant,” says Danny Gibson, vice president/ branch manager of MetroPower. “Engineers want rules. Put an engineer in a room by herself and let her design. The same is true of field people. They’re high on compliance and execution, but put them in managerial positions, and many would be miserable.”

Gibson, a trained electrician and no shrinking violet, says PPC Partners needs more technical people with the willingness to “get out there, call on people, and build relationships.” That requires a high I factor. “It took us 10 years to get a job with the Harper Corporation (general contractors based in Greenville, South Carolina),” he says. “We had to accept rejection and go back anyway. The prom queen is hard to get a dance with. You just can’t give up.” Gibson says some PPC Partners engineers have developed this skill. For people willing to step outside their familiar comfort zones, the gains can be gratifying. The Cleaver tool has been invaluable in the development of people at PPC Partners. Many years after creating the DISC instrument, John Cleaver identified a set of motivating values that managers could use in evaluating people and their potential. “A combination of Cleaver’s DISC and his motivating values instruments led to the management tool we use today,” Dick Pieper says. “Later, when John Cleaver identified the key skills of a manager, we incorporated those into our feedback and development plans.” n

Chapter Three: 1970–1979

We’re from the FBI . . .

Center, two restaurants, and a nursing home. In addition, the president of an electrical supply company, BoggisJohnson Electric, and his attorney were charged with lying to the grand jury and hampering the federal probe. Much of the grand jury probe centered on claims by the failed Dietz Electric Company and its o∞cers who said they were reluctant to go along with the price fixing schemes. Because of that, the newspaper reported, the alleged conspirators decided to force Dietz out of business. There would be more indictments.

Dick Pieper had just arrived at his desk one morning in 1976 when the phone rang. “Congratulations,” the voice boomed. “What for,” Dick asked? “Have you read the morning paper?” “Not yet.” “Well, the grand jury has indicted most of your major competitors, and you are conspicuously absent.” No kidding. This news would lead to Dick Pieper’s second up-close-and-personal meeting with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), his first dating back to the 1950s when he got mixed up in a bogus draft card scheme at college.

Squeaky Clean The FBI came calling. “They couldn’t believe we weren’t involved,” Dick recalls, “and they’re not nice folks when they’re on the hunt. They wanted records of bids, and we began assembling stacks and transporting them in handcarts to our attorney’s o∞ce and then to the grand jury’s o∞ce. We did that for almost two years as the investigation continued. We probably kept people out of jail because the jobs we bid were validated as competitive.”

“Dick was used to people in business being straight shooters, and I think he was a little naive.” Sue Pieper

The Milwaukee Journal initially reported on October 28, 1976, that three electrical contracting companies and their key executives had been indicted (and later convicted) by a federal grand jury on charges that they conspired to eliminate competition, fix prices, and rig bids on construction work between 1971 and 1975. These indictments were the first of a lengthy probe that federal o∞cials believed had inflated the prices of major construction in Milwaukee for several years. The FBI said that Sta≠ Electric Company and its two senior o∞cers, Herman Andrae Electrical Company and its president, and Magaw Electric Company and its president had violated antitrust laws in setting prices or cooperating on bids that were supposed to be competitive on projects, including the 42-story First Wisconsin

“The FBI basically said, ‘How can you be in this industry and be clean when everybody else is involved in violating antitrust laws?’” Dick Pieper

Pieper had been left out of other bids. “The union and the contractors’ association members had gotten together and carved up the business: ‘This customer is yours; this customer is mine. That territory is yours, this territory is mine,’ ” Dick says. He remembered getting a call from a contractor and not understanding its implications: “He told me, ‘There’s a project in Janesville that isn’t our territory, but they want a bid from us. We don’t

Galloping Growth and Searing Setbacks

have the time to bid it. Would you give us a price?’ They were trying to draw us into collusion, and I never knew it.” There were rumors of gifts given to win business and cement relationships. “It wasn’t unusual to have a customer say, ‘Your competitor gave me these golf clubs or equipped my house with new appliances. What are you going to do for me?’ ” Dick Pieper’s answer was, “We’ll be professionals. We’ll perform your work on time and, on budget, and we’ll do high-quality work. Period.”

the 1960s and most of the 1970s, we were building Pieper Electric in a non-growth market and an industry engaged in collusion. It was like pushing boulders uphill. To succeed at all, we had to be highly productive and creative. We had to drill down to every detail of our work and exert a high level of discipline. Looking back, 1977 was the last year in our history that we posted a loss.” Those years gave the “small, large company” a megadose of seasoning that would pay o≠ in the 1980s.

“Dick made a splash. He was dynamic. He may have scared his competitors into colluding against him.” Ron Bierbaum

The investigation brought some hidden realities to light. After the indictments made the news and after his retirement, a senior o∞cer at AT&T in Wisconsin invited Dick Pieper in for a visit. “There’s something you should know,” he said. “When you first came on the scene with Pieper Electric, your competitors said you didn’t know what you were doing. They said if you were included on a bid list for an AT&T project, they wouldn’t bid. They called it unfair competition. I had to have three bids for every project, so I couldn’t use you. That’s the way it’s been for years.” When the Milwaukee Journal reported on the final outcome of the federal and state government probes, four more electrical contractors were charged with bid rigging: National Electric Service, Good Electric, Lemberg Electric, and Stoiber Electric, making a total of seven Milwaukee firms (and some of their o∞cers) charged. In the end, they all paid fines. “Looking back on it,” Dick Pieper now says, “during

Chapter Three: 1970–1979

197O

1970 Pieper Electric starts formal corporate business planning.

1973 In a tennis match billed as “the battle of the sexes,” Billie Jean King defeats Bobby Riggs, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. 1973 Expanding further into Arizona, Pieper Electric buys Melco Electric in Phoenix and, in 1976, Gross Electric in the same city.

1970 The company shares computer time on an IBM 360 and leases its own IBM System 3 in 1973.

1976 The Milwaukee Journal reports on October 28 that three electrical contracting companies and their key executives have been indicted on charges of conspiring to eliminate competition. More indictments follow.

1971 The 26th Amendment to the US Constitution allows 18-year-olds to vote.

1972 Dick Pieper takes an unconventional step and proposes that all electrical contracting firms in Milwaukee make their financial information public to achieve greater understanding of market pressures.

1974 President Richard Nixon resigns amidst scandal; Vice President Gerald Ford succeeds him. 1974 Pieper Electric is an active contributor of dollars and volunteers to the Milwaukee United Way, Junior Achievement and local youth hockey programs.

1970 Congress passes the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) to ensure that employers provide employees with work environments free from hazards.

1972 Though the company’s revenues are more than $7 million in both 1971 and 1972, the bottom line is red with losses. It is time to take a hard look at Pieper Electric’s financial health.

1973 Pieper Electric starts a co-op program with Marquette University to introduce engineering grads to the electrical contracting industry.

A new era began for Pieper Electric in 1973, with the lease of its own IBM System 3 computer.

1973 A June rainstorm in Wisconsin with 90-mile-per-hour winds wreaks havoc. Pieper Electric line crews work around the clock with Wisconsin Energy to make repairs and restore power.

Timeline

1979 1978 When Congressman Henry Reuss wins federal financial support for rejuvenation of two blocks in downtown Milwaukee, Dick Pieper assembles a team to participate in the $56 million public-private venture. Members of the Pieper Electric bowling team, 1979

1976 The United States celebrates its Bicentennial. 1977 Pieper Electric wins a fast track brewery job for Miller Brewing Company in Eden, North Carolina. The nine-month project, worth more than $500,000, threatens to bankrupt Pieper. 1977 Nine million people lose their electricity for 25 hours in a massive New York City blackout, proving that America’s appetite for energy has outstripped the nation’s power grid.

1979 Disaster is narrowly averted at the US Three Mile Island nuclear power plant.

1978 President Jimmy Carter, Israel Premier Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat agree on a Camp David peace accord in the Middle East. 1978 The company’s management team establishes five-year business objectives for the first time. 1978 After several years of disappointing performance, Pieper Electric sells its Oestreich Electric offices in Phoenix and Tucson.

Pieper Electric saw its customized control panel business grow through the 1970s. Soon electronic components were replacing traditional components and “programmable controls” eliminated much of the hard wiring of panels (above and below, left).

1979 Pieper Electric’s participation in construction of the South Shore and Jones Island Waste Water Treatment Plants demonstrate its growing expertise in this technical field.

1979 The leaders of the company decide to look beyond the Midwest for a state where open (or merit) shops are thriving. They choose Atlanta, Georgia.

Chapter Four

1980–1989

Georgia on My Mind When PPC Partners’ management team met for its usual monthly briefing in 1979, they examined a trend that would trigger a game change. The headline in the Engineering News-≤ecord, the “bible” of American construction, carried a telling headline: “Open shop construction keeps growing bigger, getting stronger.” Most of America’s new homes, multifamily projects, and light commercial and industrial projects were built by open (or merit) shop contractors, the EN≤ said. These contractors were winning big jobs, too: 43 power plants in the Midwest and South; projects in Washington, D.C., worth six and seven figures; major street, highway, and underground contracts in Houston; a huge shopping mall in Dallas; and jobs with bluechip companies in the Southwest. Some contractors even told EN≤ they were going to go non-union when their labor agreements expired. With its roots in Milwaukee, PPC Partners had operated successfully in a strong union town and a loyal union state. But the company had also been burned by union practices. Dick Pieper did his homework and presented the facts to his PPC Partners team. Construction is going to merit shops, and electrical contracting is right behind them,” Dick told his colleagues. “Our industry is changing, and it profoundly changes our options. When 50 percent of all electrical contractors in this country are open or merit shops, we must go in that direction.” The strategy was as clear as a high-voltage jumbotron. 67

Chapter Four: 1980–1989

erhaps the only good news for union champions in 1980 was this: strikes that looked like civil warfare in Poland led to the creation of the muchapplauded Solidarity trade union, founded by Lech Wałęsa, an electrician. But in America, union members were taking their lumps. When the nation’s air tra∞c controllers went on strike in 1981, about 12,000 of them lost their jobs. Face it: the 1980s started on several sour notes. The United States announced a grain embargo against the Soviet Union, protesting its military invasion of Afghanistan. Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington State, killing 36 people. John Hinckley tried to assassinate President ≤onald ≤eagan, and the country stumbled through another economic recession. By 1984, more than 70 US banks failed, the highest number since before the Great Depression, and the United States became the world’s largest debtor nation with a deficit of $130 billion. If PPC Partners was going to grow and prosper, it had to look beyond the Midwest—a union bastion—to states where open shop electrical contracting was thriving. Why not start a business where trades people were paid competitively, given solid benefits, and o≠ered incentives to excel? PPC Partners could then choose the right people for its ranks; design its own training; and develop a workforce that was productive, e∞cient, safe, and price competitive. All that would yield more and bigger electrical contracting jobs in a high-growth state where unions didn’t have a lock on construction. But which growth state would that be?

stead seemed the perfect corporate hired gun traversing the country, chasing promising markets much like the television hero chased bad guys on the plains. Milstead had earned his spurs with PPC Partners: he was a project site manager in heavily-unionized Arizona, and he survived the Miller project in Eden, North Carolina, as a supervisor. Colorado, Texas, Arizona, California, North and South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia were all on Milstead’s list, and he examined each one in a six-month marathon. He was armed with pages of questions designed to tease out the data needed to make a wise, strategic decision back in Milwaukee. Every week, Milstead mailed dispatches to PPC headquarters and, at the end of his multistate circuit, he made a full presentation to the PPC Partners management team. Four states emerged as equally promising: Colorado, Texas, Florida, and Georgia. The conclusion? Pick the state where the best opportunity for acquisition of a merit shop surfaced. It turned out to be Georgia and, specifically, Atlanta.

. . . On Second Thought Henderson Electric was the largest merit shop among three electrical contractors who pioneered the practice in Atlanta. Dick Pieper learned, through the industry grapevine, that Jake Henderson might entertain a purchase o≠er. Henderson employed up to 100 electricians and pursued largely commercial bid projects. They were in the running for a Marriott Hotel, and one knowledgeable industry observer called them “as capable as a union contractor.” Dick Pieper called on Henderson in 1980, and the talks moved smoothly toward an agreed-upon sale price

A Travelin’ Man The man chosen to explore the options was Darrell Milstead. The American television western series Have Gun—Will Travel was popular in those days and Mil-

Georgia on My Mind

and payment (the price approached half a million dollars). Things looked good as PPC Partners started its due diligence: studying Henderson’s financials and examining its customer list, projects, backlog, and sta∞ng. In the spirit of openness, Dick supplied Henderson with details of what his company was learning. “Basically, I was critiquing his business,” Dick recalls, “and I educated him. For example, he had a son and a son-in-law who were strong managers. They both would have been spectacular additions to PPC Partners.”

Georgia. Local observers of the business scene had shared their observations with language like this: “Unmistakable trends to open shop.” “Open shops have started doing larger projects.” “The Southeast is historically open shop.” “The main reason for open shop is the threat of work stoppage.” “Atlanta is a ‘developer town;’ there is a lot of private work.” “ The old boy network is, at best, a door opener in Atlanta, but that’s where it ends.”

“Merit shops were in their early stages in Atlanta. There was still a strong union presence, and Henderson was getting beat up, but the tide was definitely turning.”

A Good Ole’ Boy For a Yankee business to make it in the Deep South, the venture had to have its own “good ole’ boy.” Even more than the North, the culture of the Southeast depended on long-held relationships and familiarity. PPC Partners could do all the strategizing and investing it wanted, but their new company—called MetroPower—needed a native of the South who understood the unwritten norms. That man was Smith “Smitty” Smallwood, an Atlanta businessman with electrical contracting experience and contacts. In a strong market, he said he could generate $3 million in sales the first year. He joined Darrell Milstead, tapped to lead MetroPower, and he brought with him an ace electrician, Norman Fitzpatrick. MetroPower o∞cially opened for business on January 1, 1980, in the Colony Square o∞ce building in midtown Atlanta, and “the new kids on the block” went to work. The city was known for its numerous developers, general contractors, architects, engineering firms, and financial institutions, but the competition was fierce. (In the early 1980s, Atlanta had more than 600 electrical contractors in that city alone. Today there are some 9,700 in Georgia.

Dick Pieper

Not long into the exploratory process, Dick got a call from Henderson. “I think I’ve misjudged the worth of my company,” he told Dick. “I think I’m selling it too cheap. I want more money.” “But we agreed on a price, and we have it in writing,” Dick answered. “I don’t care.” “What do you think you should sell it for?” Dick asked. The pair renegotiated a new, higher price that seemed to satisfy Henderson and the due diligence continued. Not long afterward, Henderson came back to Dick again, wanting yet more money. “At that point, I decided to walk away,” Dick said. “In retrospect, it was probably a mistake. Henderson could have made a huge di≠erence for us in the early years.” By that time, PPC Partners had learned a lot about Atlanta and the possibilities of growing a company in

Chapter Four: 1980–1989

In its first, few months, MetroPower’s small sta≠ beat the pavement and lined up field people until paying projects finally materialized. The commercial and light industrial work they did was good. They worked for companies including Colonial Bakeries, First National Bank, Dixie Plywood, Howard Johnson, and Georgia Power, but there just wasn’t enough of it.

ness activity. Atlanta is a distribution point for controlling and letting construction. Where will our talent for remote sites come from? Darrell wants to go on to the next branch, but his wife only wants to live in Tucson.” The company was slowly building its customer base, but Darrell Milstead never hit his stride. Though he had the intelligence and drive, Milstead’s complex personal life compromised his performance. He knew it, and Dick knew it. Milstead resigned. Dick confronted the o∞ce manager about her fabricated books and she resigned, too. MetroPower struggled through two more years of growing pains, with Dick Pieper serving as a fly-in business coach. He conducted weekly team meetings by phone, managed to get the operation to break even and he led a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis with the MetroPower team.

“We had very little work. Bob Rogers, another electrician, and I would come in and sit, waiting for the phone to ring. I didn’t feel right charging for my time spent waiting.” Norman Fitzpatrick, MetroPower’s first electrician

Unless business picked up, MetroPower would use up its $150,000 line of credit by summer. The company needed $40,000 in revenue each week to break even, and landing short-term work was vital. Smallwood and Milstead doubled-up on sales. Smallwood had an excellent reputation in the business, but his sales calls were more like social calls, and “closing” was not his forte. Smallwood never delivered on the sales he projected. Milstead was pulled in too many directions, and he had family trouble at home. A seemingly eager and loyal office manager and bookkeeper (once named Georgia’s Woman of the Year), quietly discredited the company and fabricated records. Oh, the woes of a start-up venture. Dick Pieper made many visits to MetroPower in that first year, and his notes reflect aspiration and frustration: “It’s a green organization with superior intelligence, high commitment, good morale. . . . Hurdles to come: contract production and purchasing flow on higher volume. The year following a national election (1981) is usually a letdown for busi-

Now What? Meanwhile, down in Albany, Georgia, ≤onnie Hinson was worried. The small community in southwest Georgia, founded in 1836 by a New Englander and later nicknamed “the Good Life City,” was home for Hinson and his young family. He loved it there, and his work with Georgia Electric was more than he ever imagined. But in January 1983, James Hall, president of Georgia Electric died, and its parent company took that loss as a cue to exit electrical contracting. Hinson, at 38, had just been named a vice president. “Our parent company was a conglomerate and owned a diverse group of companies,” Hinson recalls. “Burying cable for telecommunications was their core business. Jack McDaniels, our executive vice president, and I started talking. Could we buy Georgia Electric? That

Georgia on My Mind

was out of the question. Could we find a ‘white knight,’ someone to buy the business and keep it alive?” What if we find a buyer for the company, they asked the parent company. Are you interested? The answer was a lukewarm “yes.” Hinson knew how lucky he was. ≤aised the son of an Alabama tenant farmer, the family grew cotton on a 20acre spread. They were so poor they could see their chickens roosting under the floorboards of their tiny home, but Hinson doesn’t remember ever being hungry. Later, his father worked in a cotton mill in Columbus, Georgia, and Hinson got a job there on a high school Distributive Education program. He was a weaver, and, he says, the mill job was “the hardest job I’ve ever had.” Becoming an electrician and working his way up through management at Georgia Electric had enriched Hinson’s life and given him opportunities. Hinson and McDaniels, nearly 20 years Hinson’s senior, had a lot to lose if Georgia Electric folded. They had just won a $16.4 million electrical contracting job at the Kings Bay submarine base in St. Marys, Georgia, just two days before their company’s president died. The contract sum was stunning; it was twice their annual sales of $8 million. “After Mr. Hall died, our owners sent a representative to Albany to tell us they had decided to exit electrical contracting,” Hinson says. “They wanted us to get out of the Kings Bay project. Because Jack and I couldn’t buy Georgia Electric ourselves, we went looking for a buyer or someone to be a joint venture partner.” To keep the project, they needed a solid partner to issue the bid bonds. Hinson and McDaniel sought out J. L. Malone, a fellow member of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), who was also based in Albany. “We

asked him who might be interested in buying Georgia Electric, and he gave us two names: Dick Pieper and Jimmy Cleveland of Cleveland Electric in Atlanta.” Very soon, the pair had arranged face-to-face meetings with Cleveland and Pieper in a Holiday Inn room on Monroe Drive in Atlanta. It was late January 1983. At 1 p.m., Jimmy Cleveland walked in. Hinson and McDaniels described the story of Georgia Electric, the loss of its leader, the parent company’s decision to exit electrical contracting, and the mega project waiting in Brunswick. “I want to buy the company,” Cleveland said. “Just like that,” they asked? “Just like that. I’ll be down to Albany with my accountant to review your books on Friday.”

PieperPower After Cleveland left the Holiday Inn, Hinson and McDaniels felt immense relief: “We said to each other, ‘We’ve found our man,’ ” Hinson recalls. “We were really impressed with Jimmy Cleveland. His company had a solid reputation. Then there was a knock on the door, and I opened it to Dick Pieper. Not a hair on his head, big horn-rimmed glasses, and a big grin. My life was never the same again.” In their excitement, Hinson and McDaniels had mistakenly given Jimmy Cleveland both sets of financial information, so they had nothing for Dick, except the summary of the St. Marys submarine base contract. ≤ather than jumping on the financials, Dick Pieper took a di≠erent tack: “Dick talked about Bruce Companik. He had worked with his father, earned his electrical engineering degree at Marquette University, and then joined Pieper Electric to build a successful branch opera-

We have to look out

for each other.

Georgia on My Mind

tion in the Fox ≤iver Valley in Wisconsin,” Hinson says. “Dick said people with initiative and smarts could build a branch and enjoy the success of running their own business, while having the financial strength and support of a bigger company behind them. He said his company was highly decentralized, and people had a lot of autonomy. He talked about his company’s culture of safety first and continuing education. Honestly, neither one was a priority at Georgia Electric. I had one estimating class and one class in first aid and CP≤ in 14 years.” The courtship of ≤onnie Hinson had begun. “The more Dick talked,” Hinson recalls, “the more I realized his company was di≠erent from anyone I knew in our industry. He talked more about people than he did projects. He talked more about individual success than he did about total sales or big jobs.” That meeting ended with a plan to send Dick all the financial information he needed to assess Georgia Electric’s financial condition. Dick remembers being more interested in ≤onnie Hinson than buying Georgia Electric, but if that was what it took to recruit Hinson, he’d consider it. Within a few days, Jimmy Cleveland was scheduled to land in Albany to study the company’s books.

accountant from the parent company had visited Georgia Electric to review the books and transfer the company’s considerable cash reserve to the owners. “Honestly,” Dick says now, “I think the parent company wanted to bury Georgia Electric and dispose of any records. Jack and ≤onnie knew nothing about what might be hidden there.”

“I had no idea why they wouldn’t call back. We didn’t know their agenda, but it seemed they just wanted to close the business down.” Ronnie Hinson, MetroPower’s first president

The company got out of the Brunswick project, and Hinson and McDaniels were soon out of jobs at Georgia Electric, too. Like many who have honed their business skills working for others, Hinson thought he might start his own small electrical contracting operation. He filed papers with the secretary of state for a new venture: Albany Electric. About the same time, he heard that the sons of the deceased president of Georgia Electric were thinking of reviving the enterprise, and they wanted Hinson to join them.

Heads Up The friendly calls from Dick Pieper continued. He told Hinson about MetroPower’s growing pains and the new leader it needed: “Perhaps you’d be interested, ≤onnie, because we’re interested in you.” The periodic phone calls led to home visits in Albany. “Our daughter, Jamie, was four, and she was immediately attracted to Dick’s bald head. He was sitting on the couch, and he said, ‘You want to rub my head? Here, Jamie, put your hands here. . . .’ ” Hinson’s wife, Brenda, was impressed with Dick’s intelligence and sincerity.

The Big Chill That’s when the story went from thrilling to chilling. McDaniels got in touch with their parent company in West Palm Beach, Florida. They detailed the meetings, described the interest of both Jimmy Cleveland and Dick Pieper and left it to headquarters to follow up. No one ever did. McDaniels called again: “We have two good candidates. When do you plan to follow up with them?” No response. ≤epeated calls yielded silence. An

Chapter Four: 1980–1989

For ≤onnie Hinson, the career stars aligned. He traveled to Milwaukee in February 1983: “I’ll never forget the doors of the airport opening and the blast of freezing air hitting me in the face,” he says. “I caught a cab to the Milwaukee Athletic Club; the windows were so cold they were vibrating.”

was the same plan Chris Moore implemented 20 years later when he opened MetroPower’s Greenville, South Carolina, branch.) The business template covered all the key operational areas including profitability and marketing plans for key business areas, how to track project, department and branch progress with PPC Partners’ data-hungry management information system, sales plans, a corporate ID program, implementation plans and schedules, resources needed, objectives, and feedback mechanisms. The plan took into account expansion into new o∞ces in Georgia and the Carolinas. A high priority was safety and people development, training, and policies describing how people were treated. To attract and keep the best field people, the plan included an unusual “layo≠ insurance” plan. If a person got laid o≠ from MetroPower, he or she still got paid (though at a lesser rate) and still had health insurance coverage. In exchange for that, the field person had to be available for a MetroPower job on a week’s notice.

“Dick gave me one assignment. He said, ‘Let’s build this company.’” Ronnie Hinson

That was the only part of the visit that left Hinson cold. After hours of interviews and conversations, Hinson was impressed with the caliber of the people of PPC Partners. Dick made the o≠er, and Hinson became MetroPower’s president, e≠ective June 1983, with the understanding that he could stay in Albany and open an o∞ce there called Albany Electric. He rented a small room in a 1950s-style house that had been converted into an insurance o∞ce on Slappey Boulevard in Albany. “I had my o∞ce in the kitchen, and our receptionist was in the living room. At first, the phone rang only three to four times a day, not counting wives or children calling.” Hinson traveled the long commute to MetroPower’s Atlanta o∞ce each week in his old, beat-up Chevrolet. Back in Albany, he started building his new MetroPower team. The first two who joined him were Jerry Williams, a field electrician with strong technical skills who worked for Georgia Electric, and Bill Thompson, a Vietnam veteran and trained electrician from Albany who also worked for Georgia Electric. They had a plan for MetroPower that Dick Pieper had developed with the Atlanta team a few years earlier. It was comprehensive, detailed, and virtually timeless. (It

“Ronnie has always been a good student. He and his new team learned our business one piece at a time, and, in five years, MetroPower was doing everything Pieper Electric was doing.” Dick Pieper

This Job is Worth Peanuts But before MetroPower ran, it had to walk at a steady (profitable) gait. The answer was peanuts. Hinson had heard about a new peanut processing plant that Alimenta Processing Company planned for Camilla, Georgia. He asked his wife, Brenda (who doubled as a part-

Georgia on My Mind

time secretary), to call the engineering firm handling the bids. “Ma’am,” the properly raised Southern boy told Brenda, “this project is only for companies who were invited to bid and prequalified.” “But we were invited and prequalified,” Brenda replied, making a wild guess, but sounding dead certain. “Well then, Ma’am, we’ll be happy to provide you with the plans.” Hinson went to work on the estimate for the $423,000 job—a huge opportunity for a company with no more than $1.2 million in annual revenues. Later joining Hinson in the estimating tasks was Bill Dotson, an engineer trained at the University of Maryland who had a fierce competitive streak (he had been a college varsity lineman). Just before the Alimenta project surfaced in Albany, Dotson had successfully estimated a megaproject for MetroPower’s Atlanta o∞ce: a $905,000 electrical contract for the new Cobb County Detention Center in Marietta, Georgia. A freelance estimator, Dotson’s meticulous work was a godsend. Hinson and Dotson had experience with big jobs, but Hinson cleared the Alimenta bid with Dick Pieper, just the same. It was their first, formal bid. “Down in Albany, we didn’t even have company stationary, so Brenda made it up on our IBM Selectric. She rode with me down to the plant in Camilla to turn it in,” Hinson recalls. “There were four or five bidders, and we didn’t come in low.” But in contracting, bidding isn’t over until it’s truly over. A few days later, Frank Lamb from Alimenta Processing called Hinson and asked if MetroPower could supply a processing unit that was integral to the project from a di≠erent supplier at the same price MetroPower had bid. Hinson went to work and found an equally good

processor that fit the cost parameters. They won the job. Hinson called Jerome Harrison from Andalusia, Alabama. “Every time Georgia Electric had a job there,” Hinson says, “We called on Jerome. He always did terrific work.” “I can’t go to this contract signing alone,” Hinson told Harrison, then in his 60s. “Come with me, would you? I’ve got butterflies in my stomach.” The pair appeared in the rather grand o∞ces of Alimenta Processing Company. Hinson knew that the top man at Alimenta had reservations about his little company. He knew Hinson didn’t have the team assembled yet to do the work. He told Hinson as the pair left his o∞ce, “I’m banking on Frank Lamb knowing that ya’ll can get this job done on time.”

“That first year was the most fun I’ve ever had in my career. I took calculated risks, but I was also assured that I had the support around me.” Ronnie Hinson

Butterflies or not, MetroPower performed. The project team included Harrison, Thompson, Williams, and Wayne Wells, plus about 14 others. “It was a group of good folks, plus we had a good core group of people working in Atlanta. It was enough to build the foundation for our company.” MetroPower started work right after Independence Day in 1983, and they had 90 days to finish to avoid being charged liquidated damages (a fine for every day after the completion date a contractor is still working). “That’s a sobering consequence when you don’t have many employees,” Hinson recalls.

Chapter Four: 1980–1989

Humble Beginnings he senior leaders of MetroPower who joined the company in its early years have never forgotten where they came from. They bring their core values and strong work ethic practiced early in life to their roles today.

The Stock boy Bill Thompson was the second person to join Ronnie Hinson at MetroPower in 1983, and he was a workhorse from the start. Raised by his widowed mother, Thompson picked peas and butterbeans to help pay for his school clothes as early as age 10, and he started work in an Albany, Georgia, grocery store at age 14. After high school, he landed a helper’s job with an electrical company, knowing nothing about the

trade. Thompson put in a 40-hour week and then reported to the grocery store at 5 p.m. on Friday afternoon. With restocking to do, Thompson often worked until 3 a.m., only to return at 10 a.m. on Saturday to work 10 hours and then report back at 1 p.m. on Sunday. “It wasn’t until I joined the United States Air Force that I realized I worked 75–80 hours a week,” he says. “I never thought it was unusual. Suddenly, I had ‘normal’ hours in the service.” Thompson served 19 months in Vietnam and later joined Georgia Electric in 1970, thanks to a foreman friend, earning a modest $1.25 an hour to start. Thompson learned his craft in the field, and that’s where he is most comfortable. He worked as a superintendent and as a construction manager overseeing several projects; today, many branch managers and department managers report to him. “If they have a problem, they’ll call, and I get involved,” he says with characteristic humility. “Otherwise, they have the skills to handle most everything.” Thompson has attracted strong talent to MetroPower, and he takes pleasure in seeing those people grow into leaders.

The Sportsman

Bill Thompson had reason to be proud of his first car, a ‘54 Ford which cost him $327.

Arnold Geeslin Jr. remembers Ronnie Hinson from the Georgia Electric days because Geeslin was an owner of an electrical supply firm that supplied him with electrical parts. When Hinson courted Alimenta Processing Company, Geeslin went along to talk about switchgears and other supplies needed for the big peanut process-

ing job. Not long afterward, Geeslin started his own electrical contracting business in Albany, specializing in service work. Hinson and Geeslin began collaborating on project estimates, and it made sense for him to join MetroPower in 1986. Like many in electrical contracting, Geeslin had a father in the business. Born and raised in Albany, Geeslin’s dad owned a small electrical supply house, and the family lived on a farm. A lover of hunting and fishing, Arnold, the older of two boys, made a pact with his buddies to stay in Albany and attend junior college so they could enjoy their favorite sports together. After that, Geeslin enrolled at Auburn University where he earned a degree in electrical engineering in 1976. Eighteen years later, while an executive at MetroPower, Geeslin studied videotaped classroom lectures from 5:00 to 6:30 a.m. each morning to earn his MBA. Now that’s discipline. Today, Geeslin is based at MetroPower’s office in Albany. His focus is building and strengthening existing customer relationships, especially with area hospitals and the systems that serve them, including nurse call, doctor call, and fire alarm systems. Believing that newcomers with management potential who join MetroPower need nurturing and coaching, Geeslin developed an educational program expressly for management trainees. It is intended to draw on the knowledge of MetroPower experts and leaders who share their expertise of the electrical

Georgia on My Mind

experience with earning an MBA later in life, Arnold Geeslin is an ardent advocate of lifelong learning.

The Energizer Bunny

Arnold Geeslin took aim early with this prized 22 rifle.

contracting industry and their knowledge of the company’s practices, expectations and culture. Geeslin works with the youngest of the management trainees and his colleague, Danny Gibson, coaches the more experienced new recruits. Geeslin meets with his younger charges about three times a year and, in each learning session, he includes an ethics exercise based on a real life industry scenario. In this case study approach, Geeslin lays out the facts of a contracting scenario and asks his young management trainees to huddle and choose an outcome. “It gives them a chance to consider a real set of facts and decide what is the ethical decision,” he says. “Simply put, if they think about the golden rule, it’s all they need as a guide.” In addition, Geeslin has designed a new branch manager course for MetroPower’s growing educational academy. Building on his own

Danny Gibson seemed destined to be in business for himself. His dad farmed in Chula, Georgia—cotton, tobacco, peanuts, and hogs—and he also studied electrical engineering at Auburn University. Gibson came from a family of electrical contractors; his grandfather helped build power lines across the Florida Everglades, and his father and two uncles formed Gibson Electric. At first, Gibson was dead set against adopting the family career. “At my home,” he says, “dad got calls from customers at all hours of the day and night.” Gibson, the oldest of four children, had drive and ambition. As a kid, he picked up pecans for a penny a pound. When he saw an ad for the American Seed Company in the back of an old comic book, he ordered seed packs to sell, netting a tidy profit. He mowed yards; collected hundreds of Coca-Cola bottles to redeem for cash; and even raised rabbits, starting with just 6 and soon owning 100. After begging his mom and dad to let him work on his uncle’s farm, Gibson did that from age 12 until his second year at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. At age 13, Gibson was also the youngest loan customer at his hometown bank. He

planned to buy mobile homes, rent them for income, and use his profits to buy a tractor and start his own small farm. Though he wanted to be a large animal veterinarian, Gibson gave the family’s electrical contracting business a try during his second summer of college, working at a construction

Danny Gibson was seldom without his coat and tie, even as a youngster: ( front to back): Alan, Brian and Danny.

site in Virginia. The business was in his blood, Gibson discovered, and he was hooked. Danny Gibson is just as frenetic today as he was as a kid. Only today, he directs his considerable energies to coaching younger managers as they step up to new responsibilities, including starting new branches for MetroPower. “I believe,” he says, “with all my heart and my soul >> that if you’re not growing, you’ll get stagnant

Chapter Four: 1980–1989

[Humble Beginnings continued] >> and die.” That goes for young, up and comers, as well as for Gibson. Gibson is an expert in relationship building and a relentless business developer. The stakes in electrical contracting are bigger today: “There are going to be a few fish in a big pond,” he predicts, “but you know what we’re going to do? We’re going to fish while our competitors sleep.” The Cowboy If anyone knows the highs and lows of business, it’s Danny Buck. Born in Seminole, Texas, and raised by an entrepreneurial stepfather, Buck moved with his family to Mexico, where his stepfather opened a packing plant selling beef to American consumers. Next, his father bred and raised race horses on the Texas panhandle. The family then moved to the remote outback of Australia, where his father noticed hundreds of unbranded cattle and claimed them for his own. By that time, Danny Buck was old enough to drive the collected herd 3,000 miles from Brisbane, Australia, to Darwin, Australia with a team of Texas ranch hands and a few Aborigines. Buck also got to be very good with a rifle because he shot kangaroos that his father turned into canned dog food. “Dad was a gambler,” Buck says, “an entrepreneur who made several million one year and was flat broke the next. In no time, we’d go from a mansion to a double-wide trailer. That taught me a lot about what not to do in business.” Like Danny Gibson, Buck also wanted to be a veterinarian, but he couldn’t afford the tuition.

Every girl at Hobbs Elementary School in Hobbs, New Mexico, probably had a crush on young Danny Buck.

He turned to trade school in Texas, became an electrician, and started Buck Electric at age 20 with a $400 investment. He was successful and sold his business seven years later for a hefty profit. Thinking he could multiply that sum many times over with more new businesses, he took on ventures he knew little about: metal working, furniture stripping, and three restaurants. “I hired people as managers that I didn’t know,” he says. “It was the best business lesson of my life. In less than a year, I was flat broke, and I owed the bank $100,000.” Like father, like son. But Buck learned to do business differently. Buck returned to the business he knew— electrical contracting—and joined Lord Electric,

where he managed big jobs and huge crews in Texas. When Lord acquired Glass Electric in Atlanta, Buck was asked to relocate and be a senior officer. When his parent company was named in a price-fixing scandal, Buck’s business mentor advised him to exit Glass Electric before the subsidiary folded. Along the way, Dick Pieper started calling Danny Buck. Buck said mostly gracious “no, thank-you’s” for almost a full year when Dick asked him to join MetroPower. It was a pipsqueak company in 1986, still getting its land legs, Buck thought. But Dick kept calling. By March 1987, Buck was flying to Milwaukee and learning more about PPC Partners. “I didn’t believe anybody could operate the way Dick’s company did,” Buck says. “He talked about continuing education for people, ethical business behavior, and treating people fairly. The quality of his company’s culture was more important than its numbers.” Danny Buck joined MetroPower in 1987 and today he is its president. Developing people by giving them the education and coaching they need to be successful is one of Buck’s top priorities. He’s particularly proud of leading the development of management academies at MetroPower taught by the company’s own experienced people. These academies are focused on project management, branch management, administrative support, and field supervision. There will be more to come. “Developing people,” Buck says, “is MetroPower’s top growth strategy.” n

Georgia on My Mind

Miracle or Mistake?

MetroPower’s Atlanta o∞ce, he stopped at Tensar’s construction site with donuts and a smile. It had been weeks since the bids were submitted, and Hinson was eager for an answer. When he visited, Hinson had MetroPower’s financials showing its first profitable month. “We haven’t made a decision yet,” Tensar’s Dick Gallant told ≤onnie. “What do you have there?” Hinson handed Gallant the financial statements. “Well, ≤onnie,” Gallant smiled, “we like to do business with people who make a profit.” A week later, Tensar called MetroPower with a thumbs up, even though they were only the third best price among five bidders. They started work on January 2, 1984. “Who knows why he gave us a chance,” Hinson says today. “One look at our financials, and he could see we were a small company. But they were a start-up venture, too. It was another one of those miracles.” The project expanded, and when MetroPower finished its work, the contract totaled $923,000. MetroPower still works with Tensar today.

The Alimenta project was something of a miracle. Frank Lamb didn’t know Hinson or MetroPower, yet he backed the choice with his boss. The next miracle came from ≤oger East, an engineer with Amoco Fabrics and Fibers, a former customer of Georgia Electric based in Hazelhurst, Georgia. East knew Hinson, Thompson, and Williams. “He called in the fall of 1983 and said, ‘We’ve got this small job in Afton, Virginia, called Sunburst Yards, and I’m going to send you the drawings to estimate a price,’ ” Hinson says. “Our price was $29,000, and I found out the next lowest bidder was $50,000-plus. Ouch,” Hinson says. “We didn’t even have a license to work in Virginia so we had to go to the courthouse to apply. There was no guarantee that we’d get it. In those days, people were leery of outsiders coming in to compete. “Ultimately,” Hinson says, “the job grew by three times and so did the budget. It was a profitable project for MetroPower, and the company that acquired Amoco is still a customer today. That longevity with Amoco comes right down to our people.”

You’re in the Army Now

Donuts and a Smile

The miracles didn’t stop, Hinson says. In November 1983, MetroPower landed the first of 37 Army hospital computer-cabling projects, starting first with Martin Army Hospital at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia. But what did MetroPower know about computer cabling? Not much. Thankfully, Norman Fitzpatrick in the Atlanta o∞ce was more skilled than most electricians and willing to tackle a challenge. He was joined by Bill Thompson, a seasoned electrician. How did the Army pick MetroPower? They simply went to the phone book and called electrical contractors. “Your company was the only one that called us back,”

Not long after MetroPower landed the Amoco contract, they were allowed to bid on a 175,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Morrow, Georgia, for Atlanta-based Tensar Corporation, a maker of erosion control and turf reinforcement mat products. Tensar had just been formed in 1983 through a joint venture of Gulf Canada Limited and Netlon Limited of the United Kingdom. Dotson and Hinson did the estimate, and the electrical contracting project was worth $466,068 to MetroPower if it won in the private bidding. Every week during late 1983 when Hinson traveled to

Chapter Four: 1980–1989

the Army’s representative told Hinson several years later, “and the guy who called us back was Norman.” Fitzpatrick and Thompson walked through the 10-story hospital at Fort Benning with the contact person from Systems and Facilities Corporation, the Army’s representative. In 1983, computing was in its infancy, but the hospital was being equipped with the latest gear spread out over many locations in the building. Computer printers were on multiple floors, and they had to be connected by cable to the mainframe computers in the hospital basement. The computer room required electrical outlets and wiring for air conditioning.

in North Carolina and Fort Lee in Virginia. “Norman,” Hinson said, “please tell the Army that we don’t have the money to be traveling around the country.” Soon afterward, MetroPower landed the Fort Benning project and 36 others all over the country, including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto ≤ico.

Have Tool Belts—Will Travel For about two years, airports were Norman Fitzpatrick’s second home. “I’d fly out Monday morning to an Army hospital,” he says, “and get back Wednesday or Thursday.” He often flew in two-seater planes with only a pilot, sometimes in storms and ferocious winds that threatened a crash. He witnessed a descent through high mountains, dropping suddenly to a runway in Nome, Alaska. “I’ve flown with some excellent pilots,” he says, “but it was very harrowing.” Bill Thompson traveled from New York to Indiana to Alaska to the Panama Canal for the Army. “Typically, I’d take two or three men with me; we’d get to the motel, drop our bags, and go find the hospital,” he remembers. “I’d meet our contact person and walk the hospital with the drawings I’d already studied. The next morning, we’d be on the job laying out our plan and starting work. During the day, we’d work in the computer rooms, away from the medical activity. At night, we’d focus on pulling cable through the floors and up the elevator shafts, when no one was around. We’d set a goal to meet, and we wouldn’t leave until we met it. Maybe 10 or 11 p.m. Most of the jobs took 7 to 10 days, and we always beat the schedule.” When Thompson’s crew groused about the travel, Hinson said, “I can’t believe it. When I was your age, I just loved to travel and see all the sights.” “But you haven’t worked with Bill Thompson,” the

“ Always give the customer more than they want and more than they pay for. If you do that, everything will fall into place.” Norman Fitzpatrick, electrician with MetroPower since 1980

Fitzpatrick studied the Army’s detailed building plans crowded with miniscule notations. He considered every twist and turn and the dimensions of rooms and doors to determine how much cable the job would require: about 60,000 feet. He came back to Hinson with a $15,000 project estimate. MetroPower had never done a job like this, and Hinson was skeptical. What if Norman missed something? A lot of outlets and receptacles and thousands of feet of cable were involved in the job. If there are more projects, MetroPower would be held to $15,000, regardless of where it was, how long it took to get there, and how many unexpected problems occurred. Hinson upped the project price to $30,676. Even before MetroPower got the go-ahead on the first project, Fitzpatrick was also called to Fort Bragg

Georgia on My Mind

younger men answered. “It’s dark when we go to work, and it’s dark when we get o≠!” Norman Fitzpatrick proved he was an ace estimator on those hospital jobs. His initial $15,000 estimate was correct, giving MetroPower dozens of highly profitable projects when the little company needed them most. From that point on, MetroPower was in the cabling business and the company no longer saw losses.

newcomer to MetroPower, turned in three weeks of expenses in one day. “Mr. Gibson,” she said, “This is not a savings account. You will turn expenses in every week and we will write a check when you turn them in.” He replied with a chastened, “yes, ma’am.” Equally firm with customers when it was time to pay their bills, Miss Scholten was nicknamed “MetroBetty.” When she called, customers did not put her o≠. Along with perseverance and her persnickety nature, Miss Betty also had a sense of humor. Left without enough to do in the early days of MetroPower in Atlanta, Fitzpatrick and his electrician sidekick, Bob ≤ogers, cooked up little shenanigans for their o∞cemates. “The first thing Miss Betty did each morning was fill a big glass of water from the cooler,” Fitzpatrick says. “The night before, we put goldfish in the big water jug and taped it up so it wouldn’t leak. There was enough clean water left in the funnel leading to the dispenser. We arrived early the next day and watched Miss Betty fill her glass. She stood there taking a swallow . . . and then she saw the fish . . . and then she screamed!” Proving her good nature, she still issued Fitzpatrick and ≤ogers their checks that week. (On another day, the pair of pranksters rigged the light in a coworker’s cubicle to a fire alarm. When he flipped the light on and sat down at his computer, the alarm timed out and filled the small MetroPower o∞ce with a deafening screech.) As the 1980s progressed, “MetroBetty” would have plenty more dollars and cents to corral on her ledger sheets. By 1985, MetroPower’s sales would increase to $2.3 million. Annual sales in fiscal 1986 would nearly double to $4 million, and heading into the new decade of the 1990s, MetroPower would post 1989 sales of $6.79 million. Like its sister company to the north, Metro-

“ As foreman, I earned a bonus if we met the production schedule. For a young guy with a family, that was great.” Bill Thompson

A Woman with Cents At the end of ≤onnie Hinson’s first year as president, MetroPower’s numbers looked decidedly di≠erent. Starting with revenues of just $17,022.69 and a loss of $5,005.57 in June 1983, the company’s fiscal year ended in May 1984 with total sales of $1,839,059 and a net profit of $213,683.94. Don’t forget the cents, their obsessively conscientious bookkeeper Betty Scholten reminded everyone. “Miss Betty” rarely lost a penny; if she did, she would pore over her calculations until the lost cent was found. Her pencil entries were so neat and precise, they looked like typesetting. “She was a perfectionist, and she worked hours trying to reconcile the numbers,” Norman Fitzpatrick remembers. “When she was o≠ a penny one night, I took one out of my pocket and dropped it on her desk. ‘Here, this’ll fix it.’ ” “Oh, no,” Miss Betty frowned. “I’m going to search until I find it.” She was not amused when Danny Gibson, then a

Chapter Four: 1980–1989

Power showed solid profits every year and proved the wisdom of that strategic move to Georgia in 1980.

also did the engineering work involved in laying out each panel and mounting and wiring the electromagnetic controls. In the mid-1970s, however, electronic components were replacing the traditional ones on control panels, and, by 1978, programmable controls were more compact and eliminated much of the “hard wiring” of these panels. Had Pieper Electric focused on only assembly and wiring work, the panel shop business would have probably flat-lined. Instead, the company committed resources to identifying people who could understand and work with software to run these electronic components. Around 1980, this became Pieper Electric’s Automation Controls Division, with control systems manufacturing, on-site engineering, and software design. That specialty branch, now led by Eric West, has grown into a worldwide business, building automation controls for industries as diverse as mining, package sorting, carrying natural gas through pipelines, and making prison security doors and jail cells.

“Get an Order, Start Building” While MetroPower was hitting its stride during the early 1980s, a small niche business called the Panel Shop was morphing into a specialty with promise at Pieper Electric. As in many stories at PPC Partners, this niche grew when one person had an idea and took the initiative to see it through.

“We have about 33 markets we’ve identified that have the potential to become a new department, branch, or even company. A person just has to step up.” Dick Pieper

“Around 1969, one of our employees told me he would like to build electrical control panels,” Dick Pieper remembers, “and we said, ‘Go get an order, start building them, and let’s see how it works.’ That’s how we got into the control panel business.” These customized panels hold a series of switches that control large pieces of manufacturing equipment. Imagine a canning factory or a printing press with mechanized parts along a production line. Electricity powers each component in the manufacturing process, and a panel of switches, relays, and timers control its function. For many years, several small companies in the Midwest, including Pieper Electric, assembled control panels for the makers of manufacturing equipment. It seemed only natural for the company to o≠er this service because it handled electrical wiring jobs for many diverse manufacturers. Along with building the panels, Pieper Electric

“Today, we design, build, test, deliver, install, and start-up sophisticated automation controls worldwide. Panel manufacturing long ago led us to software engineering.” Eric West, branch supervisor, Automation Controls Division

Nice Niche If You Can Get It Back in the 1980s, though, the new Automation Controls Division was a business in search of a niche where it could demonstrate its capabilities and then do it again and again on multiple projects. The first niche to emerge was water and wastewater treatment plants.

Georgia on My Mind

The breakthrough started with a scramble. “Typically, we hired a subcontractor to handle the instrumentation and control work for our treatment plant projects, but we couldn’t come to an agreement on the contract with them,” says Leo Maney, a construction administration graduate who joined Pieper Electric right out of college in 1985. “Norm Doll gave me the chance to step in. We hired a temporary electrical designer to help me, and we bought a computer aided design (CAD) system and all the equipment we needed to design and build the automated controls for the South Shore wastewater treatment plant blower/generator project. We did it for half the price the subcontractor had quoted us. After that, we started o≠ering the whole package to other customers.”

either of their o∞ces, thinking, ‘There’s no way we can do this new project,’ and I’d leave 30 minutes later with a plan and—most importantly—I knew I could do it.”

“When we got into automation controls, we entered a new market niche, and we made money at the same time. That was heady work for a kid right out of college.” Leo Maney, branch manager, Water/Wastewater Treatment, Pieper Electric

All That Jazz Since 1960, when Dick Pieper bought Pieper Electric from his father, Dick had always imagined a highly decentralized business with many branch o∞ces spread out over the country. Each branch would have the freedom to pursue electrical contracting projects they chose. Each branch manager could be an entrepreneur with the considerable advantage of a financially strong company behind him. With all that freedom came accountability, and the business model attracted people with ambition and drive. “Peter Drucker (called “the father of modern management” in the 1980s) used the phrase homeostatic control, and he applied it to our company,” Dick says. “Drucker said that we control our services at the event level by giving authority and the skills to the person who does the work. Then we give that person the information on how he or she is doing with the work. If there’s a problem, that person—in most cases—has the authority to correct the problem and satisfy our customer in the most e≠ective way. It may mean a loss or a profit, but that is not the ultimate consideration. Doing the right thing is.” Individual initiative like this is often the source of new

“The technology applied to wastewater treatment plants went from relays to software to complete automation. The changes were profound, and they spelled opportunity for us.” Dick Pieper

At a treatment plant, these control systems involve sensors that monitor pressure, flow, temperature, level, and other process parameters. These sensors are wired to control panels, motor control centers, and computers with built-in software designed to run the plants. The control system is then programmed to start and stop pumps, for example, or open and close gates designed to contain the wastewater. Maney eventually went on to manage Pieper Electric’s Water/Wastewater Treatment branch. Along the way, he had guidance and support from its more experienced managers, Norm Doll and Ken Phelps. “I could walk into

Chapter Four: 1980–1989

Lifelong Learning Pays oday’s business leaders would not argue with the wisdom of this statement made more than 25 years ago: “Education is going to be a lifeline—not just to get the job but to keep the job.” Federico Zaragoza, the dean of continuing education and business outreach at the Milwaukee Area Technical College said this in the Milwaukee Journal in the mid-1980s. The people of PPC Partners could not have agreed more. In continuing education, they were ahead of the curve for American companies, and the Journal featured them in an article titled, “Company Urges Lifelong Learning.” “Richard Jacobson took a course in fiber optics,” the article began. “Ken Zblicki took one in splicing high-voltage wires. Jeff Fredricksen took one on using devices to ground electrical systems. He also studied public speaking.” “All three men—electricians at Pieper Electric Inc.—took the courses on their own time. But

Pieper paid the bill and provided the classroom. The courses were offered as part of an extensive training program that Pieper Electric, a Milwaukee contractor, has offered its workers for some 15 years.” Make that 25 years of ongoing continuing education by the mid-1980s. American business was adopting what Pieper Electric had already embraced, and the experts confirmed the trend. In 1985, the Work in America Institute declared that organizations should see themselves as “institutions of continuous learning.” The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) predicted that by the year 2000, 75 percent of all workers currently employed would need retraining. (Had they projected to 2012, the percentage might have been higher as America saw mainstay manufacturing decline and the Internet age dominate work.)

Pieper: An Early Adopter “With total sales in the low seven figures, Pieper Electric is a fairly small company to have any kind of training system,” Anthony Carnevale, the chief economist for the ASTD, told the Journal. Even an organized one at that. In 1983, Pieper created its own learning center decked out with carpeting, a large conference table, comfortable chairs, blackboard and the latest audiovisual (AV) equipment. A poster on the wall said it all: “You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.” By 1985, the company reported that employees took 2,709 hours of continuing education courses; by 1988, 74 percent of the company’s employees had participated in some kind of educational course. In addition, with the help of the Milwaukee School of Engineering, Pieper Electric personnel had developed

In May, 1991, Pieper Electric honored 134 employees for excellence in their continuing education classes. One visiting industry expert told Dick: “I’d like to clone these people and send them all over the country.”

Georgia on My Mind

seven electrical engineering courses for their electricians. The coursework was broad. Though the initial emphasis was on technical skills, other courses were introduced when employees asked for them: CPR, accounting for nonaccountants, and speech craft. Along with classroom education, there were informal idea-sharing sessions. Bill Adams, an electrical engineer who joined Pieper Electric in 1982 and led the company’s customer service group for many years, hosted a luncheon every two weeks for first-line managers: “We’d discuss a leadership book, or I’d bring people in to talk with us: our mayor, our US Senator, a local judge,” Adams says. “I wanted our young managers to have interaction with people they might not bump into in everyday life.”

Let’s Be Practical When asked why Pieper Electric had made such an investment in education, Dick Pieper was practical: with the $17 per hour rate paid to union electricians, the initial aim, he told the Journal, was “to upgrade the skills of our people,

Down in Albany, Georgia, MetroPower people, including ≤onnie Hinson (center, light hair) cracked the books in their continuing education class.

to justify the expense.” When Pieper started its continuing education program, Milwaukee’s construction business was 70 percent or more union, but by the mid-1980s, union dominance had dropped to 20 percent. “Training,” Dick said, “was one of a number of things we did to address that issue.” Jack Ott, a Pieper Electric troubleshooter and service truck driver, quickly saw the value of this thinking: “If Pieper Electric can increase our knowledge, it’s going to pay off. If we learn how to do things more quickly, that will save the company money.” But there was more to continuing education at Pieper Electric than dollars

and cents. “It seems like they care about what you know,” Jeff Fredricksen, a service truck driver, told the Journal. “Other contractors don’t do this. They just tell their men to do the job.” In the old days of electrical contracting, a person earned a high school diploma followed by four years of apprenticeship training on the job and in the classroom. “When he finished that, the traditional man was told to stop thinking,” Dick Pieper said. “That was an insult to the person.” Not so at Pieper Electric (and soon MetroPower, its new sister company). Each employee in the 1980s had his or her own voluntary standard of learning to try to live up to. Craftsmen were expected to take 16 hours or more a year. And Dick Pieper had his own plan to spend 10 percent of his time in learning—a goal that the education-hungry Pieper would routinely exceed. n

Chapter Four: 1980–1989

markets, too, says Danny Buck, MetroPower president. “Every year, we have a list of new markets, but our own people come up with new ones we’ve never considered. They can generate a small business plan and if it makes sense, they are very seldom told ‘no.’ Instead, we tell them, ‘Go start it and see what happens.’ That’s how we got into power systems for data centers and uninterruptable power source (UPS). We are absolutely entering an era where diversification will be a key player in our company.”

“and a central purchasing agent. It drove us crazy. We started dismantling things again. We eliminated most of the centralized functions. The overall goal was to have independent businesses by design.” Too many rules can kill incentive.

“We hire people who are entrepreneurs, and they want to run things their own way. With time, they get wiser and understand how a collaborative culture can be a win-win.”

“Decentralization gives PPC Partners the ability to develop and grow many more management people.”

Larry Horning, controller, MP Systems

But how can an organization maintain its spirit of entrepreneurship as it grows? That’s a tough one, says Doll. “I think it’s continuity of management, and PPC Partners has that. If the company can keep that continuity, their leaders will recognize the value of what they have and protect it.” The advantages of decentralization—in the opinion of PPC Partners veterans and newcomers alike—continues to outweigh its disadvantages. “Being decentralized means that people can be flexible and make their own decisions,” says Bill Adams, retired vice president of the customer service group for Pieper Electric. “You can save a customer relationship or go after a new job. It’s all about empowerment.”

Bill Doppstadt, PPC Partners board of directors

This highly decentralized model based on individual responsibility and authority is not the norm in electrical contracting, but it suits PPC Partners just fine. When Dick Pieper describes the company, he likens it to a jazz band, rather than a symphony orchestra led by one conductor. Each player in the jazz band has a vital part in the performance, and they’re encouraged to improvise. Equally important, peer accountability among players raises the level of quality. Most people agree that collaboration is the best way to achieve harmony and success. In today’s business parlance, it’s called synergy. Over the years, skeptics have pointed out the challenges of managing a highly decentralized company: “It’s like herding cats or trying to get butterflies to fly in formation,” one observer said. “Pieper? That’s the company with all the little fiefdoms,” another joked. Size can also lead to creeping bureaucracy. When Norm Doll joined Pieper Electric in 1983, the company had grown significantly in two decades. “We had rule books,” Doll says,

Joining the Band Joining a jazz band was a lot more attractive to entrepreneurs who had also created and grown their own small electrical contracting companies. Throughout the 1980s, PPC Partners attracted a number of these companies, and one of them was Carroll Electric, a merit shop based in Beloit, Wisconsin.

Georgia on My Mind

Pat Carroll’s grandfather, Albert, taught his sons Cecil and Lou Carroll how to be electricians. In 1926, Albert staked his sons to a new company, Carroll Electric, and they were successful until the Great Depression in the early 1930s forced them to sell out. Nearly three decades later in 1968, Pat Carroll, Albert’s grandson, learned the electrician’s trade and revived Carroll Electric. Later, Pat merged his company with Botsford Electric, and the combined venture was eventually sold. Even so, Pat Carroll’s entrepreneurial nature drove him to start again. “I met with ≤onnie Hinson at MetroPower in Atlanta,” Pat Carroll said. “During many sales calls, the concept of a merit or open shop kept surfacing, and I learned about its advantages from ≤onnie.” Pat Carroll opened his merit shop business in Beloit, once again calling it Carroll Electric. “My concept was to establish a group of small shops within a 50-mile radius of Beloit,” he said. “I regained our old customer base, and we established shops in Je≠erson and Watertown, Wisconsin. Later came our o∞ces in Delavan and Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin.” Dick Pieper knew and respected Pat Carroll. “We were competitors in Beloit,” Dick says. “Pat was a smart businessman and a quality person.” They got together and talked. Dick wanted a fallback option—a local merit shop—if the union climate in Wisconsin turned sour. Pat valued Dick’s business acumen. PPC Partners could guarantee Pat the financial backing, management information systems and “back o∞ce” human resources, safety programs and continuing education support. He sold his company to MetroPower in 1984. A few years later, Dick and Pat spent a weekend at Pat’s lake cottage to conduct a SWOT (strengths, weak-

nesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of Carroll Electric. They mapped out a successful venture. “Pat accomplished exactly what he set out to do,” Dick says. “He built four o∞ces in Wisconsin, he was profitable, and he had satisfied customers. It’s a story of successful entrepreneurship.” When Pat Carroll retired in 2000, he was proud. “We were able to develop some fine managers and a manpower pool that grew to 60 people,” he said. “I feel very fortunate.” PPC Partners had other acquisitions in the 1980s that expanded the company’s geographic reach or enhanced its array of services and technical expertise. The company acquired these Wisconsin companies: MCC Powers (environmental controls and computerized energy systems) and Electric Wiring Service Inc. in 1985; Scopp Electric (commercial and industrial) in 1986; Keller Electric in 1987; IDEAL Plumbing and Heating in 1988; and Erickson Electric in 1989. Dixie Electric of Albany joined MetroPower in 1986 and Gibson Electric of Tifton, Georgia, joined in 1988. PPC Partners also acquired Evans Electric of Kansas City, Missouri, in the 1980s, but that purchase proved far more trouble than it was worth. The company was rife with financial problems, and it was owned by a family that used it as their private electrical contracting “workshop.”

SOS Fixit Fumbles The idea had been percolating in Dick Pieper’s fertile brain for years. He remembered his visit to Paris years earlier, where he saw successful Mr. Fixit-style businesses designed to handle a variety of small jobs for homeowners and small businesses. Why not start one in Wisconsin? There was plenty of demand. If the venture

Chapter Four: 1980–1989

proved viable, the company could replicate it around the country. “Anything we did, we always hoped that it was expandable,” says Dick. “Today the word is ‘scalable.’ ” “This was our idea: customers could call us with simple jobs—for example, paint a room, repair a roof, change windows, put in a garbage disposal, install new locks—anything that didn’t require a building permit. No electrical work,” Dick says. “SOS Fixit would supply one person who could do it all.” Give customers the ultimate, reliable handyman. In addition, every handyman on the team would charge the same, fixed rate. Simple. In 1981, Dick hired an ambitious, young woman with a background in marketing to start the business from scratch. She hired the handymen, expedited the jobs, and visited the job sites to understand what her customers needed. When that match didn’t work, Dick hired an architect with a background in building products and the brainpower of a MENSA member to replace her. Still a poor match. Meanwhile, it was becoming apparent that SOS Fixit could not be all things to all customers. “In retrospect,” Dick says, “we probably should have taken one discipline at a time and put it in place. Painting first, then repairing roofs, and then installations. Instead, we said, we’ll take anything you have. In addition, we should have insisted on a quality craftsman who could nurture others from the very beginning.” The strategy was ill-fated, Dick says, but the real reason for the venture’s fumble was not having the right manager. “I picked very smart people with organizational background and drive,” he says. “As it turns out, each person had a confused personal life, and that a≠ected their performance.” Dick was reminded again that—regardless of the old business axiom that said otherwise—the

personal and professional do a≠ect each other. The careful selection of people and fostering their development continues to be the biggest challenge in business. Five years and $250,000 later, SOS Fixit had its last job. It was another lesson learned.

Tell It Like It Is When Dick Pieper talked about running his company based on Old Testament wisdom and Christ’s example, it didn’t mean promoting a religious faith or hiring only Christians. Quite simply, it meant living and doing business in a fair, honest, and reasonable way, and living by the golden rule. Who could argue with that? The Moral Majority, a Christian advocacy group led by Jerry Falwell, had appeared on the American political stage in the late 1970s, but talk of faith-based values was not part of the American business vocabulary in the 1980s. Mary Beth Murphy, a reporter from the Milwaukee Sentinel convinced Dick to go public on this subject, several years after PPC Partners added this new sentence to its mission statement in 1982: “We will conduct ourselves with the teachings of the Old Testament and the example of Christ.” The addition came from a planning meeting of senior leaders who explored “the essence or uniqueness” of the company. One key factor that emerged was ethical, fair-minded behavior in an industry not known for its squeaky clean practices. Dick had been purposely low key about the addition to the mission statement until some of his colleagues urged him to go public. He told the Sentinel reporter that a lot of business executives in Milwaukee would probably be “quietly rolling in the aisles” as they read her story. It was one thing to talk about business ethics, he said,

I enjoy the people I work with.

Chapter Four: 1980–1989

but when Christ is brought into a discussion on ethical behavior, it’s branded as religious fanaticism. “We’re not operating a Christian business,” he told her. “≤eligion does not belong in business. . . . If a business is to have a religious objective, then it no longer is a business.” Dick was straightforward about his own faith in the article. He said he was a member of Bay Shore Lutheran Church in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, and he had “a high commitment to my Lord.” Dick and a group of business colleagues met monthly by conference call to share what they were thankful for and prayerful about. But, he said, “I work hard at avoiding any imposition of my faith on our employees, customers, and business.”

Dick and the company’s leadership team spent more than a year considering this wording change. “A person who traveled the world told us that he could talk to any leader and be welcome in any environment, if he used the word Jesus,” Dick said, “but if he used Christ, in some countries, he might be jailed or beheaded. After a lot of thought and research, we decided that the example of Jesus is a more universally understood concept.”

“Even if a person doesn’t have a faith or isn’t a∞liated with a religious group, they understand the general principles of being kind and treating others as you would like to be treated.”

“What our mission represents is a big reason why I’m here. The example of Jesus is all about treating people fairly, and that’s what guides us.”

Michelle Millard, executive assistant to the president of Pieper Electric

In 1989, PPC Partners also crafted its first ethics statement, and it was worded as follows: “It is the intention of PPC Partners to conduct its business in accordance with the highest ethical and legal standards. As business professionals, we will carry out our duties with honesty and integrity. We will not violate any federal, state, or local laws, including antitrust. We will not discriminate because of race, creed, color or national origin, religion, sex, handicap, or other prohibited reasons.”

Danny Gibson, MetroPower vice president/branch manager

In fact, the PPC Partners of today reflects many faith practices and, for some employees, none at all. ≤egardless of this, employees say that the statement in their company’s mission makes them proud of the company’s values, whether they are themselves believers or not. The language is unusual for a corporate mission statement and probably could happen only in a privately held company. Some years after the sentence was added to PPC’s mission statement, the language was altered, replacing “Christ” with “Jesus.” The change emerged after a longrange planning session held at the Cedars in Arlington, Virginia, sponsors of the decades-old National Prayer Breakfast.

“We’re not trying to make a bold statement as a company. We make our statement based on how we act toward others.” Scott Riemer, manager, Pieper Electric Estimating

In the 1980s when the “Keating Five,” a group of US Senators, were part of a savings and loan corruption

Georgia on My Mind

scandal, and Michael Milken, the junk bond baron, was found guilty of investment fraud, a Midwestern company with an ethics statement and Jesus in its mission was refreshing indeed.

electrical contracting industry’s future and asking Grau to respond. Grau’s answers seemed to fit PPC Partners’ play book perfectly. “It appears that the best opportunities are for regional firms, rather than national ones,” Grau told Dick. “The general downsizing of new construction projects and the shift from new construction to modernization projects has created this trend. I expect this to continue, unless some economy of scale is found relating to a unique specialty, new technology, or the ability to move into certain geographical markets while other areas are declining.” Grau described the shared goals of most private, family-owned electrical contractors that did not fit Dick Pieper’s picture of the future: “These types of companies are driven by di≠erent forces than a typical publically-held company,” Grau said. “Instead of responding to stock price/earning ratios, earnings per share, and short-term performance, the typical electrical contractor is more concerned about building an estate. Money is seldom reinvested to build the business; it is usually assumed that business will not extend beyond the life of the owner. This is probably why you never see another electrical contractor recruiting on a college campus.” Dick asked Grau if there was opportunity for growth even in tough economic times, and his answer was affirmative. “Construction and modernization will continue to be an important part of our future economy,” Grau said. “In addition, the electrical and mechanical portions continue to be a growing portion of an entire project.” Quality will be a priority, Grau said. “Just as they became disenchanted with union contractors in the past, many

Hope after “Black Monday” As the 1980s drew to a close, Americans were reminded how interdependent the world had become. In 1986, the world’s worst nuclear accident occurred when a reactor blew up at Chernobyl power station near Kiev, USS≤. In 1987, Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev began his campaign for openness and reform in the Soviet government. In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, opening East Germany to the world, and Chinese students called for democratic reform in Peking’s Tiananmen Square. All of these stunning events had implications for an interdependent world that Canadian scholar Marshall McLuhan had called “the global village” decades earlier. At home, the US stock market slid 508 points on Black Monday, October 19, 1987, the worst decline since the Great Depression, and America’s economy took a roller coaster ride—mostly downhill. At PPC Partners, though, there was good news. Pieper Electric and MetroPower together posted annual sales of $31.9 million in 1988 and $37.4 million in 1989, an astronomical leap of approximately 280 percent from its performance in 1980 ($9.8 million). PPC Partners was ready, in Dick’s words, to “blast o≠.” The company had solid management in place and ambitious plans for expansion. It was financially sound, and its profitability exceeded industry averages. Ever the student looking for new information and intelligence, Dick wrote to John Grau, then executive vice president of NECA, o≠ering his own analysis of the

Chapter Four: 1980–1989

A Little Help From My Friends sk any leader at PPC Partners what the single, most important goal of the company is and the answer may surprise you. It isn’t profit, market share, or innovation, though they certainly matter. The answer is developing people to their highest potential. That is how the company prospers long-term. At PPC Partners, it means giving away your knowledge and being a mentor to others. That idea flies in the face of conventional business thinking. Knowledge is power, right? Give it away, and you’re less powerful. Tell somebody how to do your job. And she might take your job.

It’s the opposite for this company. Give it away at PPC Partners and you’re more powerful. People who mentor others and train their replacements rise in the organization. “The only way you can move up is to replace yourself before you go to another job,” says Ronnie Hinson, PPC Partners’ second chief executive officer after Dick Pieper. “The only way you can grow is by developing others.” If this statement weren’t proven year after year, it would sound like pie-in-the-sky idealism. But it is proven, and a recent look at the outcomes of management training underscores the importance of good mentors. “We now understand that every trainee has to have the right mentor if that person is going to have the best chance of success,” says Hinson. Some are natural mentors. Others need coaching. But no one disputes the importance of mentorship in the culture of this company. Chris Surges, the manager of two major construction branches at Pieper Electric, started doing streetlighting projects. “Norm Doll kept at me to hire my replacement and work on the development of other people, so my very first year, I took on an intern,” he says. It didn’t go well. Surges didn’t understand what it meant to be a good mentor, but he learned from Doll’s example. “It wasn’t until my fourth intern that I finally understood my role,” says Surges. “That guy really progressed, and a year or two later, he took over streetlighting. I got to go on and try new things.”

As he became a better mentor, Surges learned to give people projects that matter. When Surges was an intern himself, Norm Doll, then president of Pieper Electric, noticed Surges’ analytical strengths. He gave him a chance to study industry financial data, picking out trends in sales, overhead, and profit. “I got to talk with Norm about what I noticed in the data,” Surges says. “Even if he didn’t use my work at all, I felt empowered. I remember that experience when I choose assignments for interns today.” If you’re new to the company, hang around and be observant, says Surges. “You can go home at 4 p.m. and turn it off, or you can learn how to run a business and how to grow a business by watching and asking questions,” he says. “There’s a lot percolating all over this place. People are very personable, and you can learn from them.” Surges says his mentor, John Kletti, helped him develop “by aiming me at what I like to do and what I’m good at.”

Now That You Ask . . . When he joined Pieper Electric in 2008, after 20 years in the electrical business, Trung Lee was surprised by this question: “What do you want to do at this company?” “Nobody had ever asked me that,” he says. “Usually, it’s ‘what can you do for us?’” Lee is a project manager in major construction specializing in healthcare. He reports to Chris Surges, and he’s not shy about saying, “Right now, I

Georgia on My Mind

want his job. If he wants to move up, why not me?” Lee says he most wants to be like their shared mentor, Kletti. “I’ve never seen him lose his cool, even in the toughest situation. I’ve never heard him say anything negative. He genuinely cares about the people he works with, and he willingly shares what he knows.”

“You just can’t do everything for people at the early stages of their careers, and, yes, there will be mistakes. We all make them. From Bob, I learned what it means to be always honest and fair, though he could be a bit cantankerous at times. I judge a lot of people against Bob.” “Dick Pieper’s gift to us was opening the door and allowing us to come in. He gave us

“I’ve never worked for a company that makes you feel more important at the end of the day than at the beginning of the day.” Trung Lee, project manager of Pieper Electric Major Construction

Lee says he has learned to ask a new question at end of the day: “You gauge your success by what you did today,” he says. “Well, let’s say you sold a job. That’s great. But what did you do for someone else today? Did you help somebody? Did someone help you? Sometimes we get so wrapped up in this world of business that we forget the most important person may be the one sitting next to us. When you develop other people, you’re developing yourself.”

Opening the Door John Kletti has been the project manager of the largest project in PPC Partners history at St. Mary’s Hospital in Milwaukee. In 2012, he will have 35 years with the company. Kletti remembers his first two mentors: Tony Foti and Bob Kiedrowski. “From Tony, I learned to give people a chance to do things on their own,” says Kletti.

the freedom to make mistakes and the freedom to run our own operations as long as we follow the corporate guidelines. Hopefully, we evolve into the kind of quality people that he would like us to be. A big part of it is giving our next generation coaching and challenge so that they really enjoy what they’re doing . . . and keep coming back for more.” n

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owners have been burned by poor quality, non-union construction projects that they had to manage. I see an increased desire for quality construction.” Grau predicted that an expected manpower shortage in the 1990s would favor electrical contractors that o≠ered training programs designed to produce skilled craftsmen. “To date,” he said, “non-union contractors have not been willing to spend the money needed to create quality training programs.”

The Peter Drucker? The man called the “father of modern management”? The business thinker who consulted with the biggest of the “bigs:” General Electric (GE), Coca-Cola, IBM, Citicorp, and Intel? The man whose management books were required reading at every MBA school in America? The man who would eventually receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom? That guy? Perhaps they were too surprised to raise their hands, but only two people volunteered to join Dick in California with the legendary Drucker: Norm Doll and ≤onnie Hinson. “Bill Adams told me later that not going was the biggest mistake of his life,” Hinson recalls. Hinson had read Drucker’s seminal work on management—The E≠ective Executive, one of 39 books translated into more than 30 languages that Drucker wrote over the course of his career. He taught at Claremont Graduate University in California and consulted with business and nonprofit leaders and heads of state around the world. He was an advocate of many tenets of business that mirrored what Dick Pieper believed: Decentralized companies are more e≠ective than the old “command and control” model. Employees are assets. “Planned abandonment” recognizes when an old, once-successful idea is no longer e≠ective. A company’s primary responsibility is to serve its customers (profit is not the primary goal). Taking action without thinking is the cause of every failure. One of Dick’s YPO friends put him in touch with Peter Drucker in 1989. “I called him at home, and he answered with a very broken accent,” Dick recalls. “I introduced myself and said, ‘I’d like your opinion on my analysis of our company’s industry and marketplace so we can

“The industry has changed and to be successful in the future will require more than luck or the ability to wine and dine customers.” John Grau, letter to Dick Pieper, January 1988

The company that plans, trains, and invests in its future will be the one that wins, Grau advised Dick. “Electrical contractors need well-trained managers who can recognize opportunities, plan for the future, manage their resources e≠ectively, and invest in their own businesses for the long-term, bottom-line performance. Grau concluded, “They must do what any other good businessman in a changing and highly competitive industry must do.” This was excellent food for thought as Dick Pieper and his senior leaders planned for the 1990s. Feasting on the smorgasbord of ideas was only just beginning.

We’re All Ears, Mr. Drucker It happened at a routine meeting of Pieper Electric and MetroPower leaders. “We have a chance to go and spend some time with Peter Drucker,” Dick told them. “Who wants to go?”

Georgia on My Mind

plan for our future.’ ” It seemed an audacious request of Drucker. Here was Dick Pieper, the owner of a mediumsized, privately held company without much visibility outside its headquarters city, asking the 80-something icon of management for a chunk of his time. Drucker said “yes.” Dick sent boxes of materials covering the origin and evolution of PPC Partners to Drucker, and he paid $10,000 for the 20-hour, idea-sharing session held informally in Drucker’s living room in southern California. Not yet president of Pieper Electric, Norm Doll was, he says, “the junior member” of the PPC trio. “I pretty much sat and listened and soaked it up,” Doll says. “Peter Drucker was a very forward-looking guy, and his thinking very much matched Dick’s.” Dressed in a t-shirt and casual pants, Drucker entertained their questions and o≠ered his ideas about the future of society, business, and PPC Partners. Doll remembers him as mild-mannered and soft-spoken. Drucker was well prepared. “He read the plan books, the boxes of material. He knew a lot about our company,” says Hinson. “I looked around the room a lot. There were these big windows with the sun shining in. Drucker had his favorite chair, and he’d get up and pace a little,” says Hinson. “He listened a lot and then he’d confirm or amplify Dick’s thinking with a statement. I remember wondering, ‘What’s a guy from a little company a fraction the size of GE doing here?’ ” It was the business version of an audience with the Pope.

“It seems to me,” Drucker said, “the way to be successful in your business is to be local. Your business is based on a series of individual contacts based on individual relationships and individual performance. And yet, your business also increasingly requires a management ability that is not typical of a small local contractor.” Drucker said the industry would require more sophistication because the work was becoming more technical, requiring far more precision than the electricians of Drucker’s childhood. How right he was. Existing buildings are fast becoming obsolete, Drucker said: “They will cost a great deal more to renovate than to tear them down and rebuild,” he said. “I’m talking especially about hospitals. Any hospital that’s 10 years old today is almost cheaper to tear down. You’re not likely to see 400-bed central hospitals built anymore.” He suggested satellite operations placed in more convenient locations around a big city (a hint of the urgent care operations of today).

“I wouldn’t predict the future. I would look and weigh probabilities, rather than predict.” Peter Drucker to Dick Pieper

Drucker said that PPC Partners people will probably work di≠erently. “We thought people would be working out of their homes more and more, but it’s too lonely,” Drucker said. “They’ll be in smaller o∞ce clusters where the labor is. You’re seeing the beginning of decentralizing.” Technology will make this possible, Drucker said, pointing to the facsimile (fax) machine, the hot breakthrough of the 1980s. Who could have imagined the Internet and social networks then? “The fax machine may be the capstone of information tech-

Success Is Local Dick had written a position paper on the electrical contracting industry, and he asked for Drucker’s comments.

Chapter Four: 1980–1989

nology because it now enables you to move paper at practically no cost.” PPC Partners will have more electrical contracting work based on advances in communications technology alone, Drucker suggested. “It’s quite conceivable that within 10 years, you’ll see a building boom in commercial construction that is not the big 36-story o∞ce tower but instead the 3-story building with an amount of technology in it and electrical work that comes close to what the tower had 20 years ago.” There will even be a change in how o∞ces are lighted, Drucker said, because the computer screen emits it own light and a≠ects the balance of overhead lighting.

to become exceedingly dependent on a very highly cyclical business with high overheads and high break-even points. Third, the model that works in your industry requires local management with a substantial skill level. Large companies don’t usually know how to do that. In no time, they lose their customers because they are not customer focused. They are basically control focused. That is one of the reasons why Sears ≤oebuck got into trouble. They became very e∞cient but not very e≠ective.” Drucker told the trio from PPC Partners that its corporate model was “homeostatic.” Huh? “You are very tightly controlled,” Drucker explained, “but it is a control that is built in at the local, event level. It’s not imposed on the manager. The system regulates itself from its own feedback. Your people develop standards to deliver the performance they want and then they measure themselves against those expectations. There is very little permissiveness.”

“There is nothing more dangerous than realism because it whittles you down. A considerable amount of reaching beyond what is realistic is absolutely needed or you don’t grow at all.”

You Have a Duty

Peter Drucker, in his meeting with PPC Partners’ leaders

Pieper, Hinson, and Doll spent a great deal of time talking with Drucker about people: their development, motivation, and feedback. Drucker’s advice was simple: “When you see people who try, you have a duty to help them. When you see people who try and can’t make it, maybe you should find a place that fits them where they can be productive, rather than saying ‘You don’t belong here.’ ”

Dodging the Blow By the late 1980s, America’s electrical contracting industry was struggling, and Dick Pieper didn’t want his company to be a fatality. He told Drucker, “Our whole industry has been knocked out. No one is surviving in any form that they were before.” Was that unusual? No, Drucker said. He had seen that struggle in many industries. “There are three possible explanations,” Drucker said, “and they are not mutually exclusive. One is a failure to think structurally. The big company model is not really appropriate to your industry. Yours is an industry of local contractors. Second, the big companies allow themselves

“Everybody has abilities. It’s a matter of putting them in the right spot with the right supervisor to realize their abilities. It doesn’t mean they’re competent or incompetent.” Dick Pieper

Georgia on My Mind

Drucker shared an evening meal with his visitors and then he drove them back to their hotel. Dick and Drucker were talking nonstop, nearly oblivious to the trip. On arrival, Hinson and Doll exited the car; when Dick got out, he paused to ask just one more question. Drucker was in a hurry and abruptly said, “I have lots of things to do.” With the car doors still open, the great man of management rolled his car right over Dick Pieper’s foot. Accident aside, Drucker left an unforgettable impression on the threesome from PPC Partners. “To this day,” says Hinson, “if I get a chance to work it into conversation, I mention that I spent 20 hours in Peter Drucker’s living room.”

“Another is talent. Talented people provide the needed competitive edge and innovation in our services and operations. “Onward and upward—it’s a lot more fun. Take it where you can a≠ect it.” It is a statement just as germane in the anniversary year of 2012 as it was in 1989.

Onward and Upward Chronic federal deficits. Growing trade imbalances. Instability of the dollar. Increasing dependence on foreign investments. Inflation. Deflation. “There is little an individual can do about global problems,” Dick Pieper told employees in a Sparks employee newsletter at the end of the 1980s. “But as managers and employees, we can maximize the impact of steeper unpredictable fluctuations in our industry. We must concentrate on the quality and performance of our core business. We must get rid of lemons and bothersome peripherals. We must keep improving the internal productivity of all our people and methods. We must focus on motivating talented personnel to provide exceptional service and value to our customers. These e≠orts will make us winners. “There are certain fundamentals that don’t change with the advent of new conditions. One is fairness: fair value to customers, fair treatment of people, and fair allocation of resources and profits.

Chapter Four: 1980–1989

198O

1980 After the acquisition of an existing electrical contracting firm in Atlanta falls through in 1979, the company opens for business as MetroPower on January 1. They are “the new kids on the block” in a sophisticated city full of fierce competition.

1980 Pieper Electric’s long-standing work in designing and building electrical control panels becomes more sophisticated involving software and electronic components. The business is renamed Automation Controls Division. 1981 Believing that homeowners and small businesses need a handy, reliable Mr. Fixit, Pieper Electric starts SOS Fixit in Wisconsin employing a crew of handymen. Though the idea is good, the execution needs fixing.

Longevity is a mark of strength at PPC Partners. These employees were all honored in 1980 for their many years of service: ( front row, from left) Julius Pieper, June Zastrow, Gordy Schwalbach, Frank Yokosh, ≤ay Golabowski, Skip Showers, Grace Schmidt, Bob Henrichs; (back row, from left) Leroy Casetta, Mike Donaubauer, Doug Heder, Al Palubicki, Leo Stromski, Larry Neuman, Dick Pieper

1982 PPC Partners revises its mission statement to include Christ and Old Testament teachings in the language. The mission is later revised again, replacing Christ with Jesus in the wording.

lands major projects with Alimenta Processing Company, Amoco Fabrics and Fibers, Tensar Corporation and Martin Army Hospital—all projects in Georgia.

1983 Ronnie Hinson, Georgia native, travels to Milwaukee in frigid February. He accepts Dick Pieper’s offer to become president of MetroPower effective in June. 1983 Bill Thompson is the second person to join Ronnie Hinson at MetroPower in Albany, Georgia. His group becomes a leading contributor to company sales and profits. 1983 This is the year of miracles for the fledgling MetroPower. In one year, the company

1983 Pieper Electric creates its own in-house training center in Milwaukee and by 1988, 74 percent of the company’s employees have participated in an educational course. 1984 The first silicon microchip is introduced; it stores four times more data than previously possible.

Timeline

1989 1984 In its fiscal year ending in May, MetroPower’s total sales are $1.8 million with a net profit of $213,683. 1984 MetroPower acquires Carroll Electric, an electrical contracting merit shop based in Beloit, Wisconsin.

1987 The company inaugurates regular “command briefings” gathering the leadership of Pieper Electric, PieperLine and MetroPower to review organizational performance and future plans, as well as engage in learning together.

1985 Expanding their reach, the companies of PPC Partners pursue several acquisitions in the 1980s including MCC Powers and Electric Wiring Service Inc. (1985); Scopp Electric and Dixie Electric (1986) Keller Electric (1987) IDEAL Plumbing and Heating and Gibson Electric (1988); Erickson Electric and Evans Electric of Kansas City (1989).

1989 PPC Partners drafts its first ethics statement. 1989 Dick Pieper, Ronnie Hinson and Norm Doll have a private consultation with Peter Drucker, “the father of modern management,” at his home in southern California. They discuss, in detail, their business strategies and plans. 1989 The Berlin Wall is opened by East Germany and eventually torn down. 1989 The companies of PPC Partners finish the decade with solid financial performance. In fiscal 1988, annual sales total $26 million and in 1989, they reach $34 million.

Norm Doll, Peter Drucker, ≤onnie Hinson, and Dick Pieper, 1989

1985 MetroPower’s Albany Electric office lands its first $1 million-plus project with Robins Air Force Base Logistics Operation Center in Warner Robins, Georgia. Cason Hammond is job supervisor and Robert Weathersby is project manager. 1986 Key people join MetroPower: Arnold Geeslin (1986), Danny Buck (1987) and Danny Gibson (1988). 1986 The US space shuttle Challenger explodes, killing all seven crew members.

1989 The Exxon Valdez causes the world’s largest oil spill.

Members of the senior leadership team convened for a Command Briefing in 1989: ( front row, from left) Dick Pieper, Tom Ohlgart, Bill Adams; (back row, from left) Pat Carroll, Ed Lore, Norm Doll, Phil McGoohan, ≤on Bierbaum, ≤onnie Hinson, Dan Gibson, Sr.

Chapter Five

1990–1999

The Noble Experiment It’s August 28, 1990, and I will present my proposal to our company’s board of directors today. To help ensure the future of PPC Partners, I plan to turn this company over to the very people who know it best and believe in it most—my employees. I expect considerable discussion and even some push-back. My plan is unconventional, but it’s rooted in years of reflection and prayer. When Sue and I started our family nearly 30 years ago, we discussed how we would plan for our children’s education and their future. When Ann, ≤ick, and Bridget were about 10–12 years old, we told them we would do everything possible to give them a good start in life— including an excellent education—but we weren’t going to turn our assets over to them. Instead, we planned to give back to the community that gave us our lives and careers. Family-owned companies are often passed to the next generation, but I’ve seen too many unhappy examples of owners who expected their children to perpetuate their legacy. Sue and I believe in tithing. It comes from our shared faith. We are simply the stewards of whatever we’ve accumulated. Our biggest asset is PPC Partners. Even with the soaring expectations I brought to this business back in 1959, I never dreamed we would be this successful. I’m 54 now, and it’s time to put the most important decision of my career into action.

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ick Pieper had done years of homework when he convened a telephone meeting of the PPC Partners board of directors on August 28, 1990. There was only one item on the agenda: “Eventual disposition of ≤. ≤. Pieper Family ownership of PPC Partners Inc.” Board member Phil McGoohan would call Dick’s proposal “the noble experiment” and the nickname stuck. Others called it “nuts,” “misguided,” and “naive.” After that first meeting in 1990, it would take 10 more years before the plan was put into action. PPC Partners made its first stock o≠ering to all employees on September 19, 2000.

over some of his key responsibilities. He carved out extra time to study this most important decision of his career.

Simple but Not Easy Dick began with a particular goal in mind: how could he help ensure the future of PPC Partners as a company guided by the principles of ethical behavior, progressive practices, and growth for people? The answer was simple but not easy: turn the company over to the very people who knew the company best. If this were accomplished, PPC Partners could be a tangible model of what Dick Pieper believed every business was capable of being: trustworthy, responsible, innovative, pacesetting, caring, and—let’s not forget— profitable. In fact, the very characteristics that defined this company would contribute mightily to its profitability and staying power. A noble experiment? Yes. But before implementing the noble experiment, Dick examined the business environment and its implications for the future of PPC Partners.

“The owners of the business should be given proper and adequate return on their investment. What they do with their returns may not necessarily be for business purposes.” Dick Pieper

Why did it take so long? This was the seminal decision of Dick Pieper’s business career. In his conscientious “listen and learn” style, it took that long to study the options, learn from others, dissect the plan with the board and management team of PPC Partners, involve the employees in the details of the stock o≠ering, and roll out the unique ownership o≠er that few companies in the world have ever adopted. “This was a profound decision we were making,” Dick says, “and we would be living with our choices for decades. It was important to me that we be thorough, inclusive, and research every key question.” Besides, there was no urgency. PPC Partners had strong leaders in place, and the company was prospering. Dick was in good health, and he had even turned

“I had a choice to make: sell my company and use the proceeds to create a foundation promoting business ethics, or let PPC Partners serve as a living model.” Dick Pieper

During the late 1980s, Dick analyzed the electrical contracting industry—its origins and evolution and where it was headed. He studied its competition and evaluated his company’s role and prospects in the marketplace. He looked ahead and imagined what the industry would look like in 10–25 years. Dick asked a group of diverse business people he respected to give him unvar-

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The Noble Experiment

nished feedback on his analysis. Those people included John Grau, the executive vice president of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA); Martin Kraninger, an experienced business executive; Bill Law, the president of his own company and an authority on economics; Shel Lubar, an investment banker and a manager of venture capital funds; Martin Stein, the president of a regional optical company; ≤obert Johnson Sr., a retired electrical contractor; and ≤alph Johnson, an electrical contractor with 50 years in the business. Dick asked management icon Peter Drucker, too, and that “cold call” (encouraged by a fellow Young Presidents Organization member) led to a two-day visit in 1989 that included Dick, Norm Doll, and ≤onnie Hinson.

ally,” Dick says. “I wanted them to be everything they could be, and I noticed an explosion in their capacities. They were developing skills and qualities that I didn’t have and the company needed. They both told me that they had far exceeded their own expectations for their lives. If they could turn around and identify three more people who they would nurture and then those three would do the same for three others, we could build a critical mass of key managers that PPC Partners needs to perpetuate itself long into the future.”

“Early on, Dick decided that he was not going to follow the traditional family business model.” Norm Doll, retired president, Pieper Electric

Pay It Forward If all of this research looked like “analysis paralysis,” it was not. The accuracy of the analysis of the industry, the role of PPC Partners in it, and their prospects for the future was vital. You can’t base a successful plan on faulty thinking.

≤on Bierbaum, a member of the PPC Partners board during that time, remembers this priority: “PPC Partners needed a corps of managers who would be principal shareholders,” he says. “Having a critical mass of key employee-manager-owners would reduce the risk that the noble experiment might get o≠ track. If the company were sold or taken public, that would kill its idealistic, example-demonstrating culture.” Doll and Hinson would serve as mentors and, in turn, share ownership with the next generation of leaders who modeled the same behaviors with others. In doing so, PPC Partners would be led by people who were committed to the company’s core values and invested, quite literally, in stock ownership. “Dick wanted to ensure that no single person dominated the ownership of PPC Partners,” Doll remembers. “He didn’t want to retire until there were at least 6 owners or as many as 12. He wanted to create a business model

“Dick likes to study things very carefully. He’s someone who thinks about everything. He is also very cautious.” John Touchett, former PPC Partners board member

With his work complete, Dick took his findings to the PPC Partners board of directors. After much discussion, they agreed on an approach that began the transfer of ownership and vested that ownership with two key people. PPC Partners would o≠er stock to Norm Doll and ≤onnie Hinson; others would follow. “I had given Norm and ≤onnie everything I had, personally and profession-

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Don’t Be a Dummy efore Dick Pieper made any major business decision, he listened and learned. When he considered the future of PPC Partners, Dick polled people with broad and deep experience in electrical contracting, business, the economy, finance, and management. Eight people studied packets that Dick prepared for them, covering facts about the global construction industry, unions, the demise of some major national electrical contractors, and possible success factors for the future. They responded to three questions.

“Go for your service business,” Marty Stein, a regional optical company founder, said. “It needs good management and tight control; it is uniquely different from other businesses.” “The key to improved profits appears to be in serving the less competitive and growing specialty areas of the market,” said John Grau, Executive Vice President of NECA. “The more proprietary you can be, the better,” said Shel Lubar, banker and venture capitalist.

1. Is there an opportunity for legitimate business in electrical contracting? If so, what is the essence of that opportunity?

Ralph Johnson cited leading national and local companies that had “bit the dust,” he said. “This is a situation without precedent. We have gone through shakeouts before . . . but not where the so-called leaders suffered the most.” Lubar, the banker, was philosophical: “Any industry that does not conduct itself in a proper, good management manner won’t succeed.” Marty Kraninger, owner of several businesses and an investor in many, was blunt: “Dummies think they know it, and geniuses know they don’t know it.” Ralph Johnson focused on the nuts and bolts of success: “Processing a job for field con-

Ralph Johnson, an electrical contracting veteran with 50 years in the business, answered “a most resoundingly yes!” In 1986 alone, he said, there was $33 billion in electrical work alone. “Your business is one of the few that has a total, complete system: it starts with design and goes through estimating, job processing, purchasing, and job management in the field. Such a business system has been hard to come by. Today, it is mandatory to compete and operate successfully.”

2. Is there a major defect or observation lacking in this analysis?

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struction is so important, and scheduling material and tool delivery to the job is indispensible. It can be done. It must be done. Productivity cannot be achieved by even the best people without the support of a competent contractor organization with a total business system.” 3. What are the implications for people in our industry for the future? “The predicted manpower shortage in the 1990s should benefit contractors who have programs that produce the most skilled craftsman,” Grau said. “Trained engineers will be needed, but many other skills will also be needed,” Robert Johnson, the retired electrical contractor, said. He ticked off the most important ones: “Practical electricity, basic mechanics, math, chemistry and physics, business accounting, statistics, finance, and marketing. The last four seem to be the most important and yet, sadly, they are the most lacking.” Martin Stein drilled down to a business basic: “Two million years ago, the camel with the least number of flies on it did the business. Fruit with the fewest flies sold first. Today, the guy who listens to his customer, listens to his personnel, and attends to detail, wins.” n

The Noble Experiment

that did much more than just produce profits for the owners. He wanted PPC Partners to invest in growing people to their full potential and give back to the community.” “Dick’s criteria for being an owner was that you develop 2 or 3 people who could replace you,” says Hinson. “Dusty Burke from the Cleaver Company told us that the average executive in an entire career develops only half a manager. We wanted to do much better than that.” Today, Dick, Norm, and ≤onnie all say that the ownership-sharing and mentoring model was a good one, but it didn’t materialize as Dick envisioned it. “I don’t think we were accomplishing the goal fast enough,” Doll says. “We had a hard time identifying those people.” Ultimately, they agreed that the leadership of PPC Partners hadn’t matured far enough to make this scenario work. According to Norm, “That’s when Dick introduced employee ownership as an even better option.”

“I remember attending a meeting of the Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC), a national group of nonunion companies,” says Hinson. “A couple members decided to pool their resources and buy good companies in di≠erent areas of the country. They planned to become a national business called IES (Independent Electrical Service), with all the economies of scale that size can give you. They bought two or three companies in Georgia and more companies in other states. They paid well for them. I remember hearing it was one-third in cash, one-third in stock, and one-third in incentives. The former owners were also given five-year contracts. The deals were so attractive that it took the driving force out of those companies. The owners began to lose interest after a few years, so IES lost their most important leadership. IES eventually went public to fund more growth, but the idea never was successful.”

“Dick knew that what he fought to achieve at PPC Partners could easily disappear if he sold the company.”

A Rash of Roll-Ups As this work was going on inside PPC Partners during the 1990s, the electrical contracting industry was experiencing a phenomenon referred to as “roll-ups.” It happens in many industries when a few strong players or venture capitalists see the advantages of size and begin buying up smaller competitors. The timing was right for electrical contracting. America was climbing out of another recession, and many small firms were struggling. In some cases, their owners were aging and they sought lucrative exits. “Consolidators,” as they were called, often paid premium prices. These consolidators believed they could achieve lucrative economies of scale and growth potential if they bought smaller electrical contacting companies and “bundled them” into a larger entity. The idea looked good on paper, but the reality was disappointing.

Ron Bierbaum, former controller and board member

Dick Pieper was approached to sell his company in 1998 and he was o≠ered $130 million for PPC Partners when the company’s annual revenues were around $106 million. “If I had taken that o≠er,” says Dick, “our buyer would probably have used us as a ‘platform company.’ Because of our reputation, PPC Partners would have been the platform to build more companies. The new owners would have pulled all the resources out of PPC Partners, and the whole thing would have imploded. That’s what businesses commonly do.”

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Chapter Five: 1990–1999

John Touchett, a member of the Young Presidents Organization, served on the board of directors of PPC Partners at that time. He was a family business owner who sold his company to a large, publicly held company. “After the sale, one of my roles was as a ‘kitchen table negotiator,’” he says. “I bought quite a few private, familyowned companies. When Dick was approached, PPC Partners was a fair-sized company in its industry with strong markets in Wisconsin and Georgia. He had excellent, well-trained employees. You couldn’t just walk in o≠ the street and get a job at PPC Partners. Dick could easily have been o≠ered 15 times his after-tax earnings.”

continuity of the ethical business model. For the employees, it was an opportunity for people to own where they work and reap the fruits of their labor. It also assured the continuity of the business because it would be forever employee owned.” By choosing the lower, book value price, Dick knew the company would be assured of surplus capital. “In a 20-year cycle of business, there is usually a time when a company is strapped for capital and boxed in a corner with bankers pressing them,” Dick says. “When people are up against the wall, that’s when ethics can get compromised. I didn’t want the people of PPC Partners making decisions just to survive. Conversely, surplus capital demands growth.” The ownership model for PPC Partners was not the popular ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) adopted by many companies in the 1980s and 1990s. Stock o≠ered in an ESOP is usually based on market value, not book value, and a trust owns the company stock, not the employees. Employees in an ESOP can’t sell their stock if they need the money, and they cannot vote with their shares on matters a≠ecting their company. In Dick’s view, the employees of PPC Partners should be able to buy stock when it was o≠ered for sale, at a price that was, frankly, a bargain. Only employees could own stock. When people retired, they could sell their shares back to the company or convert their shares to non-voting stock. “Think about it,” Dick said. “≤etirees might vote quite di≠erently on the actions of the company than people who are current employees.” If employees were laid o≠, they could hold their stock for up to three years before being required to sell it back to PPC Partners. This employee ownership model was based on Dick’s own philosophy and it was supported by research. “We

“It’s never really been about the money for Dick. It’s been about people and growing the company.” Bill Thompson, vice president of MetroPower

By the Book When Dick Pieper considered the details of employee ownership, he chose to do the unthinkable. He would sell PPC Partners to the company’s employees at book value, a price dramatically below what PPC Partners was worth on the market. To understand book value, imagine you own a $500,000 house and have a $250,000 mortgage. The book value of your house is $250,000. The market value (in a healthy real estate market with equity accrued) could easily be $750,000. “Dick’s goal was very broad ownership: to have a lot of employees, if not all of them, own some stock,” says Larry Horning, administrator of the employee stock purchase plan. “He gave up the opportunity to make a lot of money by selling PPC Partners. He cared more about the

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The Noble Experiment

examined 12 companies around the world that were employee owned for more than 50 years,” Dick says. Most of these companies weren’t household names, but they represented a cross section of industries, and all were strong performers by any business measure. What did these 12 companies have in common? They all ended up with employee stock ownership programs based on book value. “They all had di≠erent formulas when they started. Some initially chose a combination of book value and earnings,” Dick says, “and those were the ones that had problems along the way. The ones that started with book value didn’t.”

shared an intimate, monthly phone conference with for years. This was his prayer group composed of business peers. “I described what I wanted to do with PPC Partners and I asked them for their opinion,” Dick recalls. “Virtually everybody thought it was a crazy idea. A dumb decision. Nobody was with me, but I didn’t ask them to be either.” ≤on Glosser, then chairman of the Hershey Trust Company, spoke last: “Dick, if this noble experiment that you describe doesn’t work, if everything is lost, will you feel badly?” Dick’s answer was “no.” “Well then,” Glosser said, “this is probably a better use of your resources—using your company as an example— than going out and promoting business ethics through a foundation.” “Glosser’s question and my answer really put the decision to bed for me,” Dick says. “I felt perfectly comfortable giving this experiment the best chance possible . . . even if it didn’t work.”

“How can you refute 12 companies with 50 years of experience each?” Dick Pieper

Get a Grip, Pieper The board of directors of PPC Partners balked. Even with the experience of 12 companies, the idea of selling stock at book value seemed, well, nuts. Consider all the years of blood, sweat, and tears that Dick and Julius invested in building the family company. Didn’t the family deserve top dollar? It was okay to sell to the employees but start with market value, not book value, several board members (and Dick’s trusted colleagues) said. Get a grip, Pieper. For all the reasons Dick had already explained, this really was “a noble experiment.” It wasn’t a business transaction; it was a personal choice. It was worth trying even if it didn’t work. Dick had realized this in an unforgettable meeting a few years earlier in New York. Seated in a circle of chairs in a meeting room at the Waldorf Astoria, Dick described his plan to the men he’d

Sleep on It The board didn’t agree. They asked Dick to put the noble experiment on hold for three to five years and then act on it. Given time and reflection, some members hoped Dick would change his mind perhaps jettison the book value argument and be more businesslike and sensible. Fine, Dick concurred. We’re in no hurry. Like most good ideas, this one did not lose its luster with time. It was back on the board agenda in 1998 and plans to introduce the company’s first employee stock purchase plan were approved that year. The sale price was based on the company’s book value. In 1999, PPC Partners sent a mailing to all employ-

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If it’s not safe, don’t do it.

The Noble Experiment

ees with one year or more of service to determine their interest in employee ownership. It was followed by a telephone survey, asking how many shares each employee might buy if the stock was sold at $20 a share. During that summer, all employees were part of an educational e≠ort designed to explain stock ownership and answer any questions they had. In addition, they completed a questionnaire designed to help shape the employee ownership model. They were asked the following questions: How long should an employee be with the company before he or she can buy stock? Should spouses be allowed to own shares after an employee retires? What is the minimum number of shares an employee must purchase? What is the maximum number of shares an employee can own, as a percentage of total shares available? As the value of shares increases, should the company pay dividends? By being asked, the employees knew that their opinions mattered. Bringing the noble experiment to life would take the entire decade of the 1990s.

But Macon, Georgia—a town of spacious streets and spring cherry blossoms in the center of the state on the Ocmulgee ≤iver—had not met Danny Gibson. Ever since 1988 when MetroPower acquired his father’s firm, Gibson Electric, the younger Gibson was determined to make his mark. Hinson tapped Gibson to open the company’s new branch. “You’re going to Macon, but first I want you to spend some time with us in Albany and get to know our processes,” Hinson told Gibson. “Then go to Atlanta, work with Danny Buck and learn about the financials from MetroBetty.” Gibson’s initiation lasted about 18 months. He was eager. “I’d already talked to my wife, Terri, about moving to Macon from Tifton, our home,” he says. “Even though she loved our neighborhood and was active in the schools, she was totally supportive. Around January 1990, I called ≤onnie and said, ‘I’ve got it. I’m ready. We need to go hang out our shingle . . . and we need to do it NOW.’ ”

“I went to Macon thinking there was nothing I couldn’t do. The early years were humbling.”

Cracking a “Clannish” Town When MetroPower had its start in Georgia 10 years earlier, expectations were high. “The whole Southeast was growing,” Dick says. “Our expansion was going to be organic, rather than through acquisitions. We envisioned opening branches in Georgia, the Carolinas, and perhaps even in Florida.” Population and economic growth in the Southeast meant there was room for fresh competition, even in Macon, Georgia, where a few companies seemed to have a lock on electrical contracting. “We were told, ‘You’ll never get any business in Macon. It’s a clannish town. You can’t crack it,’ ” ≤onnie Hinson recalls. “The top electrical contractor got its start there in the 1800s.”

Danny Gibson, vice president of MetroPower

In early February, armed with his business plan, Gibson began scouting Macon for an o∞ce. He found a 500-square-foot outpost o≠ Sheraton Drive and went shopping. A co≠ee-pot first, an o∞ce desk (that he still uses), his “lucky blue chair,” a fax machine, a typewriter, and telephone. Hinson told Gibson he could name the o∞ce, so he incorporated the new business with the State of Georgia, calling it MaconPower.

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“That’s when the reality hit me,” Gibson recalls. It’s one thing to get an o∞ce set up but quite another to find customers and people to do the work.” Gibson’s father, whose tenure with MetroPower was short, had returned to running his own business in Tifton, only 90 minutes from Macon. “I knew a lot of people and customers,” Gibson says, “but I had too much allegiance to my dad to go after them. “I felt like I had both my hands and my feet tied,” he says. “Getting business was tough, but finding people to do the work was even tougher. In a new city, who was I going to hire?” Available workers were often those that others didn’t want.

says Gibson, “but we won’t get a chance to earn it if we don’t know the right people.” Gibson kept notes about each person he met: family members, a∞liations, community activities, and personal interests. He wrote follow-up notes after meeting new people, and he kept track. If one of those people earned recognition or media coverage, Gibson wrote a note of congratulations. A small gesture—but an unforgettable one. “People like to make connections. If you can find some common ground, that can happen,” he says. “Every time I prepared for a call on a new company, I did my research. I wanted to know everything I could about them in advance. Gibson also courted general contractors who would be vital to MaconPower’s success: C.E. Garbutt Construction Company, Chris ≤. Sheridan, Warren and Associates and Stroud and Company, to name some of them. “When I pursued a job, I tried to build a relationship so the person I met wanted me and our company.” Even with projects that were based on competitive bids, there was still an opportunity to make a lasting impression that might trump price. That happened in the earliest years of MetroPower’s growth, and it happened in Macon, too.

Guns Blazing Gibson decided he could succeed in Macon only by building local credibility. Fast. “I had to convince people that I had a legitimate business,” he says. Gibson joined the Chamber of Commerce and got involved immediately by serving on their education committee.

“I was young and cocky, and I had all my guns blazing. I’m a lot tamer today.”

Elusive Profits

Danny Gibson

In the first two years, Gibson sold more projects than he had people to execute the work. Some of the earliest opportunities included two Circuit City stores, one in Macon and one in Columbus, Georgia; Perry Market Place shopping center in Perry, Georgia, renovation of a 1920s dormitory at Wesleyan College in Macon, and an addition for Brown and Williamson Tobacco Company in Macon. “They all lost money except the Brown and Williamson project,” says Gibson, “and that one made enough money to overcome the combined losses. ≤obert Hallman, a man

A little youthful enthusiasm came in handy. Gibson worked 14-hour days and commuted 200 miles roundtrip to Tifton while also overseeing construction of his new family home in Macon. Gibson started his “hit list,” a list of people he wanted to recruit for MaconPower, and his “friends in high places” list, people who could help open doors to new business or become customers themselves. “I’ve always believed that we need to earn business,”

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I hired early on, made all the di≠erence. He managed the Brown and Williamson project, and he later went on to open our satellite o∞ce at ≤obins Air Force Base.” Georgia College and State University provided frequent service and jobbing projects in the early years, and Je≠ Huckeba supervised most of them. He was a young go-getter with a talent for guarding quality and profitability. Others who joined MaconPower and contributed to the o∞ce’s early success included Alton Moore, an ace at both acquiring and executing new projects; project manager David Brummett; Chan Hill, a retired kaolin mining employee, who, Gibson says, “assisted with anything and everything”; Troy DeLee, an electrician who managed MaconPower’s service department and later became MetroPower’s safety manager; and electricians Tom Mixon, Jim Sansbury, William Scrimpsher, Bob Morrison, Bart Hall, ≤icky Sinyard, and Paul Blackston. ≤onnie Hinson remembers how Danny Gibson kept his ego out of recruiting decisions, putting the future of MaconPower first. “Danny had the opportunity to attract a person with considerable experience, someone with a strong track record,” Hinson recalls. “The only way to bring him onboard was to pay him more than Danny himself was making. And he never hesitated.” By 1993, MaconPower posted its first profit. A visitor to the Macon o∞ce on 444 Plum Street sees peace lilies growing in many strategically located pots. “The first month we made a profit, Dick Pieper sent me a peace lily,” says Gibson. “We’ve been taking cuttings from that original plant for more than 20 years.” Over the years, there have been many notable projects for the o∞ce based in Macon that naysayers said MetroPower would never crack: renovations at Georgia

College and classrooms for Macon State College; electrical contracting for the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in Macon; extensive work at Walmart return centers in Macon, Nevada, Texas, New York, and Indiana; a carton manufacturing plant for ≤iverwood Paper in Perry, Georgia; many projects for ≤obins Air Force Base; and multiple contracts with the Medical Center of Central Georgia, including a new heart tower that became MetroPower’s largest job at that point in their history.

“I Love a Challenge” By 1990, Danny Buck had been on the job leading MetroPower’s Atlanta o∞ce for only three years. He had been a reluctant candidate for the job, but Dick Pieper had persisted. “I’d been working with Glass Electric in Atlanta,” Buck says, “and I’m a loyal guy. I had just finished the Coca-Cola headquarters job, and Glass was coming under scrutiny for its business dealings. Someone I respect at Glass told me to leave soon while I still had my reputation intact.” During that period, Dick kept the communication lines open. A PPC Partners board member knew of Buck’s work, and he urged Dick to redouble his recruiting e≠orts. At the time, Buck was considering another electrical contracting firm about the size of MetroPower. But Dick kept calling. Perhaps out of politeness, Buck took a look at MetroPower in Atlanta. The operation had struggled under poor leadership in its earliest years, and some customers had been burned with careless workmanship. Dick Pieper and ≤onnie Hinson told Buck he had the smarts and ambition they needed to turn the o∞ce around. “I love a challenge,” Buck says today. “To me, that’s the most important thing. I said ‘yes.’ ”

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MaconPower “Walkabout” alk into the MaconPower office today, and the first thing you see is a large, framed Norman Rockwell print. It pictures people of many races, ages, and cultures. They stand together. Below them are the words of the golden rule. “You see that picture in every one of our offices,” says Patricia Avery, receptionist at MaconPower since 1997. “It’s the first thing visitors see, and it reflects our company’s vision. We do our best to live by the golden rule. I’m proud of that. I’m also proud that our guys can make a material purchase. They’re never turned down because our company is financially strong. I’m proud that we have good standing in Macon and that we give back to the community.”

These folks kept MaconPower humming in 2008: ( from left) Troy DeLee, Pat Avery, Danny Gibson, Brett Williams, Temple Hinson, George Dunwody, Deanna Squires, Chan Hill, and ≤ichard McWilliams.

Spotting Talent Chan Hill was changing the oil in his car at a Macon gas station in 1998 when he struck up a conversation with a customer. Hill talked about his 37 years in accounting, lab work, supervision, and scheduling at a large chalk processing plant. He retired at 57, too young to stop working. “I like people with broad experience who know how to take care of business,” Danny Gibson, the service station customer, told him. “Here’s my card. Will you come and see me?” Hill thought it was just a polite gesture. Two weeks later, when Hill hadn’t visited, Gibson called him again. They talked for four hours on a Saturday afternoon, and Gibson asked, “Are you ready to go to work?”

Hill is in charge of MaconPower’s vehicle fleet: oil changes, installing new tires, and repairing dents and scratches. In addition, he keeps track of what MaconPower’s people in the field need. “If it’s tools or gang boxes or materials, I see that they have them,” Hill says. “It makes me feel good to be able to meet people’s needs. It’s about getting the job done. Even the smallest things matter: like picking up a piece of litter in the parking lot.”

Plan and Adapt As MaconPower office manager, George Dunwody is the “eyes and ears of operations,” and he reports directly to Danny Gibson. “I’m the detail guy,” he says, “tracking the progress and

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costs on our jobs to make sure we’re on target.” Through AS400, a financial software program linking the branches, MetroPower people have access to all the same project information. In addition, Dunwody oversees collections, whether it’s a $125 service call or a $3 million commercial installation. Before joining MaconPower, Dunwody was the finance director for the Macon Chamber of Commerce. Because he’s a numbers man, Dunwody was especially impressed with the financial stability of PPC Partners during America’s devastating economic crash in 2008 and 2009. “They’ve weathered hard times because of solid leadership and financial strength,” says Dunwody. “They recognized the implications of

The Noble Experiment

the recent downturn, and they saw it early. They planned and adapted. In fact, 2009 was one of the best years we’ve ever had, even when a lot of other companies were struggling.” Dunwody bought stock in PPC Partners as soon as he could. “Mr. Pieper could have sold this company for millions and millions, but instead he chose to make it a majority-owned employee company,” he says. “The stock is a great buy.”

Meaningful Mission Linda Bartlett has more than 15 years with MaconPower, and she recalls being most impressed with the company’s mission statement. “It’s the first time I’ve ever seen the Old Testament and Jesus in a company’s mission,” says Bartlett. “It meant a lot to me. It made me feel that the people here are trustworthy and treat others in a fair and honest way.” As officer manager of MaconPower’s Robins Air Force Base office, which is 16 miles south of Macon, Bartlett tracks projects and handles billing, collections, and project paperwork. The “office” at Robins is a double-wide trailer where MaconPower project managers, estimators, foremen, and field crew report daily. “Robins is like a huge city,” Bartlett says, “and their focus is maintaining combat-ready airplanes. We do large electrical contracting jobs that can cost many millions of dollars. Sometimes, we’ll have several underway at one time. Our work with Robins goes back to 1992, and our good relationships keep us there.”

Venturing Out When asked what the senior leaders of PPC Partners have in common, Deanna Squires has two words: passion and impatience. “They’re passionate about the business. They’re impatient, and they have high expectations of themselves. “There’s also a third quality,” she says. “They put others ahead of themselves.” Squires joined MaconPower in 2000 as Danny Gibson’s assistant. She has since gravitated to responsibilities that reflect her strengths: business development and recruiting. “Our company encourages us to venture out and try new things,” she says. Though Squires doesn’t have electrical contracting knowledge, she works at “getting us in the door with potential new customers.” How? For example, she attends meetings of the Georgia Society of Healthcare Engineers where she represents MaconPower. “My goal is to build relationships. People feel comfortable with people they know, like the contractor who is building assisted living centers throughout Georgia. I met him at those meetings, and he helped open doors for us,” she says. Now Squires is attending college career fairs. “We’re a ‘referral only’ company,” she says. “We don’t take applications, and we don’t advertise. At these fairs, I’m looking for engineering school students who might fit our Cleaver profile and be interested in our summer internship program. They’re often people with high drive and an ability to influence others.”

Squires is also involved with MaconPower’s Youth Apprenticeship Program aimed at introducing promising high school seniors to a career in electrical contracting. If the students are chosen, they serve a summer internship with MaconPower and attend Central Georgia Technical College classes while they are still in high school. “The program starts in the spring when we invite the students to visit a job site,” she says. “It’s followed by inviting the students and their parents to MaconPower to meet our project managers and hear about our company and the apprenticeship program.” MaconPower looks for students with dedication, good grades, growth potential, and supportive parents, she says. And, if they are chosen, Squires becomes their “MaconPower mom.” n

At work: MaconPower’s young talent: Bill Carroll (left) and Will Smith.

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Buck had rebuilding to do. “When I called on customers to talk about MetroPower,” he says, “some looked daggers at me. The only way to change that was to perform high-quality work every time. Our growth was slow. Those were tough times in the early 1990s.” Indeed they were. The country was climbing out of another deep recession when “downsizing” and an ironic new term for layo≠s—rightsizing—crept into America’s vocabulary. Businesses failed, and others were acquired in “fire sales.” The whole world was shaky. After Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, the United States and its allies defeated Iraqi troops in the 100-hour Persian Gulf War. One year later, the former Soviet Union was on the verge of splintering into the Commonwealth of Independent States. Closer to home in 1992, Hurricane Andrew left tens of thousands of people homeless in Florida and Louisiana. In 1993, the World Trade Center in New York was rocked with a terrorist bomb blast.

would be wired for data, especially after AT&T introduced Internet access service in 1996. “We worked on an electrical job for Covia, a division of United Airlines in 1991,” says Buck, “and the general contractor asked if we’d ever installed IBM Type 1 data cable. I’d learned about it when we worked on the Coke headquarters. I said we could handle it. Steve Vanovich had been the first line supervisor representing Coca-Cola on the headquarters project, and we installed cable through the duct system to computers at desks in four buildings.” Buck sent ≤icky Butler, a young MetroPower employee, to North Carolina for a week of training, and a team of guys, including Vanovich, Mike Biehl, Mike Belcher, and Patrick Dwyer tackled United’s first major cabling job at its reservations center in Atlanta. “It turned out perfect,” Buck beams, “and that’s how we got into the data business.” Within five years, MetroPower was included on the much-sought-after IBM “partners list,” which was a guarantee of steady, future work.

All Aboard Danny Buck’s experience with heavy industrial electrical contracting led MetroPower to its first $1 million project in 1990 with Thrall Car Manufacturing Company, a maker of freight railroad cars. The company wanted to expand its Cartersville, Georgia, plant and Buck knew Thrall from his Glass Electric days. “I leveraged my relationships to get us in the door,” says Buck, “and when we got the chance, we did super work. For five years after that, we were called back for three other expansion projects, each worth $1 million.” But the biggest contributor to MetroPower’s profitability in Atlanta was not these megaprojects but a handful of smaller jobs in an embryonic field called data cabling. Few could imagine in 1991 how quickly America

“There’s a lot of entrepreneurial thinking in this company. People are always looking for the next market to pursue.” Steve Vanovich, vice president of MetroPower

Steve Vanovich, who had joined MetroPower in 1989, jumped on data cabling. “Coca-Cola kept calling us back for more moves, adds, and changes to their cabling, so we eventually assigned people to them full-time. They were small jobs—$8,000 to $10,000—but there were a lot of them.” The next opportunity came from National Cash ≤egister (NC≤), based in Duluth, Georgia. “NC≤ was in the development stages of computerized cash registers for

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Powerful Returns

grocery stores,” Vanovich recalls. “Later, we worked with them on all their ATM machines.” About the same time, the Sabre Group, a company that handles computerized data storage for some of the nation’s leading department stores, called MetroPower. “They had a huge computer operation where they handled the data for various stores, including Macy’s, ≤ich’s, and Burdines,” says Vanovich, “and we had a chance to get in early.” “It all started with the question, ‘Hey, do you guys do cable?’ ” says Vanovich. “Sure, we can. What we didn’t know, we’d learn or figure out. Almost nobody was doing the work, especially electrical contractors. Next thing you know, we’re wiring a building, and it all works out. We got more proficient with each job.”

Down south, MetroPower’s pioneering data cable business grew with relationships. “Facility managers often change jobs for more opportunity,” says Vanovich, “and they didn’t forget us. Once they were on the new job, they’d say, ‘Let’s get Steve and his MetroPower group in here.’ ” In addition, MetroPower electricians were trained to handle simple data cabling jobs, so a customer could make one call—not two—to get a new electrical outlet and cable installed. Easy; economical. ≤epeat business grew. “We were installing fiber optic cables in 1993 to computers that were the size of a room,” Vanovich says. “The cables started out as big as your index finger, with four smaller cables twisted inside. Today, they’re the diameter of a pencil.” With each new generation of cable, more data was transmitted faster, and MetroPower was ready to handle the upgrades. Danny Buck put Vanovich in charge of building the company’s data cabling business in 1995, and today that business accounts for as much as 40 percent of MetroPower Atlanta’s total sales. The projects have grown in size and complexity. Beginning in 1996, for example, MetroPower handled data cabling for the Gwinnett County Public Schools—one of the largest school districts in the United States—when Gwinnett embarked on full-scale computerization. “We worked on 16 high schools and the administration building in one summer alone,” Vanovich recalls, “and we’ve been working with Gwinnett ever since.” In 2005, for Publix grocery stores, MetroPower tackled a $3.5 million project for the company’s Lakeland, Florida, data center. “That’s what is so wonderful about this company,” Vanovich says. “If you come up with an idea, develop a

“Were the first jobs a little unnerving? We knew as much as anybody else. We read the books. We said, ‘Let’s do it.’” Steve Vanovich

About the same time in Wisconsin, Cable Construction magazine congratulated Pieper Electric on being a leader in installing underground power cable with sophisticated, new gear that sounded like an arsenal: horizontal directional boring systems, pneumatic piercing tools, vibratory plows and 100-horsepower cable plows. It meant the company could lay cable, even in frozen ground, doing minimal harm to the earth’s surface. “There hasn’t been a lot of fiber optic cable installed in southern Wisconsin yet,” the magazine said in 1995, “but Pieper Electric construction crews know there soon will be a demand for it. When it comes, they’ll be ready.”

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I enjoy it,

I like what I do.

The Noble Experiment

After “MetroBetty,” Who?

business plan, and show how an idea can work, you very rarely get turned down. You have the freedom to go after the market, but you also have others watching out for you. I had that with data cabling, and it turned into a business generating millions of dollars a year.”

“MetroBetty” Scholten might have taken exception to Fitzpatrick’s give-them-more-than-they-ask-for customer philosophy, considering her role in the company. For more than a decade, MetroPower’s bookkeeper ferreted out every financial detail and pounced on every penny. She kept scrupulous records by hand, but the introduction of a computer in the early 1990s gave the lady pause. “She didn’t trust the computer for a long time,” says ≤onnie Hinson. “She was usually smiling, but I remember coming into the o∞ce one day, and Betty was in tears. The computer scared her. She kept two sets of books, one on the computer and one by hand, just to be sure.” By that time, MetroPower’s annual revenues had grown to approximately $8 million. When Betty’s health deteriorated and she was hospitalized in 1991 shortly before her death, Tom Ohlgart, Pieper Electric’s controller in Milwaukee, pitched in to help. Betty had no successor trained. That’s when Hinson contacted a search firm in Milwaukee and placed an ad in financial and business trade journals. Typically, PPC Partners ran “blind ads” without the company’s name included in advertisements. In this case, Hinson didn’t and it was a lucky decision. Kayanne Blackwell, an Albany, Georgia, resident and a CPA at a public accounting firm, saw the ad and decided to apply. “I wouldn’t have considered a blind ad because our accounting firm also conducted searches using blind ads,” she says. Blackwell was ready for a career change. She and her husband, David, a mortician, were preparing to start a family, and the extensive travel and long hours of public accounting—not to mention David’s unpredictable hours—made that goal unattainable. Blackwell flew to

Power All the Time The same can be said for uninterruptible power sources (UPS), a little-known electrical specialty that Norman Fitzpatrick, MetroPower’s first electrician, pursued for MetroPower in Georgia. As American business relied more and more on computerized data collection, management, and transmission in the 1990s, the crippling e≠ect of a power outage was obvious. Fitzpatrick took a call from David Long of Simmons Mattress Company, who wanted UPS after an outage wreaked data havoc. Though he was new to the work, Fitzpatrick studied the set-up, read the computer manuals, and supplied a UPS backup for Simmons. When a power outage occurs, batteries first power the UPS until a separate generator kicks in to supply steady power. “There weren’t a lot of people who understood UPS in those days, so our business began to grow,” says Fitzpatrick. Other early customers were Watkins Motor Lines and Transus Intermodal LLC, trucking companies based in Atlanta. “We focused on data center business because we didn’t have much competition,” Fitzpatrick says. “There were a few bigger electrical contractors pursuing it, but I worked hard to market us. Customers felt secure with the experience we had, and I tried to be nice to everyone, even the guy mopping the floors. My goal was to give our customers more than they paid for.”

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Atlanta to meet with Tom Ohlgart and then back to Albany to meet Hinson. When she asked about the financial history of MetroPower, Hinson handed over the financial records. “I was impressed with his openness,” she says. “nor did he boast about the company’s performance. He just gave me the financials to study. It didn’t take long to realize that, wow, this company looks good and solid.” Blackwell was also impressed with the mission statement of PPC Partners, especially the reference to following Old Testament wisdom and Jesus’ example. “I felt that MetroPower was a place where I could have a long career because our values are very much in sync.” Others made the list of finalists for the controller’s job, but Blackwell stood out. She accepted MetroPower’s o≠er in August 1991 and toured the company’s o∞ces with Hinson. He asked her about her plans for a family, and Blackwell was candid. She’d su≠ered a miscarriage, and she and her husband hoped to start a family soon. Fair enough. Hinson likes to say that the positive culture of MetroPower was a contributor to Blackwell’s peace of mind and fertility. In her first three years on the job, she was pregnant with two children. “≤onnie took it completely in stride,” says Blackwell. “He said he expected the best from me, and he respected our desire to start a family. I don’t think he imagined that it would happen quite so soon!’ ” Like her two counterparts in Milwaukee (controllers Larry Horning of MP Systems and Dan Melstrand of Pieper Electric), Blackwell is also responsible for her company’s management information systems. She is a consummate professional in an industry dominated by men. She can track and analyze financials with the best of them, and she poses tough questions when need be. Blackwell is valued especially for her “big picture” ap-

proach to business and strategy. In her more than 20 years as MetroPower’s controller, she has watched the company grow from $8 million in 1991 to more than $100 million today.

Lining Up for Growth Ever since Dick Pieper bought a beat-up line truck in Detroit and put Pieper Electric into the electrical distribution business back in 1962, the company pursued line work in Wisconsin. Working largely with Wisconsin Electric and some smaller, city-owned utilities in the state, Pieper Electric managed to build its distribution business—called PieperLine—even though it was an inherently volatile industry. Some years, the utilities did their own work, and electrical contractors like PieperLine lost out. But in the “feast years”—especially as America’s appetite for electrical power grew—Pieper had plenty to do. By the 1990s, PieperLine was generating $30 million in sales each year from their work in Wisconsin, as well as parts of Minnesota and Illinois. Their tiny crew (at its smallest, three people) had swelled to more than 100 people doing underground and overhead distribution of electrical power from transformers and substations into homes, o∞ces and plants. When PieperLine landed a five-year, $60 million contract with Wisconsin Electric to handle all their underground and overhead work in the state, PieperLine grew even more. With a second, five-year renewal of that contract plus additional work with Exelon of Chicago; Alliant Energy of Madison, Wisconsin; Northern States Power (today Xcel Energy) of Minnesota; and storm damage assignments in the Dakotas, Illinois, and Louisiana, PieperLine was a solid venture. Then an opportunity came along in 1995 to gain a

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permanent presence in Minnesota and enter the equipment-intensive, high-voltage transmission business, carrying electricity from power plants to substations.

its were erratic, especially in construction, but their line business was always solid. When the electrical transmission systems in America were all connected for the first time, Donovan was a major player in that work. “Midwest Energy bought Donovan for their gas business, so I approached the guy in charge of their line business, thinking they might want to sell it. He answered, ‘We absolutely don’t want to sell.’ ” Unwilling to close the door on opportunity, Dick asked, “If I send you a letter that expresses our interest in buying the company, will you put it in your file?” Well, okay. Ten years later, in 1995, Midwest Energy was up for sale, and the most interested buyer insisted that Midwest spin o≠ its construction business (which included the line business) before they sealed the deal.

Kampgrounds and Submarines Dick Pieper was well aware of the Donovan Companies Inc. based in St. Paul, Minnesota. The conglomerate was founded in 1918 when modernization of American manufacturing had more than doubled in a mere six years. George Donovan, a rural Minnesota Irishman, believed that local farmers had a right to electrical power just as much as city folk, and he did something about it.

“Donovan was doing business when Thomas Edison was inventing.” Dick Pieper

“I joined Donovan in 1974, and I thought the company made ammunition shells for the U.S. Army. I later discovered how diverse they were.”

Through the decades, Donovan and his brothers moved well beyond high-voltage line transmission and distribution. They got into construction and built hydro electric plants and dams all over the country. They became natural gas and propane suppliers in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Florida. They sold fertilizer, coal, and fuel oil. They bought real estate, including KOA Kampgrounds. During World War II, they even built wooden “subchasers” for the U.S. Navy that eluded explosive detection. Donovan Companies went public in 1969, and, a little over 15 years later, when Donovan’s founder, George, and his eldest son, ≤ichard, died within two years of each other, the company was sold to Midwest Energy Company of Sioux City, Iowa. The family was ready to let go of the behemoth they built and cash out. “I’d been following their annual reports, and I thought Donovan was helter skelter,” Dick recalls. “They were in some businesses that didn’t seem connected. Their prof-

Sheila Parson, office manager of Donovan Construction/ MP Systems

Make It Snappy Someone found Dick’s letter from years earlier, moldering away in the file. “We were given the chance to buy Donovan’s line division, but we had 60, at best 90, days for due diligence. That was way too short,” Dick says. “The high-voltage line transmission business was a nobrainer, but what went with it was Vanalt, a company that built and installed overhead traction power to run light rail operations. Vanalt had a field o∞ce in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and, after they made a big profit on

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Aboard Agape eave it to Dick Pieper to turn a sailing trip into an informal classroom. The guy can’t go anywhere without teasing out life lessons and provoking rich conversation. Just ask PPC Partners crew members who accompanied Dick in preparation for his circumnavigation by sailboat. They were invited for “short hops” as Dick prepared for his monumental 54,000-mile voyage around the world that lasted (off and on) for 19 years, from 1990 through 2009. Danny Gibson remembered being aboard Agape, Dick’s 50-foot cutter ocean cruiser, on the Narragansett Bay off Newport, Rhode Island, in the summer of 1996. “Gibson had a problem. He’d been pursuing a talented electrical contractor in Georgia for three years, and the man didn’t want to give up his small business

to join MetroPower. As Agape sliced through the waves, Dick suggested that Gibson ask the man one question: “Why do you want to be in business for yourself?” On the spot, Gibson called the Cuban immigrant from ship-to-shore radio. The man’s answer was simple: “I want to be somebody.” That answer set Gibson and Pieper thinking. “What does he mean he wants to be somebody?” Dick mused (ever the advocate of the Socratic method). Then Dick was quiet. Gibson pondered the question and offered an answer: the man already is somebody, and he’ll be valued whether he has his own business or he works for us. Gibson repeated this thought to the man and he eventually joined MaconPower. “R.P. planted a seed in my mind,” Gibson

told a reporter from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “We spent a lot of time discussing how to allow people to grow. Anytime you spend time with Dick Pieper you grow yourself. You grow spiritually.”

“It is a dream of millions, attempted by thousands, and completed by few.” Describing Dick Pieper’s sailing circumnavigation of the world

In the early 1990s aboard Agape in Nova Scotia, Danny Buck also remembers a seminal talk. “I still had the idea that I was 10 feet tall and bullet proof,” Buck laughs. “Dick sold me on the idea that to grow, I couldn’t do it all by myself. Nor can anyone. I realized that a key job of leadership is developing the next generation. Dick compared it to growing oak trees. He said we had to start now because it takes at least 10 years.” That’s when Buck became a lifelong champion of PPC Partners’ management academies and college co-op educational programs. “Dick invites employees in leadership and people with potential to spend time with him on his boat,” says John Touchett, a former board member. “It’s not intended to be just an enjoyable day at sea. With each person, he focuses on his or her values and philosophical approach to life.” A daunting experience, perhaps,

Dick Pieper completes his 54,000-mile sailing circumnavigation of the world, passing red mark #2 in his approach to Lisbon, Portugal, in 2009.

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but Touchett says anyone invited “thinks it’s a great opportunity.” You bet, says Gibson: “Imagine what it was like for me, a 30-year-old guy, who’s worked hard all my life, and here’s Mr. Pieper who’s built a successful company that I’m part of . . . and he invites me to come spend time with him on his boat. That sure made me feel important.” It helps to step aboard Agape knowing starboard from port and especially care about safety. One hand for you, one hand for the boat; that sort of thing. But an even more important quality, it seems, is the willingness to try something new and learn by doing it. In preparation for Agape’s circumnavigation, Dick put safety first. Nearly 40 people who joined Dick and Sue Pieper on the trip viewed a 45-minute safety video in advance. The video covered virtually every potential hazard on board, a plan of action, and how to use safety and first aid equipment and where to find it. On the trip spanning 19 years, there wasn’t a single crew accident. No one fell overboard or was injured. People who got sick were treated with a complete hospital kit on board. Agape (a Greek word for deep, abiding friendship and love) also left a “clean wake” in all the countries she visited. That’s a term used by the Seven Seas Cruising Association that means the crew of Agape never released anything into the oceans that was not biodegradable, and did not leave anything behind on beaches or in harbors. On a larger scale, the “clean wake” philosophy commits sailors to respect the cultures they visit.

Danny Gibson is a willing sailing student aboard Agape o≠ Newport, ≤hode Island, in 1996.

Dick would say that he learned a great deal on his circumnavigation that officially ended on August 5, 2009, when he passed red buoy #2 in the channel leading to Lisbon, Portugal. One incident stands out as an apt safety homily. When he needed to take Agape on an overnight run, Dick found himself alone. He didn’t want to risk sailing his sailboat single-handed, so he found a supposedly fully qualified first mate, recommended by another sailor. Not long into the run, Dick was off-watch in his bunk while the mate steered Agape. “My instincts told me that ‘this person may be okay at the dock for repairs but not on board.’” Dick’s instincts were right. Within two hours, the sailor mistakenly steered Agape onto a

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coral reef. Dick used that expensive experience to share his lesson learned with employees: “We say, ‘Don’t work with someone who isn’t watching out for your safety. Don’t work with someone who isn’t trained in CPR and first aid, and who hasn’t had the 10-hour OSHA training,’” Dick wrote in his letter to employees. “My story tells us that we must also pay attention to our intuition, which is another form of intelligence that works for many people. As craftspeople, you know a good craftsperson and one who isn’t. Don’t tolerate anyone in your work environment who isn’t thinking or has a bad attitude. Walk away, if you must. That’s what I should have done.” n

Chapter Five: 1990–1999

a single job, their owners told them to go out and land more business. Vanalt did, but then upper management changed their minds and decided to spin the business o≠ with line construction.” If Dick wanted Donovan, he had to take Vanalt, a company with a substantial new contract of questionable profitability. “Vanalt was a high-risk/high-potential gamble,” Dick says. “Within four to five months of the acquisition, we knew Vanalt was a big hole in the ground. We had to salvage what we could.” Both ≤onnie Hinson and Danny Buck traveled to Washington, D.C. to review Vanalt’s mass transit job in that city, and they quickly recommended shutting it down. “Had we continued,” says Buck, “we could have spent nearly $10 million. Our contract was for only $3 million. We had tremendous exposure.”

company’ alongside Pieper Electric and MetroPower. MP Systems became the third leg of the stool in PPC Partners’ organization plan, giving us more stability through market diversity and geography.” In addition, the acquisition included key leaders: Dave Hansen, general manager of Donovan’s line business; Norm Aldrich, transmission manager; Ken Bergmann, an experienced lineman; and Al Shepard, manager of Donovan’s considerable inventory of heavy equipment.

MP Systems’ Origin The Donovan/Vanalt acquisition triggered another key decision. For nearly 10 years, Pieper Electric had explored the idea of spinning o≠ PieperLine into a separate corporation. Along with being an equipment-intensive business with higher accident risks and liabilities, line construction was historically volatile. “. . . When the industry is down, they lay o≠ personnel,” Pieper Electric’s management agreed in an internal memo. “Layo≠s tend to be across the board, and there is no other place for people to go to work.” On top of that, Pieper Electric paid dearly in high rates of unemployment compensation during the slack times. Another factor was PieperLine’s size, made even larger by Donovan. Dick and his colleagues had long agreed that smaller, more nimble companies were more e∞cient, innovative, and profitable. That’s why Pieper Electric and MetroPower were separate operating companies owned by PPC Partners. Combined with Donovan, PieperLine could–and should–stand on its own. Interestingly, Norm Doll had put one of Pieper Electric’s co-op students to work analyzing 32 top contractors across the country over a 10-year period. The result? Business units generating above $50 million in annual sales didn’t per-

“We own our own equipment and maintain it at Donovan. There’ a lot of it— from standard backhoes around $70,000 to big cranes up to $500,000. Our stu≠ is just plain big.” Jim Findell, Donovan estimator and project manager since 1997

Even so, says Norm Doll, former president of Pieper Electric, the Donovan/Vanalt acquisition ranks right up there with three key events in the history of PPC Partners including formation of MetroPower and Dick’s decision to sell the company to employees. “Vanalt lost us an enormous amount of money, but the Donovan acquisition gave us a major presence in Minnesota and our first real work in high-voltage transmission. It eventually led to the creation of MP Systems, PPC Partners’ third ‘sister

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form as well as they did when they were smaller operations. The research only confirmed what the company’s leadership already believed.

Donovan also had the distinct advantage of being a homegrown company in a state where local roots were valued. The Donovan/Vanalt acquisition produced results. After a sickening slump in profits caused by Vanalt, that venture was phased out and Donovan went on to be a solid, yearly contributor to the newly created MP Systems line business serving the Midwest. Though Donovan is a full-service company in Minnesota, people know it best for its herculean transmission jobs involving poles rising more than 100 feet in the air and heavy, highvoltage lines spanning as many as 100 miles across the Minnesota landscape. And they are the “good guys” who make things right in the toughest conditions when blizzards, windstorms, and floods put tens of thousands of Minnesotans out of power.

The Good Guys Business strategy aside, PPC Partners’ acquisition of Donovan’s line business was a godsend, says Sheila Parson, employed by Donovan since 1974. “For us, Dick Pieper and his people were the good guys in the white hats. We felt secure about our future after 10 years of uncertainty.” John Shamp, an accountant with a Minnesota construction firm with a strong background in highway, bridge, and airport construction, joined Donovan in 1996. “When they came together, Donovan was the highvoltage transmission expert in Minnesota, and PieperLine was the best distribution company in Wisconsin,” says Shamp who became Donovan’s General Manager. “Dick struck me as a long-term thinker, and he believed in the synergy of businesses complementing each other. I was intrigued by the diversity of PPC Partners. What they did in Georgia was di≠erent than what they did in Wisconsin. I was also drawn to their obvious commitment to safety and developing people.”

Good Faith Credo On the eve of its 50th anniversary in 1997, PPC Partners earned noteworthy recognition from the mostrespected magazine covering construction in the United States: EN≤, the Engineering News ≤ecord. Though the magazine led its article with a nod to the growth of PPC Partners—ranking among the top 30 firms on EN≤’s Top 600 Specialty Contractors list and in the top 10 of electrical contractors nationally—the feature focused on corporate culture. “We’ve been growing at about 20 percent per year for the last several years,” Dick told EN≤, “and that means nearly 800 employees in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Georgia—triple our number of a decade earlier.” Contract volume for the company had also increased fivefold, he said, and it was all because of the company’s core values. Winning contracts and being called back again and again is all about playing fair, the EN≤ reporter observed.

“Just about everything is electronic these days. The demand for power just keeps increasing. We’re absolutely in the right business.” Jim Findell

PPC Partners kept the Donovan name because it had value and credibility with utilities that mattered most in Minnesota: Northern States Power Company (later Xcel Energy), Great ≤iver Energy, and Minnesota Power.

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Music to Our Ears hat could a composer possibly know about business? PPC Partners found out when it tapped Mark Petering to write an original symphony in celebration of the company’s 50th anniversary in 1997. Petering wasn’t the safe choice. He wasn’t a silver-haired composer who had written scores of pieces. Oh no. “Our intention is to encourage a very talented, young composer at the beginning of his journey,” the company said in its Sparks newsletter. Petering, 24, a Milwaukee native, wrote the symphony, and he was inspired by a corporate value that he also shared: “What impresses me most about this company,” he said, is the importance placed on personal development to achieve one’s maximum potential–at work and in life.” A graduate of Luther College (BA), Bowling Green University (MM), and the University of Minnesota (PhD), Petering would later perform all over the United States and Europe, winning prizes for his compositions. But in 1997, few classical music-lovers knew him. Petering took his assignment seriously, writing the symphony in four movements showing the four stages of growth of PPC Partners, as he interpreted them. There were glimpses of struggle, aspiration, leadership, and collaboration. In Allegro con brio, the first movement, Petering said the tempo was “fast with vigor and spirit,” exemplifying the early years of the company’s growth. “In 1947,” Petering ex-

plained, “the seed was planted by Julius Pieper, an unselfish, honest man of considerable principles who placed great value on a hard day’s work and wished only to be recognized with a simple ‘thank-you.’ In the fall of 1959, his son Richard took over operations, and the company saw 10 years of uninterrupted expansion. It was an exciting time of growth.” In Allentando/Deciso, the movement had two distinct sections: Allentando, “a slowing down,” and Deciso, “a determined, resolute character.” “These descriptions reflect the business’s floundering in the early 1970s, its recovery, and its new and bold initiatives begun in 1979,” said Petering, “a time for seeking new opportunities and solutions to assure continued growth. One must have great patience and discipline to undertake such efforts.” The third movement, Molto rubato, was played “with much freedom.” “It describes an emotional journey and its effect on people. There is time for reflection, healing, and strengthening one’s mind and outlook,” Petering said. Then an unaccompanied violin solo emerges that represents “one solitary life” and its search for ways to impact

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others to do what is in harmony with the common good. A solo clarinet answers. “The two instruments enter into dialogue,” Petering said, “and then, one by one, they engage others in their pursuit until ultimately we hear the entire orchestra contributing to an ever-growing fabric of rich, deep harmonious sound.” In the final movement, Allegro maestoso, the mood, Petering said is “fast and majestic.” The final movement is one of optimism and excitement. Where the first movement bursts with undulating enthusiasm (and perhaps accompanied by a slight hint of child-like naïveté), the final movement evokes a more mature and refined individual completely at ease with his past, present, and future—one who understands his surroundings and how he can continue to grow and affect positive change in others for years to come.” Proving that he had the insight of a Wall Street Journal reporter combined with the musical skill of a composer, Mark Petering earned kudos when his PieperPower anniversary symphony was recorded for posterity on a CD. n

The Noble Experiment

“Good faith is the company’s main selling tool,” even if it means losing out sometimes. “The firm’s refusal to low-ball bids up front and backload them with extras later has a price,” EN≤ said. “No question,” Dick said, “We are losing out to some competitors, but our idea has always been to follow the golden rule: Treat the other guy the way you want to be treated.” That attitude translates into exceptional preparation and service, ≤oger East of Amoco Fabrics and Fibers Co., Hazelhurst, Georgia, told EN≤. “MetroPower employees are really good about learning everything about our business, so they know what we want, and they give it to us.”

“We grow people,” Dick told EN≤. “We just happen to be in the electrical business.”

Taking Safety to Heart By the 1990s, the people of PPC Partners could feel good about their safety record. It was far better than the industry average, and it had been for more than 20 years. But there was room for improvement. “There were times,” says Dick, “when profit was the priority, and safety ranked lower. That’s how some of our managers were making decisions.” One factor that upped the ante on safety nationally was a 1994 declaration by the Construction Industry Institute (CII) that a zero accidents goal was, in fact, achievable, not just some lofty, unattainable aspiration. In fact, in the same year CII published its research, two Pieper Electric groups had accomplished zero accidents: the Panel Shop and the Fox ≤iver Valley branch in Wisconsin. In 1994, the company also created its first safety committee to design programs and processes aimed at reaching zero recordable accidents by the end of 1997, and it decided to create the company’s first full-time “safety process manager” position. Another factor was the federal government. It became more diligent in applying its OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act) requirements for safety. Even so, if a company adhered to every single OSHA rule, it would still eliminate only about 15 percent of all at-work accidents. Perhaps most important for PPC Partners in 1990s was this: people started taking the subject of safety more personally than ever before, and it made a di≠erence. For ≤onnie Hinson, the seeds had been planted a decade earlier. It was 1984 and ≤oberta ≤owe, a young

“We believe that people will go a long way, and they will need many tools in life; we want to give them the tools early.” Dick Pieper

That doesn’t happen without giving people the chance to perform at their best. At Pieper Electric, for example, the company o≠ered more than 60 classes, ranging from safety, estimating, and other work topics to estate planning and weight loss to its employees in 1996. The company also sponsored its first on-site health fair with blood pressure screening, nutritional guides, mini-chair massages, body fat analysis, and fitness tips. In Wisconsin alone, 322 employees tallied 10,300 education hours. Minnesota and Georgia employees posted their own impressive participation numbers. “Pieper Electric is very active in education, probably the most aggressive of all our contractors,” Sam Purdy, the business representative for Local 494 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) in Greenfield, Wisconsin, told EN≤.

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Minnesotan from the IEC apprenticeship program, was on the job at MetroPower, partnered with an experienced electrician. When he took a brief break, she continued with their work, raising their “man lift” 20 feet in the air alone. He’d asked her to stay put until he returned. From that elevated height, she caught her foot, stumbled, and fell, landing on her head. “Blood was coming out of her ears when our foreman called 911,” Hinson recalls. “It was our first serious accident at MetroPower, and we were walking around in a fog when ≤oberta died. Looking back, that event didn’t change our approach to safety. People just considered it an unfortunate accident because she was young and inexperienced. We didn’t know what else we could do.” Four years later, Hinson says, “the event that really started to change things for us involved Danny Gibson’s father-in-law, W.E. “Buddy” Cromer. MetroPower had purchased Gibson’s electrical contracting company, and Danny and his father were working for us. Danny’s father-in-law, Buddy, was retired and was helping out on a motel job in northeast Georgia.” An afternoon thunderstorm blew in, and the men ran to their truck for cover. Buddy Cromer remembered a tool punch he’d left on the ground, so he decided to dodge the rain and grab it. Just as he did, a nearby concrete wall that was part of the motel construction teetered in a severe wind gust and struck him. He didn’t survive. Those two accidents left Hinson with what he calls “a hole in my heart.” Soon afterward, Hinson heard from Kim Davis, a safety expert at Liberty Mutual, MetroPower’s insurer. “She met me in Albany, and we rode up to that accident site,” he says. “We examined exactly what happened. For several years after that, Kim visited our job sites and met

with our people, discussing ways we could protect each other better. Kim Davis planted the seed for us. She met Dick in Wisconsin and consulted with our people there. I think we really started to change the way we approached safety as a company, and it began in the 1990s.”

A Moment of Truth Even for some PPC Partners leaders, the subject required an attitude adjustment. Take Danny Buck, for example. Looking back on his youthful career as an electrical contractor, Buck admits to “walking on bare steel 200 feet up with no lanyard, no safety belt on, just like an iron worker. I did a lot of unsafe things, and I was electrocuted once. Today, I’m really safety conscious, on my tractors at the farm, in the house. I use the right ladder, I put my safety glasses on, and I caution everybody around me. I finally took safety to heart.”

“Every one of us has had terrible, fatal accidents under our watch. I believe that’s the thing that finally gets to people.” Dick Pieper

Taking the subject to heart was what the senior management team of PPC Partners (and several others in key positions) found when they visited three American companies to learn about their best safety practices in 1997: Cianbro Corporation in Pittsfield, Maine; and Linbeck Corporation and Fisk Corporation, both in Houston, Texas. “We handled those visits very strategically,” says Dick. “We developed a list of questions in advance; then we got together and talked about what information we were looking for. After our meeting with each company, we

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Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re a company that does business

the right way.

Chapter Five: 1990–1999

It’s an IDEAL “Walkabout” uying a plumbing, heating, and airconditioning business seemed a logical “line extension” for PPC Partners in 1988, so the company acquired IDEAL of Milwaukee. In 1990, they expanded the business with acquisition of Joseph Wittig Company, the oldest plumbing contractor in Wisconsin (founded in 1865), and later Kinlow Heating in 1996. Two more acquisitions followed: Sage Mechanical and Friese Mueller Plumbing, both of Wisconsin. It would take years for IDEAL to build synergy with its sister companies and find its own perfect niche. For years, people with electrical contracting expertise managed IDEAL. Perhaps it was time to turn the business over to people with depth in plumbing, heating, and airconditioning? One thing was certain, IDEAL needed people who thought like entrepreneurs and believed in building relationships.

“In his first two decades with us, Ken Dziubek, a smart journeyman plumber, had the know-how and service ethic to keep IDEAL alive. Without him, the venture would have failed long ago.” Dick Pieper

Harry Becker, today’s branch manager of IDEAL Plumbing, Heating and Air-Conditioning, is one of those people. A graduate of the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), Becker worked for Honeywell, Johnson Controls, and Wenninger Company, a mechanical contractor that Becker briefly owned. After selling his company to Total Mechanical and spending a few years there as vice president of the Environmental Services Group, Becker wanted a new challenge, and a chance to join IDEAL appeared.

Although IDEAL’s services were a natural ally of electrical contracting, project managers at Pieper Electric had developed their own relationships with other mechanical contractors over the years. IDEAL had to prove itself and find its niche. Today, it is focusing on maintenance agreements, emergency service, and quoted projects in plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, temperature control, and building automation for commercial and industrial applications. “In the long run,” says Becker, “our goal is to build strong relationships with facility managers and owners of existing buildings.” IDEAL also serves the residential market.

“IDEAL was in a turnaround phase when I got here. We were trying to make all this happen while still staying safe and making sure the branch makes money.” Harry Becker, branch manager

“PPC Partners has invested in me to develop a clear plan for IDEAL and see it through,” says Becker. “What I like about working for this company is the freedom I’m given. I’ve never been part of a company where every department supervisor runs his or her own small business and their success is based on those quantifiable financial results. It helps keep everyone accountable.”

The IDEAL team around 1996 included ( from left): Ken Dziubek, Je≠ Spence, David Christensen, John Herr, Kelly ≤obbins, Latresa Martin, (Dave Lennox), Sundra Ward, Jan Hamann, Denise Heise, Ned Baldus, and Jerry Hill . . .

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Safety Conscious Mike Scherer runs the plumbing department at IDEAL. He’s a Milwaukee native, and he learned his trade through a union apprenticeship. IDEAL has developed a strong safety record, and Scherer says that helps sell jobs. “There are a lot of benefits to being a safe contractor,” Scherer says. “Our customers know that.” This safety focus has changed his own perspective: “As a younger man, I was invincible, like most guys in the trade. I wanted to impress my boss and get the work done fast. Now I understand what accidents can do to a career. My heightened awareness today knocks out the chances of an accident big time.” The majority of IDEAL people, both field crew and managers, have OSHA 30 advanced safety training. To those who say that safety takes extra time and effort and therefore erodes profits, Scherer has facts: “Pieper Electric had record profits in 2008, and our accident rate was way down. With improved safety numbers, Insurance costs go down, and it all snowballs with positive results.”

Good “Personality” Mike Gaggioli was trained in mechanical engineering at Marquette University in Wisconsin, and he went on to start his own heating and air-conditioning business. He was attracted to IDEAL because Mike Michels, president of Pieper Electric, assured Gaggioli that he could be an entrepreneur inside the company. “I’m my own profit center, and I like that a lot,” he says.

. . . and in 2011 included ( from left): Justin Nick, Tony Martin, Tom Ciesielski, Tom Wood, Tim Smith, and Mark Bennett.

As a small business owner who remembers the loneliness of cash flow and staffing nightmares, Gaggioli appreciates the support that a large company can give.

“We each have goals for ourselves, and it’s up to us to achieve them. If you have a setback, there are always people who will help you.” Heather Schwenn, IDEAL receptionist, dispatch, and customer service

From his time spent calling on commercial and industrial customers, Gaggioli learned to read companies. “I always take note of the ‘personality’ of a company when I walk in the door.

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First impressions are a good indication of how a place runs,” he says. “I remember the first day I walked around the offices at Pieper Electric, being introduced. I kept thinking, ‘This is a company with a good personality.’ People are happy. A lot of workers in a lot of places just aren’t.” Gaggioli tends to manage IDEAL’s larger, commercial HVAC projects, and, in a smaller office like this one, collaboration is crucial. “There are plenty of go-getters in this company,” he says. “I can simply say, ‘this is what we need,’ and that’s all the person needs to know. I won’t see him again until he comes back with it. People here like taking responsibility and being accountable.” n

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reviewed the material together and reflected on it, making sure that we got all our key questions answered.” It was the first time in the company’s history that its senior leaders devoted this much time and e≠ort together examining how to make safety as important as quality workmanship, people development, customer satisfaction, and profit. The team gained a great deal of insight from those exploratory meetings, but the most compelling story came from Peter Vigue, the president of Cianbro, a heavy industrial contractor. They were following all the OSHA standards, and yet they lost people every year. “Peter’s company builds huge bridges, and he described an accident when a crew member working on the underside of the bridge fell and wasn’t caught by the safety nets. When he hit the water, he was killed,” Hinson remembers. “At the funeral, Peter was standing among the young man’s family, and a little girl reached up and tugged on his suit coat. When he looked down at her, she asked, ‘Why did you kill my daddy?’

says Dick. “Many people in PPC Partners would also say that our best practice visits to those companies was a seminal event for us.”

Homing In on Hazards Call it a moment of truth. PPC Partners’ management team was unanimous in taking safety to the highest level, everywhere, every day. Achieving zero recordable accidents became a priority, and safety was prominent in every planning meeting of the management team.

“The commitment of our top executives is what makes us truly safety focused. It’s the first thing on every agenda.” Dick Pieper

Keeping safety front and center with the leaders of PPC Partners was one thing; carrying the message to everyone in the company was another. One key e≠ort, inaugurated in the 1990s was “the 12 hazards” program, led personally by Dick Pieper. “I went out and talked to everybody on every job,” he says. It was a simple plan. Dick showed up at a site, clued in the superintendent or foreman, and asked the crew flat-out: “Tell me 12 hazards you have to watch out for on this job.” Within minutes, the crew came up with 3 or 4: Slips on icy ground, cuts from a sharp surface, and pulled muscles from overexertion. Then they were usually silent. Dick walked them through the job, and the group brainstormed. Many possible hazards surfaced once everyone put their minds to it. They discussed safety preplanning. Just take five minutes before you start the job, anticipate those hazards, and decide how you’re going to avert them. They called it “take time to take five.”

“We learned a lot that makes a di≠erence in how we treat people before and after an accident. We recognize that the longer a person is o≠ work, the harder it is to come back.” Arnold Geeslin

“Peter has told that story many times, each time with tears in his eyes. That one moment changed his company’s attitude about safety . . . and I think it had a lot to do with changing ours, too.” “That was a seminal event for Peter Vigue, and from that time forward the whole focus of Cianbro was safety,”

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The Noble Experiment

“Then I’d ask them, ‘What could possibly go wrong if you were doing this same task the way you’re doing it today for the rest of your life?’ I wanted people to think about the little things, like cutting something toward yourself. Do it long enough, and eventually you get cut. Along with thinking about the job at hand, I wanted them to think about practices that could endanger them through-out their careers.” Dick’s impromptu job site visits were e≠ective. As they had learned from the chief executive o∞cer of Cianbro Corporation in Maine, when the top guy makes safety personal, people pay attention.

average. The combined companies’ employee satisfaction figures also averaged 80 percent or above, another sign of a safe company. “We believe that an excellent safety program engenders employee satisfaction,” Dick told U.S. Business ≤eview magazine. “From that employee satisfaction level, you end up with satisfied customers. In an organization that requires a good safe operation, every individual has a good, well-planned workload.” PPC Partners’ goal for each employee became 80,000 hours without a recordable accident—the equivalent of 45 years, the length of most working careers. By the end of the 1990s, safety was a revered tenet of the company’s culture. “When I joined the board of directors in 2003,” says Bill Doppstadt, “I realized that safety was a top priority. I could tell by their numbers. They push safety day in and day out. They preach it. Any company can say it cares about safety, but these people truly believe they owe it to their employees.”

“Safety means our people go home in the same condition they came to work. We owe them that.” Ken Phelps

During the 1990s, there were many e≠orts to raise awareness: a new Safety Herald newsletter published for line construction workers who often faced the most serious accidents, safety updates in every company publication, weekly “gangbox talks” designed to share new safety information with people in the field, OSHA training pairing two people on a job (one works and the other observes, acting like a safety coach), and safety glasses with side shields provided by the company for every worker on a job site. Did all that special e≠ort work? Yes. PPC Partners’ safety statistics, expressed in an experience modification rating (EM≤), were the best they’d ever been. In that measurement system, ratings less than 1.0 are most desirable. In 1999, the EM≤ for MetroPower was 0.69; for Pieper Electric, 0.61; and for MP Systems, 0.59—all ratings considerably better than the electrical contracting industry

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Chapter Five: 1990–1999

199O

1990 At its August 28 PPC Partners board meeting, the directors discuss the “eventual disposition” of the Pieper family’s ownership of the company. The plan will later be called “the noble experiment.”

1990 Pieper Electric has several acquisitions: Joseph Wittig Company, a plumbing contractor (1990); Mericle Electric and Trenko Electric (1992); and Kinlow Heating (1996).

1991 The PPC Partners Foundation funds research to interview Milwaukee single mothers to understand what caused them to go on welfare and what they need to live independently.

1992 PPC Partners’ leadership establishes its first set of five-year goals with 32 qualitative and quantitative measures. 1992 10,000 cell phones are sold in the US.

1991 Kayanne Blackwell, an Albany, Georgia, CPA, becomes MetroPower’s new controller.

1993 Norm Doll is named Pieper Electric’s president and chief operating officer. 1993 Pieper Electric drafts its first vision statement.

1990 The first edition of Microsoft Windows 3.0 software is shipped to consumers.

1994 The Construction Industry Institute (CII) declares that zero accidents are achievable.

1990 MetroPower expands by opening new branches in Macon and Columbus, Georgia. 1990 MetroPower’s Atlanta office lands its first $1 million project with Thrall Car Manufacturing Company in Cartersville, Georgia. Three more projects of $1 million each follow.

There is nothing better than “walking a job:” ( from left) Kayanne Blackwell, Neal Patton and Bill O’Brien at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia.

1991 An opportunity to install data cable for Covia, a division of United Airlines, leads MetroPower into a new specialty: installing data cable for companies whose computer operations are growing. About the same time, they pursue a related specialty: UPS (Uninterruptable Power Source) installations. From MetroPower’s earliest years in business, the Albany Electric branch in Albany, Georgia, has been a leading contributor to company sales and revenues.

1991 Operation Desert Storm begins in response to the Iraqi army seizing of Kuwait.

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1995 With the acquisition of Donovan, a line construction business based in Minnesota and owned by Midwest Energy, Pieper Electric dramatically increases its market. The acquisition prompts creation of MP Systems in 1998: a new PPC Partners company focused on transmission and distribution that includes Milwaukee-based PieperLine and Donovan.

Timeline

1999 1995 Pieper Electric creates its first full time “safety process manager” position.

1998 The Dow Jones Industrial Average hits 9000 for the first time in a single day’s trading. 1999 Julius Pieper dies on January 16 at the age of 88.

1995 A bomb explodes outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.

1999 PPC Partners employees take part in educational presentations to learn about a planned stock offering in 2000.

1996 AT&T introduces Internet service. 1999 Scientists from the United States, Japan and England announce the first mapping of an entire human genome, part of the Human Genome Project.

1996 PPC Partners installs AS400 software to integrate project management information and financial data. 1997 PPC Partners celebrates 50 years in business. By this time, Engineering News Record magazine ranks them among the top ten of all electrical contractors nationally.

Julius Pieper in 1997, enjoying the 50th anniversary celebration of the company he founded in 1947.

Command Briefing members and guests, November 14, 1996: (left to right) Kayanne Blackwell, Ken Phelps, Bill Adams, Norm Doll, Tom Ohlgart, Ann Pieper*, Danny Gibson, ≤onnie Hinson, John Shamp, Jim Hendricks, Arnold Geeslin, Danny Buck, ≤ichard Pieper.

1997 Members of PPC Partners’ leadership visit three American companies to learn about their best safety practices. 1997 The company introduces regular statistical tracking of three key indicators of organizational success: safety performance, employee satisfaction, and customer satisfaction.

*Ann Pieper at that time, now Ann Pieper Eisenbrown

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Pieper Electric people gather for fun and games. In 1998, this team won first place in the Milwaukee softball tourney.

Chapter Six

2000–2012

“Our Wonderful, Exceptional Journey” I will complete my 50th year with this company in September 2008. Some people say that our wonderful, exceptional journey is because of my e≠orts. I do not agree. People throughout this organization have added tremendous value over the years years—people who are here today, as well as those who have retired or moved on. The seeds of our history were planted by my father. Julius Pieper and his family had the courage to start a business in 1947, in what turned out to be a non-growth market and a hostile environment. Everyone who has joined us over the past six decades has helped cultivate and nurture those seeds. I’ve always believed that if we had used a traditional business model, our sales in 2008 would be around $2 billion. However, 50 years from now, we would likely have disappeared like so many companies that were bought, merged, crashed, or died a slow death. The companies of PPC Partners will serve a larger customer and employee base than we do today. I believe that will happen because we have dedicated ourselves to preserving and perpetuating our unique and successful business culture. This has been a rich journey for me. The learning and the excitement has never stopped. I do not have the words to describe how good I feel about the admirable and virtuous way the people of our company have made this noble experiment a rock-solid reality.

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erhaps the business reporter was right when she described Dick Pieper as “owlish and scholarly”— as comfortable in a classroom as he is in one of his company’s o∞ces. Though he never was a model student in college—far from it—Dick made up for it after buying Pieper Electric from his father. Asked to identify himself in 2008, he did not choose chairman of a top 10 American electrical contracting firm. That language was too limiting. Instead, he described himself as an educator and a mentor: “My main objective now is to grow future executives,” he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “and teach people how to grow future employees through experimentation, mentoring, and seed planting.”

2000–2002. The world was turning out to be a volatile, scary place, bu≠eted by worrisome highs and lows in the economy, troubling job losses, and terrorism on America’s shores. The Harvard Business ≤eview called Senge’s timely book one of the best in 75 years, saying he was one of the few who “had the greatest impact on the way we conduct business today.” Senge echoed what Dick Pieper and other leaders in the company inherently knew: only businesses that are able to adapt quickly and e≠ectively will excel in the 21st century. These are “learning organizations,” Senge explained, “where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they desire, new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, collective aspiration is set free, and people are continually learning to see the whole together.” Senge, a Stanford University-trained aerospace engineer, practicing Zen Buddhist and director of the Center for Organizational Learning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT’s) Sloan School of Management, nailed it. Perhaps Dick was channeling Peter Senge? They certainly shared the same thought wavelength.

“Real learning gets to the heart of what it means to be human. Through learning, we re-create ourselves. . . . We become able to do something we never were able to do. . . . We re-perceive the world and our relationship to it.” Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization

People Power Channeling Senge?

By the first decade of the new century, virtually anyone could be a teacher at PPC Partners, and many people were. A majority of the company’s courses today are taught by employees because they’ve honed their skills and become in-house experts. Best of all, they are eager to share what they know with others. And if they discover a better way to execute a task, they post the details online for others to see. Employees can have their own personal and career development plans that include continuing education,

In fact, by the first decade of the 21st century, the companies of PPC Partners o≠ered so many educational courses and incentives for continuing education and career growth that Dick aptly called his company a “learning institution.” It had become a shining example of what author Peter Senge described in his business best seller. Leaders of organizations across the country were lapping up Senge’s wisdom, especially after recessionary gut punches in the early 1990s and an even worse round in

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“Our Wonderful, Exceptional Journey”

and, in significant ways, their future depends on it. People are rewarded for their personal and career accomplishments. Leaders advance because they are not only strategic and e≠ective business thinkers but also mentors to others. They purposefully nurture people who can eventually become their successors. Quite simply, that’s how they move up.

Dick Pieper, ≤onnie Hinson, and Norm Doll hired and nurtured the right people over time.”

Gray Matters

“Our young leaders are inspiring. They have little cynicism and great interest in making a di≠erence. They are about ethics, inclusion, and creating a brighter future.” Dick Pieper in the 2006 PPC Partners annual report

The companies of PPC Partners have programs in place to attract, train, and retain the best people. Today’s leaders know who the next generation of highest potential leaders are by name and never stop looking for more “tiebreakers” or “superstars,” as they are informally called. Practically speaking, how else could the company perpetuate itself? “In the big picture,” Dick wrote some years ago, “we have never had a shortage of opportunities to do work. But we have had continuous shortages of people to do the work. We are constantly focused on human development: not only professionally but also personally.” Bottom line: finding and nurturing capable people is the key to the company’s future. Mike Michels, president of Pieper Electric since 2007, is convinced that attracting, growing, and retaining the right people is the number one challenge for PPC Partners: “I’m not worried about the volatile economy,” he says. “Our biggest challenge is continuing to find the right people. This is both our opportunity and limiting factor. The reason we’re still here and growing is because

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Knowing this, PPC Partners has reached a challenging time in its 65th anniversary year. It is the same challenge facing organizations across America as many highachieving baby boomers, who ascended to top management in the previous century, now face retirement. Call it the “graying of the executive suite.” Look around the table of participants at a command briefing (a planning meeting of top leaders of PPC Partners), and you will see a preponderance of silver hair (or, in Dick Pieper’s case, none at all). Corporate boards of directors, including that of PPC Partners, are addressing this question: Who will succeed our current leaders, and how will we prepare them? By the company’s anniversary year in 2012, Dick Pieper will be 76. He won’t be leading the company but, as veteran foreman Buck Browning imagines, “Dick’s going to be just like Julius. He’ll still be around, even if he’s just picking up nails in the parking lot.” Well, we’ll see about that. “PPC Partners will shift from an essentially family-run company to a professionally managed and run company,” says Bill Doppstadt, a PPC Partners board member. “Preparing people for leadership has been a focus as long as I’ve served on the board (since 2003). Now, we’re concentrating on positions at the top of the organization, and what we must do to get people ready.” That’s why, along with an active culture of internal mentoring in place, PPC Partners has also engaged an external leadership coach to work individually with the company’s top leaders.

I’ve made someone’s life better

because I’ve been here.

“Our Wonderful, Exceptional Journey”

Do and Learn

today.” From the start, Moore was touched by how much MetroPower cared about a green college student: “People in the field and the o∞ce took an interest,” Moore says, still surprised. “When I reported to work, the first question was usually, ‘How did you do on that college test?’ Not ‘Where’s that assignment I gave you last week?’ A lot of people were mentors. They answered my questions and they were generous with their time.” At only 25, Moore was tapped to open CarolinaPower, MetroPower’s new Greenville, South Carolina, o∞ce and the company’s first in that state. It was a heady responsibility, but Moore learned that the company culture provided a lot of support. He still counts on it today. “We’re all about continuous learning,” he says. “I’ll call Danny Gibson for advice twice a day, Steve Vanovich, three times a week. I’ll call Danny Buck or Mr. Hinson. I know that if I run into a problem, there is always someone to call who’s willing to help.” Moore can speak with experience, having struggled with losing jobs—and sleep—in his early years in Greenville. Today, the CarolinaPower branch generates about $10 million annually and employs approximately 70 full-time and part-time people.

There are many avenues to career and personal growth at PPC Partners’ companies. Some people, especially in the field, expand their education and skills through apprenticeships o≠ered by the union or the company. Others join PPC Partners as co-op students right out of high school or college. Still others participate in internships, management training, and academies focused on leadership and skill building in particular jobs, such as foreman, supervisor, administrative support, branch management, project management, and field supervision. Employees take most of these classes on their free time, and the company supplies the instruction, the materials, and the learning space.

“I remember Tommy Wyatt. We worked during the day, and he and I walked the job at night. He’d say, ‘This is what we did today, and this is why we did it.’” Chris Moore, CarolinaPower branch manager

We Have Your Back

Simply the Best

Chris Moore, a Georgia native and the son of a construction superintendent, was among MetroPower’s first coop students. In 1994, he was a freshman at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) with plans to be an electrical engineer. In those days, most colleges and universities operated on a quarter system, so co-op students could alternate a quarter of classroom study with a quarter of on-the-job experience. “I started work as a helper in the field and then moved to the service department, working with ≤icky Butler,” he says. “I worked in construction for Mike Biehl, a foreman I still work with

Andy Bell, a South Georgia native, was only a few months behind Moore in mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech when he joined MetroPower as a co-op student. “I started digging ditches for Albany Electric,” he says, “pulling feeder cable and helping people run conduit at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital.” Today, he is branch manager of major construction at MetroPower in Atlanta, a business that generates approximately $6 million annually. The branch is one that Danny Buck, his mentor and today MetroPower’s chief operating o∞cer

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Chapter Six: 2000–2012

Kicking the Dirt

and president, previously managed. Bell is responsible for hiring people for his branch, including some college graduates who are management trainees (the modern version of the former co-op program).

Melissa Ski∞ngton was a civil engineering major at Marquette University in Wisconsin when she joined Pieper Electric as a co-op student in 1999. Her focus was project management. She is the daughter of a tool and die maker and a mechanically savvy mother. “It was no surprise to my parents when I picked engineering,” she says. “I grew up with lots of Legos, and I gravitated to any science project that gave me a chance to build something.” Skiffington is today a project manager for PieperLine distribution crews serving Alliant Energy, one of Wisconsin’s major utilities. They install power poles for distribution lines carrying electricity into homes, plants, and o∞ces. She works with job foremen to ensure that each crew has everything it needs to do the work. She is the liaison to Alliant, ensuring that the specifications of the job are understood and—after the work is done—the work meets her customer’s expectations. Ski∞ngton says she especially likes being in the field, kicking the dirt, and seeing the work unfold.

“I’m extremely self-motivated. I have a good work ethic. I care about getting the work done and seeing our company successful.” Sara Collins, Auburn University graduate and MetroPower management trainee

Asked what qualities Bell looks for in new recruits, he is candid: “I’m looking for the best of the best,” he says. “When you see it, you know it. The Cleaver profile is an important part of our selection process, along with interviews. I didn’t grow up on a farm, but I often find that people who did have a real knack for problem solving and figuring out how to fix things. They’re resourceful.” Someone with construction experience is a plus: “Perhaps they helped in the family contracting business or worked hanging drywall in the summers,” Bell says. “These are people who are used to getting dirty. Someone from a top-notch college with the best grades may not even know how to change the oil in his car.” Bell remembers a classmate with a 4.0 in mechanical engineering who had never used a screwdriver. “He’d be fine in a research environment,” he says, “but you can’t put someone like that in a construction company like ours.”

“If we’re going to tell people they can be all they want to be in this company, then we’d better have places for them to go and excel.” Danny Gibson

Early in her career, she was allowed to run small projects: “When I first arrived, I was only 20 years old. Anytime I had a question, anyone I asked was helpful. Out in the field, I always tried to learn from the foremen. Once I got my feet under me, I was surprised by the freedom I was given. I also knew that people had my back.”

“You have your own autonomy at this company. Pursue what you want to do, but be safe, legal, honest, and ethical.” Rick Parra, Pieper Electric branch manager

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“Our Wonderful, Exceptional Journey”

Don’t Say “No”

I handed out our brochure and people said, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you guys were that big.’ ”

Michael Everhart, a farmer’s son from Janesville, Wisconsin, earned his electrical engineering degree from the University of Wisconsin. He joined Pieper Electric as a co-op student in 2005, while still in school. His first job was a time study of directional boring for a Pieper Electric streetlighting project. His second was generating drawings to record all electrical installations for a Milwaukee building project, including detailed operations and maintenance information. It was a timeconsuming and laborious job but vital at the end of every project. In 2007, when Pieper Electric landed the $30 million St. Mary’s Hospital contract in Milwaukee, Everhart was assigned to project invoicing for that complex, multiyear e≠ort. Everhart has learned to marshal a mountain of detail because a typical monthly invoice is only slightly thinner than a ream of paper. In 2009, he relocated to work in Pieper Electric’s new Madison, Wisconsin, o∞ce, run by Mike LeMaster. What would Everhart say to incoming co-op students or interns who want to succeed at this company? “Don’t say ‘no,’ ” he says, “unless you’re absolutely swamped. Learn as much as you can and try to be observant. Be willing to learn on your feet and do the detective work, when asked. You won’t have all the answers but ask for help and do your best to figure the task out. Stay organized, even if your day is rushed.” Like others, Everhart values the freedom he was given, even as a new employee. “I want to be helped when I ask for help,” he says, “but I don’t want to be told what to do all the time. That doesn’t happen here.” He also likes knowing that people take PPC Partners seriously. “In Madison, they didn’t know us,” he says. “Then

Forensic Accounting By the year 2000, Carla Buske already had 15 years with Pieper Electric in materials management and accounting. But as a senior at Custer High School, she had been unsure about her future. She couldn’t see herself in college, so her high school teacher suggested a co-op program that involved morning classes and afternoon work at a business. When she was hired by Pieper Electric, she earned high school credit, as well as being paid. With the company’s support, she took accounting courses at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC), and today she handles deposits, journal entries, reconciling bank accounts, month-end profit and loss statements, and researching financial questions—work she calls “forensic accounting.”

“The people at Pieper Electric encouraged me to go to college and get my degree in business management, and they paid 90 percent of the tuition. They care about each of us. I’d like to retire here.” Latresa Martin, IDEAL customer service specialist, former 1997 Custer High School co-op student

She was teamed with intern Steven Lentz, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and she took her role as mentor seriously: “We sat right next to each other, and when people came with questions, I encouraged Steven to step in and find the answers.” Financial queries from branch managers usually involve details of project costs, income, and cash flow. “We work with 12

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Twin “Walk-About”: Greenville and Kenosha arolinaPower in Greenville, South Carolina, and Pieper Electric’s Kenosha, Wisconsin, branch both got their start in 2000. Though they are about 800 miles apart in noticeably different climates and cultures, their people have plenty in common. When Mike Wierzba and Todd Winters joined Branch 14 in Kenosha in late 2006, both men were experienced electrical contractors. Wierzba had worked nearly two decades for an employee-owned firm in Illinois, and Winters ran—and later owned—his father’s Kenosha-based, commercial business. Both men say they were attracted to the opportunity and freedom that Pieper Electric offered. Wierzba had been managing projects, and Pieper Electric gave him his first chance at managing a branch. “The company wanted to grow in southeastern Wisconsin, and when Mike Michels talked to me, the office had been losing money,” he says. “They had invested in the branch for seven years, and they needed the

right people in place. Southeastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois offer a lot of opportunity. We’re only 10 minutes from the border.” Wierzba was attracted to the opportunity and the freedom. “We sell our own work, we run our work, and we bill our work,” he says. “We’re responsible for our own efforts. There is no finger-pointing. You have latitude to do what you think is right, as long as you’re performing. That’s all that is expected of anybody.” Todd Winters wondered if he’d have the freedom he experienced as a small business owner. His focus is commercial, design-build projects: “I was a little skeptical,” he says. “I never had a boss before I joined Pieper Electric. As it turns out, I have the freedom to pursue projects, and the only requirement is that the projects are profitable. With the resources that this company has, I can go after bigger projects. Pieper Electric gives all of us room to grow. I don’t have to worry about making payroll as I did as a business owner. Frankly, I sleep better.”

And when times are tough—as they were in the 2008/2009 massive economic downturn— the financial strength of the companies of PPC Partners gives the enterprise staying power. “We can weather a financial storm,” says Winters. “Besides, when it’s slow up here in the north, Georgia is probably booming.”

Dollar Power

“When I interviewed for this job with Mike Michels, he said, ‘This is yours to create. You can be successful or you can fail, but it’s going to be your decision.’ ” Andy Lintner, project manager, Pieper Electric Kenosha Branch

The folks at CarolinaPower can say the same about their Yankee colleagues. Steve Orr, a preconstruction manager for the branch since 2006, estimates projects, develops bids, and negotiates contracts with general contractors. During the most recent economic downturn, he says, companies were taking jobs that yielded no profit. “Many of our opportunities have come to us as a result of our quality work,” he says. “Our financial strength and bonding authority also have a lot of bearing on winning jobs. In addition, we have a pool of resources we can rely on. We can call on our branches in Georgia to team up with us.”

New opportunities come to the CarolinaPower team as a result of their quality work and focus on relationship-building.

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That spirit of cooperation impresses Anita Masi, office manager in Kenosha whose work with the branch and its predecessor companies dates back to 1974. “We all strive to work as a team, even though people have individual projects they’re leading,” she says. “There’s a lot of cooperation. If there’s something a person doesn’t know, he doesn’t worry about asking for help. That includes our field people.”

Never Walk Away Treating people fairly—especially when the going is tough—is a reason why the companies of PPC Partners have been successful. “Pieper Electric backs us to do what’s right for our customer, no matter what it takes. We won’t walk away when our contract is finished if we know our customer is unhappy,” says Mike Wierzba. “That goes for the other people we work with, too, such as suppliers and engineers. Some companies just move on to the next job, and those are the ones that fall by the wayside in tough times. Nobody calls them back.”

“When our customers call and they need something done, boom, we’re on it.”

Teamwork, cooperation, and doing what’s right for the customer are big factors in the success of Pieper Electric’s Kenosha, Wisconsin, branch.

and finished at 1 a.m. “What I like most is solving problems for our customers,” he says simply. But taking a call on Christmas Eve? “Well,” he shrugs, “sometimes you just get situations like that.” Britt Skinner, CarolinaPower service manager, agrees. “This work is all about building relationships,” he says. “Sure, it takes a lot of $100 service jobs to make the big money, but if we continue to respond fast, when a major project comes along, they’re likely to call us.”

Peggy Hossli, CarolinaPower office manager

No Shortcuts to Safety

Jim Cyr, CarolinaPower’s service technician and troubleshooter, remembered a call on the day before Christmas. Part of a house was out of power, and three electricians had preceded Cyr’s visit. He started troubleshooting at 7 p.m.

Tom O’Connor has worked more than three decades in electrical contracting fieldwork, including routinely climbing 60-foot power poles as a lineman. “This company,” he says, “is the safest company I’ve ever worked for—by far.” When he first joined CarolinaPower, O’Connor was

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incredulous: “I had worked for companies who said, ‘Just go out there and get it done and, by the way, be careful.’ It was all about the dollar.”

“It takes a long time to build up a good reputation, but it takes a real short time to create a bad one.” Tom O’Connor, CarolinaPower project lead

At Mike Wierzba’s previous employer, there were no safety classes or safety initiatives. “Until I joined Pieper Electric, I had never seen a company where a field guy would say, ‘Hey, we need this type of harness or lanyard’ with no questions asked. We’d buy it,” he says. “We fill out a job hazard analysis (JHA) on every job. Our biggest customer adopted our JHA, and now every contractor has to fill one out before starting work.” n

Chapter Six: 2000–2012

operating branches in Pieper Electric, and they’re all individual businesses. They take pride in what they’re doing, and, like most entrepreneurs, they have their own ways of doing things.” What makes Buske and Lentz happiest is, she says, “being able to answer their questions, dig into the details, and get the answers. I think the branch managers like knowing we’re on their side.”

also taught aspiring foremen at MATC): “First, you have to be safety minded,” he says. “If you’re going to take risks or cut corners, you’re not going to make it at this company. Second, you have to be very organized. At any given time, you have people working on multiple, di≠erent tasks. You have to have their materials and equipment ready on-site and be organized enough to know what everybody is doing. Third, you have to have interpersonal skills. You have to get your point across, be respectful, and earn the respect of the field crew. It takes a lot of years to develop those qualities.”

From the Ground Up An apprenticeship in the electrical trade typically lasts four to five years, before a man or woman becomes a journeyman electrician. In the Midwest, where people are union members, apprenticeship training is provided by the electrical industry. In the Southeast United States, where most field crews are non-union, MetroPower o≠ers its own federally certified apprenticeship training and partners with the Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC) and several technical schools to make coursework available. With time and experience, a journeyman electrician might advance to foreman, general foreman, or field superintendent, overseeing multiple jobs or one, large job. Mike LeMaster, who learned his craft as an apprentice and serves on the apprenticeship board for union local 890 in Janesville, Wisconsin, recognizes the value of experienced field people. He was one before becoming a project manager and now branch supervisor for Pieper Electric in Madison. “I have great respect for foremen who can supervise a whole crew, have the phone ringing constantly (sometimes with people screaming), and still manage a job. It’s tough work,” he says. LeMaster knows from personal experience what it takes to be a stellar foreman at Pieper Electric (he has

“If you want to move up in this company, you’re going to work with people twice your age. You need to earn their respect before you’ll be able to do anything.” Eric West, branch supervisor, Automation Controls Division

Field crew members are encouraged to keep up with their continuing education. “Does an electrician’s education stop when he graduates from the apprenticeship program?” Electrical Contractor magazine asked in an article covering PPC Partners’ continuing education program. “≤ichard Pieper doesn’t think so. He believes that if an employee doesn’t continually develop his job skills, he stagnates,ultimately damaging his job performance.” By the early 2000s, electricians were encouraged to attend at least 18 hours of advanced training each year on subjects they most needed to know about. If an electrician has aspirations to move up into leadership or management, he or she can map out a development plan with the help of a mentor. The next steps are often foreman, general foreman, and project man-

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ager, says LeMaster. “How Dick Pieper structured this company and encouraged people to learn and grow is why a lot of us are still here. In most companies, there’s one owner, and he’s the boss and everything has to go through him. That stifles growth. Mr. Pieper made our company decentralized, and it gives managers the chance to run their own businesses. That includes foremen who buy their own materials. Back in the late 1990s, Fred Baranowski was head of purchasing, and he created a system so people could handle their own purchasing. It’s a streamlined approach, and I can’t think of anyone our size that operates like us.”

“We want to grow in every nook and cranny of this company. We’re trying to grow people, our customers, and our industry.”

and lights. Our tradesmen and foremen have been doing it for years. As a beginner, I had to show that I cared. I tried my best and worked as hard as they did. If I did that, they’d teach me and begin to respect me.” Gri∞th is now a branch supervisor specializing in hospitals and health care facilities for MetroPower. He tells management trainees to park their know-it-all attitudes at the door: “Sometimes people right out of engineering school don’t have the maturity to realize they’re walking into someone else’s realm,” Gri∞th says. “It’s a mistake to act like you’re better just because you have a degree.” He is proud of MetroPower’s apprenticeship program that involves four years of classroom and fieldwork. “We train our employees well, and it’s our company’s investment in them. It’s a demanding program and, when they graduate, they’re well prepared.”

Christine Komp, operations manager, Pieper Electric

The company wants us to grow, and we can’t move up until we train a person to do our job even better than we do.”

Show That You Care Clay Gri∞th, the son of a Georgia farmer, went to work for MetroPower in 1996 while he was a high school senior in Leesburg, Georgia. “I worked with Albany Electric in the afternoons after class,” he says. “After I got my high school diploma, I decided I wanted to work in management.” That’s when Gri∞th attended Georgia Tech to earn his electrical engineering degree. Albany Electric had a job for him after graduation in 2001, starting as a management trainee. Gri∞th says he had a lot to learn about electrical contracting: “College training is largely theoretical,” he says. “Graduating from engineering school, you wouldn’t know how to wire a building. I had to learn about construction in the field by pulling wire, bending pipe, and installing receptacles

Travis Oswald, Clemson University graduate, CarolinaPower management trainee

Gri∞th likes the challenge of being an entrepreneur. He has about 25 people working with him and an annual budget of around $5 million. “It’s my responsibility to grow this branch. If I have a good idea, I know I can go for it. I have the freedom to try things.” Gri∞th has aspirations to move up in the company, and he embraces the idea that he must find and nurture his successor before he can move up. “It makes good business sense,” he says. “I have a management trainee right now who I believe will be there when the time comes.”

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Chapter Six: 2000–2012

Breakfast of Champions

Force base in central Georgia, and a new branch across the border in Greenville, South Carolina. Even in the continuing, volatile line construction market, PieperLine and Donovan (MP Systems) started the new decade with solid net profits. The years 2001 and 2002 were tests of character. Although Pieper Electric started 2001 with increased sales and solid profits, America’s economic downturn cast a pall over business. Even so, the company made two acquisitions in southeastern Wisconsin with an eye on future growth: IDAC of Waukesha, Wisconsin, a small process control engineering firm that had been handling much of the engineering for Pieper Electric’s water and wastewater treatment projects, and Badger Electric, a small electrical contracting firm, also of Waukesha. MP Systems had little good news to report on the financial side in 2001, but it achieved an outstanding safety record: one recordable accident in 48,318 manhours, almost 33 percent better than the average in an industry besieged with physical dangers. At MetroPower, though eight of the company’s 11 operating branches were profitable in 2001, the company’s sales and profits flagged. The bad news didn’t immobilize the company. MetroPower people went to work surveying their customers for ideas on how to improve their service, and every department and job site practiced the following axiom: “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” When the economy turned around, MetroPower would be ready.

The early years of the new century were a test of character for the companies of PPC Partners. Before midnight arrived on December 31, 1999, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) had climbed 25 percent in the final months of the 20th century. Excitement about “dot.com” ventures, packed with bright ideas (but often little net worth), fueled investor action. Bold talk of a “new economy” in the business media made the old one seem downright fusty. Meanwhile, Federal ≤eserve Chairman Alan Greenspan wondered if maybe— just maybe—there was a little “irrational exuberance” responsible for all the big talk. We got our answer in 2000 and 2001 when the Inter net bubble burst. Then terrorists attacked the World Trade Center Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, killing nearly 3,000 people. By December 2001, the U.S. Congress approved military action in retaliation. The country’s heart was broken, and the DJIA tanked. Looking back at the start of the 21st century, Pieper Electric was riding high in 2000, with sales up 12 percent and profitability soaring an astonishing 109 percent thanks, in part, to the company’s specialty in niche markets, such as wastewater treatment plant projects and automation controls. Hoping to expand its business in southeastern Wisconsin and northeastern Illinois, Pieper Electric acquired Maurer Electric of Kenosha, a full service electrical contracting business dating back to the 1970s. MetroPower saw its sales increase by 13 percent in 2000, matched with ambitious plans including new, expanded, or refocused operations in Albany, Columbus, and Hazlehurst, Georgia; at the Warner Robins Air

The Stuff of Nightmares If 2001 was a cause for sleepless nights, 2002 was a source of nightmares. Descriptors including “flat,” “hard fought,” “di∞cult,” “tough,” and “challenging” dominated

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Everything I make

has a little bit of me in it.

Chapter Six: 2000–2012

The Kid in Greenville

the pages of the company’s annual report in 2002. By this time, a growing number of employees were new company shareholders and they had considerable interest in PPC Partners’ bottom line. Dick Pieper’s words were reassuring: “In comparison to our competitors,” Dick said, describing fiscal 2002, “We did an above-average job. In relation to the general investment market, we look superb; our shareholders had a positive return, while owners of stocks on the DJIA and NASDAQ lost money.” Even during that tough year, employee satisfaction at PPC Partners companies reached 86.8 percent overall, and safety performance was solid: one recordable accident in every 45,000 man-hours, which was many times better than the electrical contracting industry average. There was no scrimping on continuing education, either. Dick Pieper underscored the priority once again: “Education continues to be our driving force,” he said in 2002.”We feel we are moving more and more into a knowledge-based society with certification. Continuing education is a must for everyone.” When 2003 dawned and life was on the upswing (the DJIA rose 25 percent in that year of robust economic recovery), the companies of PPC Partners were ready to pounce on every opportunity. At Pieper Electric, one big project that spelled high potential was the company’s first large scale back-up generation project for Wisconsin-based Saint Gobain Glass Company in which Pieper Electric acted like a quasi-utility. PieperLine signed a major, new customer, Alliant Energy, and MetroPower saw its data-cabling business rebound, along with new medical projects at several branches.

Out in Greenville, South Carolina, Chris Moore, the kid in charge of MetroPower’s new branch was breathing a little easier, but his first three years had been a baptism of fire. The decision to expand into South Carolina had its start in the mid 1990s. ≤onnie Hinson, then chief operating o∞cer and president of MetroPower, and Danny Gibson attended a Mid-South Business ≤oundtable meeting in Asheville, North Carolina. MetroPower’s strategy for long-term growth focused on opening new o∞ces in prime geographic locations, and Greenville, South Carolina, had particular appeal. One of MetroPower’s vice presidents, Bill Thompson, reminded Hinson that they already had several industrial customers in South Carolina. Why not open a branch there? Hinson asked Danny Gibson to be part of the strategizing. MaconPower was solidly profitable, and Gibson says he was “looking for another mountain to climb.” He took his compass and drew a circle 60 miles in diameter around Greenville. Inside that circle were 1,400 manufacturing plants. It was time for serious planning. Dick Pieper led a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis that examined the viability of this new branch. Joining him in the SWOT sessions were Hinson, Gibson, Danny Buck, and Chris Moore. Moore’s hard work had impressed all of them. He had worked in the field and designed and helped oversee MetroPower projects before he graduated from Georgia Tech. Give Moore the chance to open the new branch, the senior leaders agreed, and ask Gibson to be his mentor. Gibson had accomplished in Macon, Georgia, what Moore would be asked to do in Greenville.

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Gibson and Moore took the SWOT analysis and finetuned Greenville’s business plan. Hinson gave them the go-ahead. For Chris Moore the new opportunity was seductive and scary. Moore was newly married when he and his wife, Marcy, sold their home and relocated to an apartment in Greenville in April 2000. When they arrived in the fall, they were expecting their first child. (At least Marcy was a South Carolina native.) “There were a lot of stresses all at once,” says Moore. “I remember opening the door on the first day, and it was just Danny and me. He planned to commute to Greenville a couple days a week, and I was responsible for the new branch: sales, profit and loss, and building a sta≠ and a customer base. We had some industrial leads from our branches in Georgia, but that was all. “I quickly discovered that we could have a Georgia résumé full of successful jobs, but the first question was, ‘What have you done locally?’ ” There were sta∞ng questions too: “How can you assure me that those same guys who handled that successful job at the Amoco plant in Atlanta are going to work here?” Well, he couldn’t.

the phone. I was well prepared from my time in MetroPower’s Atlanta o∞ce. I learned that if there was something that needed to be done and you were standing there, you just did it.” Those first years in Greenville were rough, but Moore says he has perspective now: “I look back and think, how did we survive it? But even in the toughest times, I felt supported. That’s why I didn’t operate out of fear. Even if the venture was a flop, I knew I wouldn’t be out on my ear.”

“I’m on a mission. I want the construction industry to be professional. I hate the jokes about bad contractors. We’re a company that does business the right way.” Chris Moore

Moore started looking for jobs in his new town. As 2000 turned to 2001 and the economy slumped, opportunities were scarce, especially for a newcomer. “When there wasn’t a lot of work to go around, the contracts went to companies with long-term relationships,” says Moore. “One person said flat out, ‘You’re not local yet.’ Well, it was true. My granddaddy didn’t go to Greenville High, and my dad didn’t graduate from the Citadel. Those ties matter, especially in smaller communities. Now that I’ve been in Greenville more than a decade, I’m more local. We watch our kids play ball with our neighbors. We attend the same church. We pick up litter on the streets on Saturday mornings. You can’t just go to work and expect to be truly part of a community. You have to get involved.”

“I’d wake up in the morning and never know what was going to be waiting for me.” Chris Moore, manager, CarolinaPower

In starting a new business for MetroPower, Moore wore all the hats. “There’s no job I haven’t done,” he says. “From cleaning the toilet to unloading trucks to material deliveries, installations, invoicing, entering field requisitions and purchase orders in the AS400, and answering

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Dot.Com and Go hen the “dot.com” technology bubble burst in the early 2000s, Nick Schoch had a problem. “I was working for a data and communications technology-based company in Wausau, Wisconsin, and they were about to close their doors,” Schoch says. “We’d been working for Systems Technologies, Inc., and I called Bob Burton, one of the owners. “We need to talk,” Schoch warned Burton. “We won’t be in business after Monday.” Within a week, Systems Technologies bought the assets of the failing company, and 10 people, including Schoch, joined them. Four years later in 2005, Pieper Electric acquired Systems Technologies. The acquisition expanded Pieper Electric’s reach into central and northern Wisconsin, where it did not have a physical presence. Systems Technologies also supplied valuable high-tech expertise, especially in data cabling, Internet protocol (IP) telephony, and security systems, some of them totally new. Today, Schoch is branch supervisor at Systems Technologies, and he sees big opportunities in data cabling, an industry that began in the early 1990s (a specialty that sister company MetroPower seized on early). “It’s a universal cabling system that can handle computer applications, phones, intercoms, security cameras, card access, you name it,” says Schoch. “This cabling creates a common platform. No matter what media you use, the cabling can handle it. Before the early 1990s, these applications were individualized.

If you changed an application, you had to rewire a whole building.”

“I joined this company in 2008. It’s good to be part of a larger organization because there are valuable resources available that all of us can take advantage of.” Tonya Brewster, Systems Technologies office support

In this wired and connected age, the opportunities for business growth are significant. Systems Technologies is based in Merrill, Wisconsin, once a logging town and a railroad center. Today, this Pieper Electric branch is embracing high-tech business applications. “Many electrical contractors in our industry

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don’t have the in-house data-cabling capabilities that our PPC Partners companies have, Schoch says. “In our own state, older buildings will need extensive cabling upgrades, and new construction will require all-new installations.” Schoch says he appreciates the knowledge and educational opportunities that PPC Partners offers, citing a Project Management Academy he completed in 2006. “The coursework focused on how to run a job and succeed,” he says. “It was priceless. Many contractors don’t know where all their labor and materials go. Is it project planning? Wire pulling? Conduit installation? Project management? They don’t have a system to identify the cost of specific tasks in detail, but our company does. Our process works. It gives us the data and the freedom to make good decisions.” Another Systems Technologies technical specialty is IP telephone applications, especially for organizations with multiple locations, such as banks with branch offices, multi-office companies, school districts, and hospital systems. “Leveraging the power of the Internet or a local area computer network has become big since around 2005,” says Jahn Martin, project manager. “This protocol can connect many sites using the Internet by simply dialing a four-digit number. There are no toll charges. Calls can easily be transferred between sites, regardless of the geography. It can make highly decentralized companies like PPC Partners, for example, seamless to anyone who calls. We can also route calls to voicemail in individual locations

“Our Wonderful, Exceptional Journey”

from a centralized number. This new technology saves our customers money, it makes routing phone calls more efficient, and the phone experience is more caller friendly.” Wyatt Krug, who installs these new age phone systems, is proud of Systems Technologies’ expertise: “I’m pretty certain we’re the only ones that do this IP protocol work in PPC Partners companies,” he says. “This is a real opportunity for our branch office to shine.”

“In our branch o∞ce, we’re surrounded by some of the best people in our business, especially our technicians.” Brad Gustafson, Systems Technologies operations coordinator

Deb Burton, Systems Technologies office manager and wife of Tim Burton, a former coowner, remembers 2004 when talk of joining Pieper Electric began. “We had grown to about 50 people,” she says, “and we looked at all the considerations that being a larger company involves. We thought that our best approach was finding a like-minded company that would be a good fit.” Although Pieper Electric’s size and resources were attractive, Burton says the company’s values were more important. “We had the same business philosophy, and our core values matched: we believe in authenticity, honesty, and valuing people. It isn’t all about making money. We saw our employees as important members of our family, and we worked

as a team for the good of the entire company. Pieper Electric people think the same way.” David Priebe, who handled residential contracting in northern Wisconsin for Systems Technologies’ predecessor company, appreciates how people have been treated by Pieper Electric: “I feel like our opinions matter,” Priebe says, “and if there are changes to be made in how we do business, it gets discussed. They want to know what we think.” Roger Strand, an electrical engineer who started his own business in electrical contracting for forest products companies in northern Wisconsin, joined the Merrill branch in 2010. He also works with hydroelectric power plants and water and wastewater treatment plants in the region. “As I thought about selling my business and joining this larger company,” he says, “it was important for me to provide ongoing service to my existing customers without a hitch. Our customers have entrusted us with the knowledge of how their systems work. This work is all about trust and relationships.”

“We wanted to be a part of something honest.” Deb Burton

Strand likes being a PPC Partners stockholder. “Most people like having the chance to be a part owner in their company,” he says, “I know I do. We will all sink or swim together.” n

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Take a Flying Leap

tough situation, we never looked like anything less than a professional firm to Shelco. They awarded us a $20-plus million contract for a corporate headquarters in 2007.” Another break came to CarolinaPower when a contractor in Albany, Georgia, recommended the new branch for a project in nearby Athens. “That gave us breathing room and a little bit of hope,” says Moore. The branch has been consistently profitable ever since.

CarolinaPower’s first o∞cial project was a Flying J truck stop. This modest, seemingly uncomplicated project would serve as Moore’s litmus test as a young entrepreneur for MetroPower. “We lost a couple hundred thousand dollars on that job, and it was a huge learning experience,” Moore says. “We learned that you can’t send a young project manager into a new area without experienced field support.” On the heels of the Flying J came three, nearly identical school contracts that CarolinaPower built simultaneously. None were profitable. In retrospect, the branch built three schools almost for the price of one, proving that volume won’t guarantee profitability. It also underscored the importance of having the right people lined up to do the work. “We lost $818,077 on those schools ($1.4 million since opening CarolinaPower), and we had nothing of substance on the books to redeem us,” Moore recalls. “We had to lay o≠ sta≠, and we turned to a survival strategy.”

Every Day in Every Way If productivity results were report cards, the construction industry earned a dunce cap in the early 2000s. Something had to be done. “Customers expect more for less and better for less,” Dick Pieper wrote in the 2003 PPC Partners Annual ≤eport. “However, in all disciplines in the construction industry, we have not had the same effectiveness compared to other major North American business sectors. As a practical matter, customers can’t understand this, and they are searching for answers.”

“In 2002, the major industrial categories, excluding construction, had a 3.9 percent improvement in productivity. In the construction industry, productivity was -1.0 percent.”

“Believing I had support allowed me to charge forward, at times, when the circumstances seemed insurmountable.” Chris Moore

The quality of work on those three schools paid o≠ in the end, says Gibson. “Chris and I would put those three schools up against anything in the Southeast,” he says, “and that got us noticed. We had a chance to work with Shelco, a major contractor in Charlotte, North Carolina.” The chance surfaced, Gibson says, because CarolinaPower finished the losing school jobs with dignity. “We didn’t whine or cry about what we lost,” says Gibson. “We did the work well and finished without complaining. Even in that

Dick Pieper in the PPC Partners 2003 Annual Report

It is us who must do the searching, Dick seemed to say. And search they did. In May 2004, the Waste Elimination Networking Group (WENG) was created with a seemingly audacious goal: reduce total man-hours on all contracting jobs by 40 percent or more. Was it even possible? Gary Johnson, Pieper Electric project manager and

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“Our Wonderful, Exceptional Journey”

WENG project chair, remembers this challenge well. Joining the company in 1974 as an apprentice electrician, Johnson went on to manage many, major electrical contracting projects, including Miller Park in Milwaukee, large manufacturing plants, and an alternative energy digester in Dane County, Wisconsin. He understood electrical contracting practices intimately. If the people of PPC Partners put their heads together, there was much accumulated experience and wisdom available to achieve that 40 percent goal. “Six years earlier, in 1998, we started exchanging information and sharing knowledge,” Johnson says. “We got together to brainstorm and exchange ideas concerning how we could be more e∞cient. That initial work became WENG in 2004.” (They jettisoned another name—the Productivity Networking Group—because the term productivity had negative connotations among many.)

part of each group to make the most of their diverse experience. Working as three groups, rather than just one, they were also likely to generate more creative ideas. The WENG teams focused on keeping their work positive—turning their full attention to improving system-wide e≠ectiveness by eliminating waste, rather than getting lost in what could have been finger-pointing at individuals or departments. The group worked as a team, not as representatives of their branches or departments. “When we met and brainstormed,” says Johnson, “we decided we had to talk to our crews and find out what the hindrances were in being most e≠ective and what we could do to overcome them.” They needed comparative and measurable data. “If we were going to improve our practices,” he says, “we had to know how we were performing tasks so we could examine how to do things di≠erently and cut out the wasted time and e≠ort. It was a grassroots, team approach. We talked to people actually doing the work to get their ideas.” To begin, they looked at two standards that had measurable, comparative data for electrical construction practices: installing electrical transmission poles and prefabricating assemblies for a residential installation. They quickly added more. One year later in 2005, the WENG teams decided to meet face-to-face twice a year, in November and May. At those meetings, any member could present a case study in waste elimination and those that achieved the 40 percent goal appeared on the PPC Partners website. The winning standards describe in detail how waste was eliminated, in video and text, so that anyone in the company can put the information to use. The savings range from a 40 to 70 percent reduction in man-hours. “The way we collect data, exchange ideas

“We’re trying to change the culture of our industry by using our company as an example. We want to reduce the cost of building construction in this country.” Dick Pieper

“Dick and our senior management team didn’t say, ‘Here’s how you do it.’ Instead, we had a book to read called The Chase by Parviz (Perry) Daneshgari, Pd.D. Dick said, ‘≤ead this and then we’re getting together in May to begin answering one question: How can we improve the effectiveness of our business in doing the work that we do?’ ” About 18 people from PPC Partners’ three operating companies participated in WENG. They divided into three working groups, meeting by conference calls led by a group facilitator. People from all three companies were

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and share information with everyone in our company is,” says Johnson, “unique to our industry.” Before too long, the original three WENG groups grew to four with 12 people each. “It’s been important to keep our WENG groups small,” says Johnson, “so everyone can participate.” On the eve of PPC Partners’ 65th anniversary in 2012, WENG members had given approximately 160 presentations, each eliminating wasted time and e≠ort in specific electrical contracting tasks, ranging in savings from 44 to 78 percent. In one case, an entire project was the focal point: a new building for American Transmission Company of Pewaukee, Wisconsin, housing critical control center monitoring electrical transmission lines in the Midwest. Joe ≤ode of Pieper Electric presented details of this WENG pilot project to PPC Partners’ senior management team in 2010, and the results were impressive. Using new, more e∞cient methods of working gleaned from WENG research and on-the-job workshops, the total man-hours involved in that 18-month project were cut by 28 percent. “We picked the American Transmission project because our WENG teams had already studied better ways to handle many of the construction tasks,” says Johnson.

ing waste has to become as ingrained in our corporate culture as safety is now. Our challenge is to keep the momentum going and encourage internal accountability so the best, new ideas surface. We have to continue this journey to prosper as an organization. Anyone who doesn’t focus on waste elimination in our industry will probably go out of business.”

“We’ve always tried new things and di≠erent ways to approach tasks. It’s a natural process for us.” Gary Johnson, WENG chair

Eliminating waste and improving e≠ectiveness was a repeated theme in PPC Partners’ annual reports through the mid-1990s. Making it part of the corporate culture meant talking about it and taking action. “In our history, when we focus on something, we eventually achieve it,” Dick Pieper said in 2004. “We did it in safety. Now we’re 100 percent better than the industry average. We did it when we started a merit shop operation with a national view in mind. Our profitability and return on investment is generally double the industry average. Our continuing education is not comparable to anyone in the industry. In the construction industry, costs have increased every year for 25 years, while all other sectors of business have reduced their costs. With everyone’s e≠orts we can provide an example for our industry.”

“We now have close to 160 standards that have been tested and proven statistically, all reducing waste by 40 percent or more.” Dick Pieper, 2011

Believe and Achieve

A commitment to waste elimination is a long journey, Johnson says. “So far, it’s been a bottom-up initiative. I know that we’re making a di≠erence in the company, and we’ve had many successes. Our focus on eliminat-

The combined recordable accident rate in 2005 for Pieper Electric, MetroPower, and MP Systems (line operations) was twice as good as the industry average. By 2006, the combined companies of PPC Partners delivered net prof-

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“Our Wonderful, Exceptional Journey”

its that were double the overall industry average for companies their size. And by 2007, the company’s overall customer satisfaction level reached 9 on a scale of 10 for the first time. More than 300 employees who owned stock in PPC Partners discovered that their three-year average return in 2007 was 15.5 percent after taxes, which was double the DJIA and NASDAQ stock yields. But in the midst of that good news, there were big challenges, too. MP Systems struggled. Though they added new customers and increased their capabilities, some projects were financial losses, and the company faced more accidents—a blemish on their solid safety record. Though MP Systems had opened a new Detroit branch with seasoned professionals in 2003, local business opportunities didn’t materialize as everyone expected they would. Instead, the Detroit branch took on considerable hurricane damage repair work in Florida, and much of it wasn’t profitable. The branch was closed in 2007. Even change for the better can be hard, and that’s what Pieper Electric set in motion late in 2006. They embarked on major restructuring that eliminated two major divisions that were as old as the company: customer service and construction. Instead, Pieper Electric would operate as one company with multiple operating branches and aim at stronger performance and more opportunities to develop strong managers. The people of Pieper Electric took a hard look at their vision statement and they underscored their commitment to performance in plain English: “We want job winners without any surprises,” Mike Michels, the company’s president said. “Imagine the level of satisfaction our customers have when they receive what they expect; our sta≠ shows up when expected, they perform the work as expected,

and they do it in a timely manner. We will surely gain an advantage over our competitors.”

Moral Currency By the mid-2000s, PPC Partners’ “safety journey” was yielding the positive results of relentless attention. In 2005, 10 branches of PPC Partners companies had no recordable accidents during the entire year; six branches had no accidents for two years; four branches had none in three years; and three branches had not a single recordable accident in four years. Why the profound success? At the heart of this safety record was an attitude: “Our approach has always been a moral one,” Dick Pieper told a business reporter. “It is the right thing to do. We have never considered economics as a reason to work safely. However, it does create a huge, positive economic impact.” All three PPC Partners companies focused on safety with practical steps and new processes in the first decade of the 21st century. They worked harder to keep clear, complete safety records so company-wide statistical trends would be more instructive and valuable. Even this focus on data gathering had a positive e≠ect. Management visionary Peter Drucker put it simply: “The act of measurement changes both the event and the observer.” What we measure matters to us. The companies stepped up their safety education and sought out others with strong safety records to compare best practices. In the o∞ce and in the field, supervisors weren’t the only ones coaching others in safe practices. Peers earned kudos for pointing out safer practices to each other. If there was better equipment to add to PPC Partners’ safety arsenal, it was purchased. No discussion. At MP

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To do right,

to do well,

that says it all.

“Our Wonderful, Exceptional Journey”

Systems, where line work is historically risky business, the company worked to reduce the number of tasks involving “hot” or energized lines. Subcontractors also were asked to demonstrate their safety-conscious attitudes and practices. More often than not, it made a di≠erence in getting work from PPC Partners companies.

Michels? Are you going to tell him he’s o≠ the job because he won’t wear a hard hat? “That’s exactly what I’m going to tell him,” he says. “Safety is just as important—more so—than making a buck on a job and hopefully the two go hand in hand. I think we’ll make more money if we’re safer.” Knowingly or unknowingly, a customer might ask a Pieper Electric crew member to perform an unsafe task. What then? “Our people know they can insist on being safe,” Michels says. “If there’s a problem, I’ll personally go to the site and talk to our customer about the risks and liabilities of the job, along with the negative press that can accompany a serious workplace accident.” Has he done that? Several times, says Michels, and the result is the same, “Not one customer has said, ‘Do it anyway,’ ” says Michels. “Usually they say they didn’t realize how unsafe the practice is. I think we’re helping to change the industry just by educating people.” Though every customer isn’t impressed with the companies’ safety statistics, many of the larger contractors and developers are. “I think our safety performance gets us to the table on the biggest jobs,” says Michels. “If we didn’t have that, I think we’d be eliminated from the start.” Nor is safety solely about avoiding accidents. It’s also about getting people back to work sooner, should an accident occur. Todd Cook, Pieper Electric’s safety manager, says Pieper Electric has the fewest “lost work days” of any company in their industry. “Think about a person who has an injury,” Cook says. “When people are left at home, often alone, they may think that their company doesn’t care about them. I believe it’s our moral obligation to get people back to productive work as soon as we can.” As a relative newcomer (Cook joined Pieper Electric

“Our safety focus has changed our culture and our company.” Mike Michels, president of Pieper Electric

Mike Michels, says the best gauge of company-wide safety awareness may well be the perspectives of people new to the organization. “Our new employees, our new customers, even our competitors tell us that there’s no equivalent safety program in the industry,” says Michels. “Our insurance company is amazed by our low incident rates and claims history. New electricians we hire say they’ve never seen a program like ours.”

It’s Non-negotiable Not every electrician means that as a compliment. Some resist wearing hard hats, safety gloves, and glasses or changing their ways on ladders. “Initially, some of our new people don’t like what we ask them to do,” says Michels. “Some say, ‘I’m not doing it.’ Our simple answer is, ‘Well then, you’re not going to work for Pieper Electric.’ ” Michels remembers a particularly stubborn fellow who wouldn’t follow safe procedures, even after three or four reminders: “Finally, we said, ‘Sorry, you just can’t work here.’ ” What if the o≠ender is your best guy, people ask

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in 2004), he credits PPC Partners’ leadership with having the perseverance to harp on safety year after year and the foresight to make safety advocacy a factor in a leader’s advancement. People are paying attention to you, he cautions PPC Partners leaders: “On the work site, they look at what you wear, pay attention to what you say, and watch what you do,” he says. And that’s all good.

can have a say in what it takes to do a job safely.” Now in his early 30s, Carter has come a long way in his own safety awareness. “Before I worked for MetroPower, I didn’t even know what a safety harness or a lanyard was,” he says. “When I first got into the business, I tried to get the job done without killing myself. I got a few nicks, cuts, and bruises, and I figured that was just part of the job. I saw people get shocked, cut themselves, and fall o≠ ladders. At MetroPower, we do a safety analysis before we even start a job. We review the tasks involved so we can identify in advance what the hazards will be and how to eliminate or control them.”

Peer Review People who do dangerous work have some of the best ideas about how to stay safe. That’s why Pieper Electric, MP Systems, and MetroPower all started employee safety committees in the 2000s. At MetroPower, their new employee safety council first convened in 2009 with 18 people selected by their peers to serve and represent them. Noah Carter, a lead electrician with MetroPower since 2000, was the group’s first chairman. “We have a representative from each of our branches, and they’re all field people, anyone from a helper to a foreman,” he says. The council meets quarterly to discuss safety issues, the dangers of specific equipment, new equipment needs, and how to promote safety education. They recommend new safety policies to MetroPower’s leadership team. Each member is expected to bring safety concerns from his or her branch to the council’s attention and relay council decisions back to the branch.

“When we start a job, we anticipate the safety issues and decide how to handle them. It gets to be automatic, not just for a few people, but for everyone.” Mike Belcher, MetroPower

Why has Carter made such a dramatic turnabout in his own views on safety? “I have a wife, Jessica, and two young daughters to take care of,” he says. “The rest is maturity and a good education at MetroPower. I recognize the hazards and pay attention to the small things, like using a ladder. There’s a right way and a wrong way. You wouldn’t think falling o≠ an eight-foot ladder could kill you, but it can.” During their first year, the council recommended that anyone on a construction site or visiting one should wear safety glasses—with no exceptions. In addition, they advocated additional training for anyone using a hole saw, a type of drill that bores a perfect circular hole in an electrical panel. Though very e≠ective, this high-speed saw has been the source of injuries.

“MetroPower tells us, ‘If it’s not safe, don’t do it.’” Mike Belcher, MetroPower employee safety council member

“The council gets people involved,” Carter says. “They know they can contribute in a meaningful way, and they

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They deal with tricky issues. What if you’re working in the field, and you see an unsafe practice that no one tries to correct? What if you take your concern to a lead person, and he or she doesn’t take it seriously? Take it up the chain of command, says Carter, even if that means talking to a vice president. “We have an open door policy,” he says, “but MetroPower wants us to go through the proper channels first so a vice president doesn’t get bombarded with simple things that a lead person or a project manager can handle. Or, take your concern to the safety council member who represents you or to the council chair.” A member of MetroPower’s strategic leadership group sits in on each council meeting. “They’re all about safety,” says Carter. “They want us to go home the way we came to work—or even better. If somebody is knowingly breaking our safety rules, they’re going to be held accountable.”

vant leadership principles in continuing education at their company, PPC Partners employees saw examples of servant leadership in action, and most of them called it “practicing the golden rule.” Today, ask almost anyone at PPC Partners, and they can tell you what servant leadership is and—perhaps more important—how it makes them feel and act. Dr. Sam Schiebler, former holder of the first Servant Leadership Chair at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), funded by the Pieper Family Foundation, describes the convergence of Dick Pieper’s values and ≤obert Greenleaf ’s philosophy of leadership: “In accomplishing what he did in the first years of Pieper Electric, Dick expressed a tremendous amount of confidence in his company and the people whose lives intersected and intertwined with his own. From his own self-confidence and firm ideals, he forged the foundation of a company built on transparency, reciprocity and creativity. Dick was president and chief executive o∞cer of Pieper Electric a full year before ≤obert K. Greenleaf put pen to paper to write his seminal essay: The Servant as Leader. Halfway across the continent on the southwest corner of Lake Michigan, ≤ichard Pieper was living it.”

The Little, Orange Book For decades, Dick Pieper had lived his life as a “servant leader,” but it wasn’t until 1970 that ≤obert K. Greenleaf, an AT&T senior executive, put words to the values that Dick grew up with and practiced.

“The servant-leader is servant first. . . . It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead.”

A New Generation of Leaders Bob Greenleaf, a native of Terre Haute, Indiana, went to work for business behemoth AT&T right after graduation from Minnesota’s Carlton College in 1926. For the next 40 years, he researched management, development, and education. Over time, he began to believe that the authoritarian leadership style common in most American businesses was not working. Greenleaf took early retirement from AT&T in 1964 and founded the Center for Applied Ethics, where he worked out his philosophy of

Robert K. Greenleaf, The Servant as Leader (1970)

It wasn’t until 2000 that the term servant leadership became part of PPC Partners’ vocabulary and “the little orange book,” a Greenleaf primer, became a must-read for every employee. Until they were introduced to ser-

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A Symbol of Leadership ow can a simple hand-towel be an image of leadership? It is plain white cotton, eighteen inches square, with one word embroidered on it. It is of course, what was done with the towel that makes it an image of leadership to me. The towel was used to dry my feet after my boss had washed them. He washed and dried the feet of twelve of his subordinates as his last official symbolic act as CEO of the organization. His humility, as signified by this action, typified the type of leadership he strove to provide to the organization. As a leader, he tried to be a teacher, mentor, and listener. How do I put this image into action? I attempt to follow his example. I try to lead by teaching, listening and mentoring. I seek to empower people to enable them to bring energy and dedication to their jobs. I show humility and the willingness to serve them as a sign of leadership. This approach has some obvious shortcomings. The act of washing the feet of twelve people has specific symbolism in many Christian religions. That symbolism would be completely lost on non-Christians or non-religious people. Culturally, the humility of washing subordinates’ feet could be seen as a sign of weakness in a leader. Ultimately, this particular towel will remain a significant symbol of leadership for me personally. It will always be a reminder of the necessity for humility and the willingness to serve others, which I believe to be an essential characteristic of true leadership. n

This essay was written by a member of PPC Partners leadership in January, 2006.

servant leadership: an ethical perspective on leadership that underscores key moral behaviors and is the polar opposite of a “command and control” model. These moral behaviors, described by Greenleaf scholar Larry Spears, are listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and building community. It’s one tall order for any human being, but as Dick Pieper and the people of PPC Partners are learning, servant leadership is the journey of a lifetime. Give it 40 or 50 years of practice, Dick smiles, the journey is worth it.

“. . . the idea lay dormant for 11 years, during which I came to believe that we, in this country, were in a leadership crisis, and I should do what I could about it.” Robert K. Greenleaf, from The Essentials of Servant-Leadership: Principals in Practice

While it isn’t the norm in American business, there are many companies that espouse servant leadership. If you attend a Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership annual conference, you’ll see many hundreds of people representing companies of all sizes from around the world who espouse this progressive philosophy. There are multiple books on the subject, a calendar of seminars, a worldwide network of people learning to practice servant leadership and a nonprofit organization devoted to perpetuating it. If you’re a PPC Partners employee, you have many opportunities to learn about servant leadership and put it into practice. It is not a “kooky idea,” as some at first imagine, and it is not pie-in-the-sky idealism sure to self-

“Our Wonderful, Exceptional Journey”

destruct when the first economic slump squeezes a business. It is not a “flavor-of-the-month” management fad, destined to disappear by next year. Indeed, champions of servant leadership say this practice is precisely why PPC Partners has weathered so many storms—economic and otherwise—in 65 years. “Servant leadership is really a matter of strange bedfellows,” says Marvin Berkowitz, holder of the only endowed Character Education Chair at an American university (the University of Missouri–St. Louis). “On one hand, servant leadership often connotes humility, subservience, low status, and disempowerment. Leadership typically connotes the opposite: strength, power, dominance, and high status. In that sense, servant leadership sounds like an oxymoron. But it isn’t. “When ≤obert Greenleaf popularized the concept, he understood what many have argued throughout much of human history. One cannot lead alone. One needs followers. The performance of any social organization—whether a business, a family, a philanthropy or a team—depends upon the contributions of all its members. A leader who understands that serving his or her employees, colleagues, customers, and community is the best way to the organic health and e≠ectiveness of the organization is truly wise. And e≠ective.”

but you know it when you see it: “Do those served grow as persons,” Greenleaf asks in describing his “best test”? “Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, and more likely themselves to become servants? And what is the e≠ect on the least privileged in society? Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived?” The people of PPC Partners companies are on the servant leadership journey. Some are new to the idea; others have been learning about it and doing their best to practice it for decades. As Greenleaf said and ≤onnie Hinson agrees, servant leadership is all about growing people, even if they leave you. Not long ago, the leaders of MetroPower did a lot of soul-searching when two key people left to start their own businesses. “Our new PPC board member, Ben Houston, helped us think about it di≠erently,” says Hinson. “Ben said, ‘They may be more e≠ective working for themselves than they can be working with PPC.’ If we’re practicing servant leadership, we might even help them get into business and do business with them. Why would you want a contentious competitor, when you can create positive collaboration? A servant leader doesn’t write people o≠ or demonize them because they leave.” Bill Thompson, vice president at MetroPower, has seen people leave. “Let’s say an employee works for me and wants to transfer within the company, go into business for himself, or even join a competitor. If I’m being a servant leader, I’ll respect that decision. I made a decision to join this company based on the belief that I could do better, and I have. If people leave us because they believe they can do better, I’m not going to bad-mouth them.” The leaders of PPC Partners knock themselves out examining how the organization may have failed a person

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Mahatma Gandhi

Greenleaf’s “Best Test” Greenleaf developed his “best test”—a way to judge whether a person or an organization is successfully practicing servant leadership. Like art, it is hard to define,

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who leaves the company. That corporate self-assessment is vital, and it is servant leadership in action, too. “Most people in my age group grew up with the command and control style of leadership,” says Larry Horning. “It’s what we learned. For young people joining our companies, they are hearing the new language of servant leadership. We’re talking about it and, I hope, demonstrating it.”

my mind, servant leadership is a nondenominational way of talking about how we serve one another. I think the best leaders are those who serve others. It becomes a selffulfilling prophecy. If people know that you’re working with them in the trenches and that you have their best interests at heart, they’re likely to act the same.” Putting his money where his mouth is, Dick Pieper, through his family foundation, has established four servant leaders chairs on college and university campuses. Dick first makes an impromptu visit to a campus and talks informally to students. He asks them to describe the faculty at their school and the administration. “What I’m listening for,” he says, “are stories about the administration, faculty, or others on campus who go out of their way to support and help students. I’m looking for a culture of caring.” That college or university may be a candidate for a $2.6 million gift to establish a servant leadership chair. “I want to support campus cultures that operate this way,” Dick says. ‘They are the most likely to graduate people who can become exceptional servant leaders.”

“Servant leadership can succeed only in an organization that has a mentality of abundance, not a mentality of scarcity.” Ronnie Hinson

≤achel Jameson joined MetroPower in 2004 as the company’s human resources manager. Since around 2007, the concept of servant leadership has been incorporated into MetroPower’s communications and education. “Our leaders have embraced the principles, and now it’s filtering through all levels of our management and into the field,” she says. “It will take time.”

Smashing Silos

“We don’t just give lip service to servant leadership. We live it; we breathe it. We try to manifest it in everything we do.”

In a highly decentralized organization that tends to hire independent thinkers with entrepreneurial attitudes and reward them for performance, collaboration may be hard to achieve. Some would argue that servant leadership has already had an impact on this dimension at PPC Partners companies. For years, business people have decried the “silos” created by internal competition and narrow thinking. Even when they are part of the same company, people in these functional silos may withhold information from each other; win at the expense of another; or hoard new business, leads, and top performers.

Michelle Millard, executive assistant to Mike Michels, Pieper Electric

Ken Phelps, Pieper Electric vice president, invited Mike Kelliher to attend the Greenleaf Servant Leadership Conference in 2008, a few months after Kelliher sold his company, Spring City Electric, to Pieper Electric. “I didn’t know anything about the concept,” Kelliher says, “When I got there and participated, I thought, ‘This is great.’ In

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Collaboration among branches at PPC Partners companies has given people opportunities to share talents and pursue business that is often too big for any one branch. Trung Lee, a Pieper Electric project manager, runs a department in the major construction branch. “I’m a profit center, so I have a sales budget I have to meet,” he says. “If I do well, I’ll receive an AC (acknowledgment of contribution). But let’s say I have the chance to pursue an $8 million job. I don’t have all the skills in my department to go after that job, so I go to others in two or three di≠erent branches, and we can pursue the job as a team. It’s still my project, but we all benefit financially. Pieper Electric is like a shopping mall to me. We’re a lot of small businesses. We have to be smart and creative enough so that we can collaborate on big projects and win them because, in the end, most of us are owners of this company.” Today and in the future, Pieper Electric, MP Systems, MetroPower, and now ClearHorizons will have opportunities to lead ever-larger projects, in part because the combined companies have the considerable strength to finance them. Because a branch cannot pursue a project larger than half its annual volume, that either means taking a pass on some opportunities or finding a creative way to collaborate by sharing resources and profits.

The opportunity came to Chris Moore at CarolinaPower over lunch with Doug West of Shelco, Inc., a large contractor with o∞ces in Greenville, South Carolina, and ≤aleigh, North Carolina. “Doug was telling me about this huge job with SCANA, and his first words were ‘Chris, you can’t do this job,’ and I said, ‘Why can’t I?’ ” Well, for starters, West said, the project is a monster. Moore thought about it and answered, “Well, maybe I can’t do it as CarolinaPower,” he said, “but maybe we can.” CarolinaPower had worked with Shelco for seven years, and West was intrigued. Moore assembled several prequalification packets— the door-opener for any large job—and presented MetroPower as the electrical contractor, not CarolinaPower alone. “We got to the table,” Moore says, “and based on the team that we assembled, Shelco and SCANA felt we could handle the job.” Two other strong electrical contractors competed for the project. What tipped the balance in MetroPower’s favor? Moore attributes it to CarolinaPower’s solid relationship with Shelco and MetroPower’s history of “always doing what we say we’re going to do.” With eight MetroPower branches performing the work for SCANA, Branch 16 became the vehicle for distributing income to each branch in a fair and equitable way, based on their project leadership and man-hours of participation. Branch 16 was the brainchild of Danny Gibson, says Kayanne Blackwell, MetroPower’s controller, and endorsed by MetroPower’s leadership team. Blackwell and Steve Middleton, accounting manager, worked out the intricate allocation details and crafted the working agreement that each branch signed. “Even though we’re intercompany and we’re family,” says Blackwell, “we need a clear, detailed, written understanding of responsibili-

Why Can’t We? Enter MetroPower’s Branch 16, the only one that operates strictly on paper. It is the vehicle that has made the largest collaboration in PPC Partners’ history possible. Eight MetroPower branches joined forces on a three-year, $23 million electrical contracting project for SCANA Corporation, a large, energy-based holding company ($12 billion in assets) headquartered in Cayce, South Carolina. The project was completed in 2010.

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ties.” She recalled an earlier occasion when two branches collaborated on a project with only verbal understandings. All went well until the project started losing money. “They had agreed to split the profits 50-50,” she says, “but they never considered what it meant to split a loss.” The successful and profitable SCANA project has taught those eight MetroPower branches about the art of collaboration. “One thing we’ve learned is that we have to be completely honest with each other,” says Moore. “Another is that we have to think beyond our own branch and focus on the team e≠ort. At the branch level, sometimes it’s hard to do that because we’re committed to taking care of our group. We take pride in our branches and what we can do. To collaborate, we had to recognize that our way might not be the best way.”

The branches learned to park their egos at the door. “Some folks like to build themselves up by putting others down,” says Moore. “But if you do that as part of a collaboration, you’re putting someone else on the team down. All our branches want to be the best. We had to learn how to be the best as a larger team.”

big shoes: he became the first nonfamily leader of PPC Partners in its 58-year history, and he o∞cially stepped into that role on January 1, 2006. Dick Pieper remained non-executive chairman of the board. More senior management decisions followed: Mike Michels, a six-year employee formerly with ≤ockwell Automation, became president and chief operating o∞cer of Pieper Electric in 2007. Danny Buck, 21 years with MetroPower, became its new president and chief operating o∞cer in 2008. And in 2011, MP Systems welcomed Jim Ditter as its new president and chief operating o∞cer, formerly director of strategy and financial planning for PPC Partners. On the eve of its 65th anniversary, Ditter was named PPC Partners’ third chief executive o∞cer, assuming this new role on January 1, 2012. Educated at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh, Ditter started his career in public accounting with Ernst & Young in 1984. Following that, he was a controller in the food service industry, later joining Norlight Telecommunications, Inc. of Brookfield, Wisconsin, as controller and advancing to president. Under Ditter’s leadership, Norlight grew from 100 to 350 employees and expanded geographically. When Norlight was sold, Ditter became president and chief executive officer of Guaranty Title Services and later chief executive o∞cer of its Wisconsin parent company, Guaranty Service Group. He joined PPC Partners in August 2010.

Stepping Up

Build It Green

By the late 2000s, MetroPower was indeed becoming a large team. In the same year the company’s president, ≤onnie Hinson, was tapped to become the new chief executive o∞cer of PPC Partners, MetroPower had grown by more than 10 percent two years in a row. No one needed to remind Hinson that he was stepping into

Through the second half of the decade, PPC Partners capitalized on more new niche businesses that added heft to the organization’s capabilities. Some were green initiatives. “It’s only natural that after decades of leadership in the electrical contracting business, PPC Partners and its a∞liated companies should be moving into the

“ All our branches want to be the best. We had to learn how to be the best as a larger team.” Chris Moore, CarolinaPower branch manager

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Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more than a job.

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important, fast-growing area of renewable energy,” the 2008 Annual ≤eport said. At Carroll Electric in Wisconsin, for example, the branch worked on two Indiana wind farms, one with 87 turbines and another with 220 turbines (the largest, single contract wind farm in the United States in 2008). For both projects, Carroll created and installed underground “collector systems” designed to carry power generated by the wind turbines to substations and the electrical grid.

Pieper Electric’s renewable energy team designed and installed a 30-kilowatt solar system for the MSOE in 2008 that was monitored and controlled via the Internet. The team also worked on residential and commercial solar energy generating systems, ranging in size from 4 kilowatts to 50 kilowatts. In 2010 and 2011, the team helped design and install a 525-kilowatt solar education farm for MATC to help educate technicians, designers, site assessors, and electricians who will work in renewable energy. The farm includes several series, or arrays, of photovoltaic panels used to convert sunlight to electricity, some following the sun’s movements. MATC will o≠er courses focused on solar energy technology and applications.

“PPC Partners is playing a role in the transition to new energy sources.” 2008 PPC Partners Annual Report

Pieper Electric’s renewable energy team also got into the business of designing, engineering, installing, and commissioning wind projects. One of those was a wind turbine for the Mequon Nature Preserve in Wisconsin that helped run the preserve’s operations. Any excess energy went back to the power grid, earning new income for the preserve. Another project involved installation of a wind energy system for the MATC that supplies up to 30 percent of the campus’ electrical needs. On the solar front, Carroll Electric engineered and installed solar trackers for the Department of Natural ≤esources in Madison, Wisconsin, that oriented solar photovoltaic panels toward the sun as it traveled across the sky. For Thoma Construction, a family-owned, Wisconsin business, Carroll’s Allen Dittmar designed a fixed, roof-mounted solar system that fit perfectly on Thoma’s shop roof and produced more power than the company needed all year. Thoma sold its excess power to the local utility for 22.5 cents per kilowatt-hour and bought it back when he needed it for just 11 cents per hour.

Moo Juice PPC Partners’ most unusual renewable energy assignment was inspired by Wisconsin’s dairy cows. After all, the state doesn’t have the high winds of the Plains states for wind power or the steady sun of the Southwest for solar, but it does have cows: herds and herds of them in America’s second largest dairy state. And those cows produce prodigious pounds of poop. At its best, manure is a natural fertilizer and, at its worst, a source of ground water contamination if there is too much of it. What about converting manure into electrical energy? The process is called anaerobic (oxygen-free) digestion. It uses microorganisms to break down manure, ultimately producing methane gas with some carbon dioxide. This gas can be burned, generating electricity and reducing methane emissions into the atmosphere. In addition, anaerobic digestion reduces manure odor and produces useful by-products, such as liquid fertilizer, animal bedding, and organic potting mixes. It’s a win-win for farmers and

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the environment, but it is still a costly energy alternative that requires special electricity rates, tax incentives, or both. Wisconsin has been the leader in building anaerobic digesters, and Vermont, with its financial incentives dubbed “Cow Power,” has helped lead the way to this unusual technology. Always eager to pursue new markets that could become a department, a branch, or even a whole new company, a team at Pieper Electric focused on this unusual renewable energy option when it created ClearHorizons LLC in the early 2000s. On the surface, electrical contracting has little to do with cows, but look closer and the connection is clear. Pieper Electric has extensive experience in designing, installing, and building automation controls and wastewater treatment systems, all involving electrical power. Why not apply this expertise to emerging alternative energy projects? After examining processes used in wastewater treatment plants, Pieper Electric’s management was convinced the farm digester process could be improved, and they developed a business plan for ClearHorizons. To further refine the business strategy, Dick Pieper led the team through a SWOT analysis—the same planning model used in several other new ventures.

financed, designed, and built by ClearHorizons. “With the flick of a keystroke on a computer, Govenor Jim Doyle literally threw the switch for the ceremonial startup,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on June 25, 2007. “Why is this digester any di≠erent from the 23 others scattered around the state? It’s fully automated, and the operation can be monitored from a computer desktop in Milwaukee, home to ClearHorizons and its holding company, PPC Partners, which bankrolled and built the $2 million digester. They’re turning manure into enough electricity to power 200 homes.”

“ As lawmakers in Washington debate new federal climate-change legislation, Wisconsin’s dairy industry is leading the way in demonstrating the benefits of using cow manure methane digester biogas.” Yahoo! Finance, July 23, 2009

In the farm’s huge barn, cows stood on slotted floors, and their manure flowed away into drainage channels with the help of gravity. About one million gallons of manure were stored in a massive holding tank with surprisingly little aroma. As the manure was heated to 105 degrees, it slowly broke down, and methane rose to the top, producing biogas. A biogas engine generated the electricity to use on the farm and sell to Wisconsin Electric Power Company. Charles Crave told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that turning manure into power had been a dream of his for 25 years. In high school, he even made a small digester as a science project. Though this process is widely accepted in Europe, it is relatively new to American

ClearHorizons Goes Public There was plenty of behind-the-scenes work to be done before ClearHorizons LLC went public with its first project at the Crave Brothers Dairy Farm in Waterloo, Wisconsin. On those 1,700 rolling acres of prime land, the four brothers grow corn and soybeans; raise more than 1,100 dairy cows; and make prize-winning, specialty cheeses. In June 2007, they unveiled their new anaerobic digester, a pilot project installed on the farm and

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Helping to Heal the World t was one of many tributes Dick Pieper has received over his lifetime, beginning 32 years earlier when Jaycees International and the Milwaukee chapter both gave him accolades for community service in the same year. This time, the focus of Dick’s service was character education, and Marvin Berkowitz’s words said as much about the man and his motivation as this specific cause:

“We are here to honor a man who has dedicated his life to serving others, while leading us all to a better place.” Marvin Berkowitz, tribute to Dick Pieper, December 1, 2009

“Many years ago, I received a call from some unknown business dude saying he had heard about me, an ivory tower academic at Marquette University. He wanted to meet,” Berkowitz, holder of a Character Education Chair at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, recalled. He described the meeting at PPC Partners and Berkowitz’ discovery about Dick’s

commitment to service. “It is not just any service,” Berkowitz said. “It is not weak service. It is not blind service. . . . Rather it is wise and compassionate service. It is purposeful service. Dick has engaged in wise, purposeful, and compassionate service in how he built, ran, and ultimately sold PieperPower. He has done so in his philanthropy, giving where he believes his service will heal the world.” From the time Dick bought Pieper Electric from his father in 1960, he has nurtured a corporate culture of giving and service. Even in its earliest years when the company struggled to break even, this culture of giving back to the community took root and grew. There was early participation in Junior Achievement educational programs and United Way fund drives. Sponsorship of youth hockey. Food drives for needy families. Rewiring homes for Habitat for Humanity. Supporting research to unravel the root causes of poverty. Mentoring students at inner city schools. Funding the Boys and Girls Clubs and Boy Scouts. “Being active in our community does not

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drive our business, and it does not get business,” Dick said some years ago, “but it is a wonderful way to support worthwhile needs, care for those who need a helping hand, and contribute to a richer environment for all families. All these experiences make a person broader, deeper, more competent, and understanding.”

“From the first time I met Dick, he talked about giving 10 percent back to the community. That commitment to giving rubbed o≠ on me. I fell in love with it.” Norm Doll, retired president, Pieper Electric

Over the past six decades, the companies of PPC Partners have encouraged employee voluntarism. They can champion a cause they care about and win a grant from the PPC Foundation. There are one-for-one employee donation matching programs, too, and—in any single year—PPC Partners will donate a full 10 percent of its pretax profits to charity. Examine the giving patterns of most companies in

“Our Wonderful, Exceptional Journey”

America, and you will discover that corporate philanthropy totals a fraction of this sum. Even across the border in neighboring Minnesota, where corporate giving has led the nation, the top gift from the most generous company is 5 percent. In the years from 2000 to 2011 leading up to its 65th anniversary year, the PPC Foundation gave approximately $6.2 million to community causes.

Keep it Humble As Dick Pieper has long believed, it is the act of giving that changes people, enriches them, and sustains this corporate value. For PPC Partners, It is largely quiet giving. “There are companies who pretend to be community minded, but PPC Partners truly is— and is low key about it,” says Michelle Millard, who coordinates PPC Foundation giving and volunteer activities for Pieper Electric and MP Systems. “I think that speaks volumes. We just go about doing our work quietly on a personal and company level.”

A newcomer to Pieper Electric, Angela Bonnett, human resources manager, was surprised to discover the company’s level of giving and voluntarism. “I do a lot of networking in the community, and yet I didn’t hear a lot about Pieper Electric,” she says. “When I looked closer, I realized that PPC Partners is involved in more causes than I can count. It’s a quiet involvement, and I respect that.” Bonnett is personally involved in fundraising for two programs important to her: an inner city school in downtown Milwaukee that is modeled after the Knowledge is Power educational program and an in-patient alcohol and drug treatment program for single mothers that provides safe housing for women and their children. “Living in Milwaukee, I see how the inner cities are affected by poverty and segregation,” she says. “My passion is helping children of the inner city.” Because she works in human resources, Bonnett is also well aware of the priorities of the millennials, those employees and future employees who are age 30 and younger. “This generation is very socially focused,” Bonnett says, “and our culture of giving and vol-

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unteerism will matter to many of them. Anyone interested in joining this company will quickly see that we care about what you care about.” Latresa Martin, who joined Pieper Electric as a co-op student and high school graduate in 1997, remembers how good it felt to participate in community action for the first time in her life: “Over the years, I became involved in our United Way campaigns, helping feed the hungry and giving back in other ways,” she says. “I can’t give much money, but when I volunteer, it feels really good. I’m proud of my company for making giving a priority.” Brad Leissring, department supervisor of Pieper Electric’s datacom division, remembers hearing about PPC Partners’ involvement in Junior Achievement before he joined the company in 2004. “I went to Marquette University, where one of their core values is community involvement,” he says. “When I interviewed with Pieper Electric, the company’s community commitment really stood out for me.” With a young family, Leissring says he has less time for voluntarism these days, but he says the culture >>

Chapter Six: 2000–2012

[Helping to Heal the World continued] >> of PPC Partners supports another kind of giving: “This company is a great place to work, in part, because people are willing to volunteer their time to each other. If I can teach somebody a new skill set or go the extra mile for someone else, that’s volunteering inside the company.”

“It’s not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving.” Mother Teresa

Kindness in Action There are countless stories of employee voluntarism, and the activities are diverse. All of them have a common element: authentic human kindness. In Albany, Georgia, the nonprofit Christmas in April program sponsors an annual home repair weekend for seniors who need a helping hand. Alan Thompson, an Albany Electric department manager based at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, has been a volunteer. “We do whatever’s needed,” he says, “digging up

dead plants, cleaning yards, fixing rotten wood, painting houses.” His wife, Kelly, joined him one year, and MetroPower families are always encouraged to participate. “I particularly remember an elderly widow whose children lived out of town,” he says. “She was so grateful for the help that she had tears in her eyes. It felt really good to help someone else.”

“What we do resonates long after we’re gone.” PPC Partners Annual Report, 2006

Employees at Albany Electric and MetroPower have brightened the lives of soldiers overseas with large gift boxes packed with pens, books, magazines, candy, games, beef jerky, t-shirts and stuffed animals that are sent weekly. An enclosed card includes words of encouragement. “Each soldier shares these gift boxes with people in his or her unit,” says Misty Wood, who coordinates PPC Foundation giving and volunteer activities for MetroPower. “They write back and tell us how much it means

170

to them. When I take part, I feel privileged to be able to help and I am moved by the positive impact we have.” For many years, the people of MaconPower have sponsored their annual “turkey fry” on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Starting at 5 a.m., MaconPower volunteers begin preparing more than 50 turkeys and trimmings so they can serve as many as 100 people, especially those who live in downtown Macon. “We serve our employees, business partners, and, most importantly, people who are less fortunate,” says Deanna Squires. “The day before Thanksgiving in 2005 was cold and rainy, so we moved our feast into our warehouse. I remember a woman in a wheelchair, she was soaking wet. She ate, thanked us shyly, and went back out into the rain. I couldn’t forget her. Now when I see her downtown, we greet each other. She returns to our turkey fry each year, and I stack her sandwich with extra turkey and the mayo and the barbecue sauce she likes. I always feel something tingly inside after our annual meal. It makes me feel good to serve.” n

“Our Wonderful, Exceptional Journey”

agriculture. “You take a farmer’s dreams and a visionary like Dick (Pieper),” Crave told the newspaper, “and you keep talking and talking. You finally get the job done.” Crave’s oldest son, Karl, is an engineer and project manager for ClearHorizons. But is the venture profitable? At first, it wasn’t. Dick told the Journal Sentinel in 2007 that it took about 20 cents per kilowatt-hour to produce energy at the Crave Brothers farm, but ClearHorizons made only about 5 cents per kilowatt-hour from the power company. “The wind people get 12 cents. Solar gets 22 cents,” Dick said, “and we get a nickel. Give us those higher rates, and we can build more digesters.” Dick was optimistic in 2007. He hoped ClearHorizons could be both profitable and do some good in helping the United States reduce its dependence on foreign oil. He grinned when he cited one amazing statistic: the cows of Wisconsin could power as many as 175,000 homes. Wisconsin’s governor was upbeat, too. He said the state had a goal of producing 25 percent of its power from renewable resources by 2025. When the Crave Family Dairy expanded, ClearHorizons installed a second digester with a new GE (General Electric) Energy Jenbacher biogas-generating system that virtually tripled electrical output at the farm. In addition, ClearHorizons made other equipment upgrades that increased the value of the digested fiber, a by-product used for animal bedding. Since 2007, ClearHorizons has had numerous inquiries to build and install similar systems. Around Christmas 2010, family members from three Waunakee, Wisconsin, farms in Dane County gathered to start a digester designed and built by ClearHorizons. Underground pipes bring manure from the ≤ipp, Endres, and Maier farms into the digester system and one of its three, one-

million-gallon tanks. During the process, phosphorous, typically considered a cause of algae growth in surrounding lakes, is removed. This cooperative e≠ort of multigenerational farm families was a first in Wisconsin, and, when fully operational, the ClearHorizons digester was expected to generate enough electricity to power 2,500 homes in the area, the equivalent of approximately $1.5 million in power sold to Alliant Energy, the local utility. ClearHorizons invested $12 million in that project, and it began producing electricity on April 1, 2011.

Low Voltage: High Potential Down in Albany, Georgia, Andy Boyett was carving out his own business niche that looked like a great match for MetroPower. Boyett had purchased a company in Albany called Engineered Systems and Services (ESS), specializing in low-voltage applications largely for school intercom and hospital call systems, fire alarm, and security systems. He had worked with MetroPower’s Albany Electric branch on projects for Phoebe Putney Hospital and restoring Albany State University when the Flint ≤iver flooded the campus. For Boyett, the flood work was a godsend. He was building his new business, and most of his customers were—quite literally—underwater after the flood. Boyett’s relationship with MetroPower grew and, by 2005, Arnold Geeslin, MetroPower vice president, approached him about an acquisition. Since then, the growing healthcare market in Georgia has been a boon to Boyett’s specialty, especially in call systems (including the newest nurse “badge/phone”), card access monitors, overhead paging, fire alarms, and cable television in patient rooms. ESS can integrate the systems it provides with systems supplied by other vendors using special software, so they can all work together.

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Chapter Six: 2000–2012

After joining MetroPower, Boyett also added services focused on conserving energy in heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems for schools, hospitals, and clinics. They have done considerable work for Georgia Southwestern State University and several outpatient surgery centers in the region.

In 2011, Mark Schroeder joined the Waukesha branch to further build its wireless business. With 16 years’ experience, Schroeder has worked with major carriers, as well as consulting on cell tower site acquisition, development and construction. He helped land a new opportunity with Goodman Networks, the construction manager for AT&T. “It’s a great time for wireless,” Schroeder says. “When the economy is down, the wireless business is good. Everyone uses their phones, that eats up bandwidth, which leads to additional opportunities for Pieper Electric. Goodman Networks will give us a list of sites in Illinois and Wisconsin to work on after they complete site acquisition and permitting. It might mean adding antennas, additional cables in existing towers or putting up new towers. We’re really excited about this new contract.” Excitement is a theme for PPC Partners’ anniversary year. Younger leaders are stepping up to new responsibilities. A spirit of collaboration grows as the company attracts more and larger projects. PPC Partners’ multiple branches are innovating and finding new ways to serve the growing demand for electricity while applying energy-conscious methods to help protect our environment. PPC Partners’ culture of servant leadership is alive and well.

Cell Conscious Another niche business that came on strong in the late 2000s was cellular tower design, construction, installation, and maintenance, a specialty of Pieper Electric’s Waukesha branch. This little incubator for entrepreneurs is located deep in southeastern Wisconsin. Steve Pacl, a Pieper Electric employee since 1987, is branch supervisor. Pacl has had the benefit of several mentors during his career, so he takes his own role seriously with a cadre of eager achievers: “I make the time to train and teach,” he says. “I want to make sure that the people who work with me succeed first before I do.” And succeed they have, even in the most recent 2008/2009 economic free fall. Like Pacl, Tom Scherer started work with Pieper Electric decades ago. He began working in cellular tower construction during the boom years of cell phone growth, from 1995 through 2004. Today, Scherer’s crews work in multiple states, including Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Michigan, on towers as high as 150 feet. They bid for work online with the large mobile phone companies. It’s a fast-paced, highly competitive auction system with paper-thin profit margins. “We can produce a $200,000 bid in about two hours,” he says, “because we have a very e∞cient, accurate system. We have our own spread sheets and bid forms. I learned to use our company’s operating production system (OPS) from two of the best: John Kletti and Gary Johnson.”

What Makes Us Proud When we embarked on this 65th anniversary book project in 2009, we asked employees to tell us what makes them most proud about being part of PPC Partners and its operating companies. Some of their answers provide a fitting way to close this story. “There is always someone to help you.” — Pat Avery, MetroPower

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“Our Wonderful, Exceptional Journey”

“We always try hard to do our best—in the field and in the o∞ce.” — Sheila Parson, MP Systems

“I’ve learned to do my work and do it well.” — Emmy Stujenske, Pieper Electric

“I got a lot of joy out of being assigned to projects where we started with nothing and ended up walking away and the building was standing, the lights were lit, and everyone was happy.” — ≤ay Golabowski, Pieper Electric retiree

“≤elationships that I’ve built within the company. There are a lot of folks I think the world of, and I’ve known them for a long, long time. I love what I do.” — John Kletti, Pieper Electric “Sharing what I know with the people who work with me and helping them.” — Scott ≤iemer, Pieper Electric

“Working for Dick Pieper for 22 years, I’m proud that I helped keep him organized so that he could focus on what was most important to him.” — Barbara Jones, retired assistant to Dick Pieper

“Seeing young people grow and prosper.” — Arnold Geeslin, MetroPower “When people see our logo or hear our name, they think of quality and honesty.” — Shawn Willis, MetroPower

“Always giving our customers more than they wanted or more than they paid for. If you do that, everything else falls into place.” — Norman Fitzpatrick, MetroPower

“I believe we have an abundance of wisdom, justice, fortitude, love, positive attitude, hard work, integrity, gratitude, and humility in all we do. What an honor to be associated with such virtues.” — Dick Pieper, in 2007

“The finished product: the way it looks, how it works, and the idea that maybe I’ve taught someone something along the way.” — Tony Sca∞di, Pieper Electric

Given the dedication, energy, and talent of the employees of PPC Partners, it won’t be surprising if this remains as true 65 years from now as it is today. n

“A company as strong as MetroPower is behind me while I’m doing what I do.” — Spencer Fennell, MetroPower “The longevity of this company. Surviving all the changes by being adaptable and persistent and sticking with things.” — Leo Maney, Pieper Electric “No matter which way you go across the state, you can drive underneath one of the lines that we built.” — Jim Findell, MP Systems “Driving through the city and looking at all the places I’ve worked on and saying, ‘Holy cow, I can’t believe I did that.’ ” — Bob Osetek, Pieper Electric From left, Mike Belcher, Maurice Brown, and ≤ichard Judd of MetroPower. 173

Chapter Six: 2000–2012

2OOO

2000 On September 19, PPC Partners’ first stock offering is presented to all employees with one year or more of service.

2001 On January 31, after the first stock offering, 59.1 percent of the stock in PPC Partners is owned and controlled by 210 employees.

2002 For PPC Partners companies, the year is tough with descriptors such as “flat,” “hard fought,” “difficult,” and “challenging” woven into reports and financial updates.

2000 Investors are high on a bundle of new Dot.com companies, but the “bubble” of excitement bursts less than one year later.

2003 The Dow Jones Industrial Average rises 25 percent as America’s economy enjoys its second year of recovery after the 2001 recession. The Federal Reserve cuts short-term interest rates.

2000 MetroPower posts sales gains of 13 percent and Pieper Electric has a 12 percent increase. 2000 MetroPower opens a new branch, CarolinaPower, in Greenville, One of Pieper Electric’s major construction projects, South Carolina, and establishes AE started in 1998 and finished in 2001: Miller Park, where Industrial as a separate business the Milwaukee Brewers play baseball. serving clients from North Carolina to Alabama. AE Industrial has long-standing 2001 On September 11, terrorists attack working relationships with carpet manufacturNew York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon, ers including Amoco Fabrics and Fibers, and United Airlines Flight 93, killing nearly Shaw and Mohawk. 3,000 people. Congress approves military action in retaliation.

Wiring the complex and beautiful Milwaukee Art Museum was a multi-year project beginning in January, 1999.

2002 Twelve European nations adopt the Euro, a common unit of monetary exchange.

2001 Pieper Electric acquires IDAC, a small process control engineering firm in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and Badger Electric, an electrical contracting firm in the same city. Other acquisitions in Wisconsin from 2000 to 2010 include Maurer Electric, Automation Plus, Systems Technologies, Spring City Electric, Spectrum Electric, ProLighting and Schultz Electric.

174

2003 The War in Iraq begins on March 19 with the bombing of Baghdad. 2003 Pieper Electric works on its first large scale back-up generation project for Saint Gobain Glass Company in Burlington, Wisconsin. PieperLine (part of MP Systems) signs a major new customer, Alliant Energy. MetroPower expands its specialties in data cabling and UPS (Uninterruptible Power Source) projects. 2004 WENG, the Waste Elimination Networking Group, is created involving all three PPC Partners companies. They have an audacious goal: to reduce total man hours on all contracting jobs by 40 percent or more.

Timeline

2OO6 2006 Employee satisfaction at Pieper Electric reaches 90 percent for the first time. At MP Systems and MetroPower, employee satisfaction rates are 88 percent and 86 percent, respectively. Members of the WENG Waste Elimination Networking Group, shown here in 2007, represent all three PPC Partners operating companies.

2006 America’s population is 300 million.

2005 On August 29, Hurricane Katrina decimates the Gulf Coast.

2004 America’s Central Intelligence Agency reports that an imminent threat of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) was not present before the War in Iraq began. 2004 On December 26, a southeast Asian tsunami in the Indian Ocean strikes, killing approximately 290,000 people from Sri Lanka to Indonesia. 2004 PPC Partners companies report good news: backlogs are at an all-time high, sales are up 22 percent and profitability up 18 percent.

2005 Continuing to expand its educational offerings, PPC Partners develops academies with a focus on specific leadership roles including project management, supervisor and branch administrator. 2005 MetroPower acquires ESS, Engineered Systems and Services, a company specializing in low voltage communications applications. 2005 Ten branches in PPC Partners companies have no recordable accidents. The combined companies’ safety performance is twice as good as the industry average. In this decade, safety becomes the number one corporate priority.

175

Chapter Six: 2000–2012

2OO6

>> 2006 Ronnie Hinson becomes chief executive officer of PPC Partners on January 1. Dick Pieper remains the non-executive chairman of the board.

2006 PPC Partners forms ClearHorizons LLC, an alternative energy venture turning the waste from cows into electrical energy.

2007 Mike Michels becomes president and chief operating officer of Pieper Electric. 2008 Danny Buck is named president and chief operating officer of MetroPower.

2008 PPC Partners companies pursue green initiatives in projects involving wind farm and solar collector installations.

2009 The Tea Party, a grass roots movement focused on reducing America’s deficit, becomes a new political force. 2010 PPC Partners’ safety results in this fiscal year show only one OSHA recordable accident per 114,000 hours of work. The electrical contracting industry average is one in 45,000 hours.

2008 Barack Obama, a Senator from Illinois, is the first African American elected President of the United States. He wins in a landslide.

The Crave Brothers Dairy Farm in Waterloo, Wisconsin, was ClearHorizons’ first anaerobic digester project in June, 2007.

2007 The first female Speaker of the US House of Representatives is Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco. 2007 The companies of PPC Partners celebrate 60 years in business.

2009 Servant Leadership, a philosophy articulated by retired executive Robert Greenleaf, has become a tenet of the PPC Partners culture. 2009 America struggles through the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

176

2010 Dan Melstrand is Pieper Electric’s new controller.

Timeline

2O12 2011 Japan is crippled by a tsunami and an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0. A major project for MetroPower, completed in 2008, was the Albert Luce, Jr. Heart Institute at The Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon.

2010 Eight MetroPower branches join forces and complete a three-year, $23 million project for SCANA Corporation using Branch 16 as a vehicle for collaboration on large scale projects. 2010 Haiti is struck by a devastating earthquake. 2010 China becomes the largest energy consumer in the world. 2011 MP Systems welcomes its new president and chief operating officer, Jim Ditter.

MetroPower’s Branch 11, AE Industrial, took the lead on the Georgia Biomass, LLC project in Waycross, Georgia, in 2010.

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2012 Jim Ditter assumes the role of PPC Partners’ chief executive officer on January 1. He is only the third CEO in the company’s 65 years. 2012 The people of PPC Partners Inc. celebrate 65 years in business.

178

Key to Employee Portraits

179

Key to Employee Portraits

180

Key to Employee Portraits

181

Board of Directors Historical listing of board members and their years of service* Julius R. Atkins 1960–1964

Ronald Bierbaum 1982–1993

John M. Harlan 2001–2008

Rose Pieper 1960–1968

Paul E. Hassett 1986–1988

Richard R. Pieper, Jr. 2003–2006

Julius A. Pieper 1960–1986

Bruce Pieper 1988–1991

William K. Doppstadt 2003–2011

Richard R. Pieper, Sr. 1960–2008,

Philip M. McGoohan 1991–2000

W. Kent Velde 2006–Present

2010–present Roland Koster 1969 Lester G. Cordes 1971–1979 Thomas R. Johnson 1971–1979 Walter F. Limbach 1974 H. Edgar Lore 1981–1992

Thomas R. Gessner 1991–1998

Robert F. Andrews III 2007–present

John L. Touchett 1991–2009

Ronnie T. Hinson 2007–present

Lee T. Rowley 1992–1993

Jeffrey A. Blade 2009–2011

Noel S. Bailey 1998

Louis B. Houston, Jr. 2009–present

Susan A. Lueger 1998–2002

Rosa A. Rojas 2010–Present

William D. Elliot 1999–2008

Jose Delgado 2011–Present

* Since 1971, virtually all PPC Partners board members have been outside directors.

182

PPC Partners Locations Pieper Electric Pieper Electric — Milwaukee and Madison, WI Automation Controls Division, Control Panel Manufacturing — Milwaukee, WI Pieper Electric Kenosha — Kenosha, WI IDEAL Mechanical — Milwaukee, WI Systems Technologies — Merrill, WI Spring City Electric — Waukesha, WI Strand Electric — Park Falls, WI

MetroPower Albany Electric — Albany, GA AE Industrial — Hazelhurst, GA ESS — Albany, GA ColumbusPower — Columbus, GA MaconPower — Macon, GA

MP Systems Pieperline — Milwaukee, WI Donovan Construction — St. Paul, MN

ClearHorizons LLC

MaconPower - Warner Robins — Robins Air Force Base, GA MetroPower — Norcross, GA CarolinaPower — Greenville, SC Carroll Electric— Janesville, WI

Craves LLC — Waterloo, WI Dane LLC — Dane, WI

183

Acknowledgments This book is a compilation of voices, memories, facts, experiences and images from the first 65 years of PPC Partners Inc. and its operating companies: Pieper Electric, MetroPower and MP Systems. Over two years, many employees, retirees and board members participated in oral history interviews to create this story of our journey together. Many of them are pictured in our book. This book is a testament to each person who has helped us become what we are today. We wish to give special thanks to the people who worked to make this complex book a reality. The PPC Partners Book Team:

≤ichard Pieper, ≤on Bierbaum, Danny Buck, Norm Doll, Danny Gibson, ≤onnie Hinson, and Tom Ohlgart. This team has been part of the book’s evolution from planning through final review.

Special thanks from Dick Pieper

to the members of his Thanksgiving and Prayer Group*: Mr. John Collet (CEO, Collet Ventures; Past President, YPO) Mr. ≤oger Fleming (Executive, The Navigators) Mr. ≤onald D. Glosser (CEO, Hershey Trust Company)

Additional thanks to Sue Pieper who

volunteered to read the manuscript as it was developed. PPC Partners staffers who gave count-

less hours and e≠ort, in addition to their normal responsibilities: Kateri Justice, Aimee Liepert, Michelle Millard, and Misty Wood. Others made invaluable contributions, including: Hillary Acker, Pat Avery, Steve Barrett, Linda Bartlett, Michael B. Biehl, Tonya Brewster, Dane Brown, Sue Cassel, Kent Cheney, Wade Crozier, Glorianne Davis, Carolyn DeGray, Dotty Diehl, Brenda Evans, Clay Fitzgerald, Courtney Greenway, Karen Haas, Shelly Haas, Cassandra Harris, Dave Hedin, Peggy Hossli, Bill Hovater, Greg Jarrell, Art Johnson (photographer), Matt Johnson, Barbara Jones,

LJ’s Photography, Latresa Martin, Anita Masi, ≤ichard McWilliams, Amy Moss, Tyler Paul, Heather Schwenn, Wayne Scott, Deanna Squires, Je≠ Starr, Todd Stone, Lana Storey, Ziard Thahir, Faye Watson, Debra West, Amber Yawn, and Jason Yearty. Pine & Partners team members:

Carol Pine (project manager and author), Cathy Spengler and Paul Deák (book designers), Caryl Wenzel (proofreader), Diana Witt (indexer) Printer:

This book was printed by Friesens with help from Elizabeth Cleveland (sales representative) and Erin Enns (customer service representative).

Mr. Edward C. Gomes, Jr. (CEO, Lionmark Construction)

Mr. Ed Ligon, Jr. (CEO, Orbit Valve Company)

Mr. John Grove (CEO, York Graphic Services, Inc.)

Mr. ≤obert C. McNair (CEO, Cogen Technologies, Inc.)

Mr. ≤ichard Hughes (CEO, Hinderliter Industries, Inc.; Past President, YPO)

Mr. Levere Montgomery (CEO, Montgomery Ventures, Ltd.)

Mr. Jerome A. Lewis (CEO, Princeps Partners, Inc.)

Mr. Anthony M. Wilson (CEO, Hobie Cat Company)

* from January 17, 1992

184

Illustration Credits Images used in this book were gathered primarily from the archives of Pieper Electric, MetroPower and MP Systems. Images from other sources are listed below. page vi: downtown Milwaukee, 1940s,

from the collections at UWM Libraries page 15: picnic photo from Joe and

Bonnie Rode page 24: from Sparks newsletter,

February, 1970

page 40: brewery control room, Eden,

page 108: drawing from PPC Partners’

North Carolina

2011 Kids’ Safety Calendar

page 48: programming notes from

page 124: first page of symphony score

≤on Bierbaum

from composer Mark Petering

page 64: from Sparks newsletter,

page 127: from Sparks newsletter

March, 1970

page 176: from Milwaukee Journal

page 64: from Milwaukee Sentinel,

August 20, 1973

page 177: aerial photo used with

page 65: from Milwaukee Sentinel,

July 20, 1979

page 25: drawing from PPC Partners’

page 66: monthly work-in-progress

2011 Kids’ Safety Calendar

record, with Metro Betty’s neat handwrit-

page 35: from Milwaukee Journal

Sentinel, November 24, 1997

Sentinel, August 2, 2010

ing and notes added by ≤onnie Hinson page 85: from Milwaukee Sentinel,

June 28, 1987

185

permission from BMC Consultancy Inc.

Index A accident free campaign, Pieper safety record and, 24–25, 39, 125–126, 130–132, 154–155, 175 AC Delco Company, 29 Adams, Bill, 85, 99, 133 Advance Electric Company, Pieper’s purchase of, 23 Advertising Design Studios, 19 AE Industrial, 174 Agape (yacht), 120–121 Albany Electric, 73–74, 132, 139, 145, 171 Christmas in April program and, 170 Albany State University (Georgia), 171 Albert Luce Jr. Heart Institute, MetroPower contract with, 177 Aldrich, Norm, 122 Alimenta Processing Company, 74–76, 79, 98 Allen, Stanton, 1 Allen Bradley Corporation, 29 Alliant Energy, 118, 140, 148 Allied Independent Worker’s Union, 7 Allis, A. P., 1 Allis-Chalmers Corporation, 29 alternative energy, PPC Partners’ commitment to, 164, 166–167, 171, 176–177 American Society for Training and Development, 84 American Transmission Company, 154 Amoco Fabrics and Fibers, 79, 98, 125, 174 anaerobic (oxygen-free) digestion, renewable energy development and, 166–167, 171 Anheuser-Busch, 51 antiwar demonstrations, 56–57 Arizona, Pieper Electric expansion to, 32, 39, 65 Atkins, Julius, 7 AT&T, 63, 114, 133, 159–160

Automation Plus, Pieper Electric acquisition of, 174 Avery, Patricia, 53, 112, 172

B Badger Electric, 27, 146 Baldus, Ned, 128 Barnard, Christiaan N., 39 Barnes, Struber & Smith Piano Company, 22 Bartlett, Linda, 113 Becker, Harry, 128 Begin, Menachim, 65 Belcher, Mike, 114, 158, 173 Bell, Andy, 139–140 Beloit, Wisconsin, Pieper Electric’s expansion in, 26–27, 29 Bennett, Mark, 129 Bergmann, Ken, 24, 122 Bergunde, Merle, 49 Berkowitz, Marvin, 161, 168 Berlin Wall, fall of, 91, 99 Biehl, Mike, 114, 139 Bierbaum, ≤on, 46–47, 49–51, 99, 103, 105 Big Boy ≤estaurant, Pieper Electric contract with, 18 blackouts 1965 blackout, 38–39 New York City 1977 blackout, 56, 65 Blackston, Paul, 111 Blackwell, David, 117 Blackwell, Kayanne, 53, 117–118, 132, 133, 163–164 Boggis-Johnson Electric, 62 Bonnett, Angela, 169 Botsford Electric, 87 Boyett, Andy, 171–172 Boy Scouts, Dick Pieper’s involvement with, 8 Bradley, Lynde, 1 Bradley Tech, 2

186

Branch 11 project, 177 Branch 16 project, 163–164, 177 Brewster, Tonya, 150 Brown, Maurice, 173 Brown and Williamson Tobacco Company, 110–111 Browning, Duane (Buck), 52, 137 Brummett, David, 111 Buck, Danny, 48, 78, 86, 99, 109, 111 CarolinaPower founding and, 139, 148 “command briefings” program and, 133 data cabling operations and, 114–115 Donovan Companies acquisition and, 122 as MetroPower COO, 139–140, 164, 176 on safety consciousness, 126 sailing with Dick Pieper recalled by, 120 Burke, Dusty, 105 Burton, Deb, 151 Burton, Tim, 151 Buske, Carla, 141, 144 Butler, ≤icky, 114, 139

C Cable Construction magazine, 115 Camp David peace accord, 65 Carlyle Nursing Home, Pieper Electric contract with, 43 Carnevale, Anthony, 84 CarolinaPower, 139, 142–143, 148–149, 152, 163, 174 Carroll, Cecil, 87 Carroll, Lou, 87 Carroll, Pat, 87, 99 Carroll Electric, MetroPower acquisition of, 86–87, 99, 166 Carter, Jimmy, 65 Carter, Noah, 158–159 Casetta, Leroy, 98 C. E. Garbutt Construction Company, 110 cell phone industry, 132

Index

cellular tower design, construction and installation, Pieper Electric contract for, 172 Center for Applied Ethics, 159–160 Challenger disaster, 99 Chappy, Pete, 18 Chase, The (Daneshgari), 153 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, 91 China, energy consumption in, 177 Chirstensen, David, 128 Chris ≤. Sheridan company, 110 Cianbro Corporation, 126, 130–131 Ciesielski, Tom, 129 Circuit City stores, 110 “clean wake” sailing philosophy, 121 ClearHorizons LLC, 163, 167, 171, 176, 183 Cleaver, John “Clipper,” 60 Cleaver DISC profile, PPC adoption of, 60–61, 140 Cleveland, Jimmy, 71, 73 Coach House Inn, Pieper project with, 20 Cobb County Detention Center, MetroPower contract with, 75 Coca-Cola, MetroPower contract with, 114 Collins, Sara, 140 Colonial Bakeries, 70 communications technology, impact on PPC Partners of, 95–96, 150–151 Companik, Bruce, 27, 71 computer technology. See also data cabling, PPC Partners’ involvement in Pieper Electric adoption of, 44, 46–49, 64 consolidation of electrical contracting, 105 Construction Industry Institute, 125, 132 continuing education, Pieper Electric commitment to, 35, 38, 84–85, 133, 136–137, 139 Control Service Company, Pieper Electric acquisition of, 31 Cook, ≤ay, 22

Cook, Todd, 157–158 Cracker Jack™, promotional campaign using, 20 Crave, Charles, 167, 171, 176 Crave Brothers Dairy Farm, 167, 171, 176 Cromer, W. E. “Buddy,” 126 Cuban missile crisis, 17 Cummins Engine, 37 customer service Dick Pieper’s commitment to, 22–23, 27 Drucker on importance of, 94 Julius Pieper’s belief in, 7 Cyr, Jim, 143

D Daneshgari, Parviz (Perry), 153 data cabling, PPC Partners’ involvement in, 114–115, 132. 158, 174 Davis, Kim, 126 decentralized management, PPC Partners embrace of, 83, 86, 94–96, 122–123 DeLee, Troy, 111–112 Dietz Electrical, 62 Pieper Electric purchase of, 44 Ditter, Jim, 164, 177 Dittmar, Allen, 166 Dixie Electric, 87, 99 Dixie Plywood, 70 DK Electric company, Pieper Electric purchase of, 44 Doll, Norm, 52, 60–61, 83, 86 “command briefings” program and, 99, 133 Donovan acquisition recalled by, 122 meeting with Drucker, 94–97, 99, 103 ownership-sharing plan and, 103, 105 as Pieper Electric president and CEO, 132, 168 on PPC Partners mentorships, 92 Donaubauer, Mike, 98 Donovan, George, 119 Donovan, ≤ichard, 119

187

Donovan Companies, PPC Partners purchase of, 119, 122–123, 132 Doppstadt, Bill, 86, 131, 137 Dot.com bubble, 173 Dotson, Bill, 75, 79 Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), 17, 133, 146, 148, 174 Drucker, Peter, 83, 94–97, 99, 103, 155 Dunwody, George, 112–113 Dwyer, Patrick, 114 dyslexia, Dick Pieper’s experience with, 5 Dziubek, Ken, 128

E East, ≤oger, 79, 125 E≠ective Executive, The (Drucker), 94 Eichenbaum, Ken, 19 Electrical Contractor, 144 Electric Wiring Service Inc., 87, 99 employee relations, Pieper emphasis on, 96–97 employee stock ownership program (ESOP) at PPC Partners, 102, 105–107, 109 energy crisis of the 1970s, 56 Engineered Systems and Services (ESS), MetroPower acquisition of, 171, 175 Engineering News-≤ecord, 67, 123, 125, 133 Erickson Electric, 87, 99 Ernst & Young, 164 Essentials of Servant-Leadership: Principals in Practice, The (Greenleaf ), 160 Euro currency, establishment of, 174 Evans Electric, 87, 99 Everhart, Michael, 141 Exelon Company, 118 experience modification rating (EM≤), PPC Partners’ implementation of, 131 Exxon Valdez disaster, 99

Index

F Falwell, Jerry, 88 Federal Aviation Administration, 4 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) electrical contracting investigation by, 62–63 underage drinking investigation by, 11–12 Fennell, Spencer, 173 Findell, Jim, 122–123, 173 fire protection systems, Pieper Electric sale and installation of, 31 First National Bank, 70 Fisk Corporation, 126 Fitzpatrick, Norman, 69–70, 79–81, 117, 173 Ford, Gerald, 64 forensic accounting at PPC Partners, 141, 144 Fort Benning, MetroPower contract with, 132 Foti, Tony, 93 Fox Valley Technical Institute, Pieper Electric contract with, 43 franchise operations, Pieper Electric involvement in, 36–37, 39 Franz Ferdinand, Archduke, assassination of, 14 Fredricksen, Je≠, 85 “Freedom ≤iders,” 38 Friese Mueller Plumbing, 128

G Gaggioli, Mike, 129 Gallant, Dick, 79 Geeslin, Arnold Jr., 76–77, 99, 130, 133, 171, 173 General Electric, 20 General Motors, 29 Georgia, PPC Partners expansion to, 67–70 Georgia College and State University, 111

Georgia Electric, 70–71, 73–76, 79 Georgia Power, 70 Georgia Society of Healthcare Engineers, 113 Georgia Southwestern State University, 172 Georgia Sports Hall, 111 Gibson, Danny Jr., 61, 99, 120–121, 140 Branch 16 project and, 163–164 CarolinaPower founding and, 139, 148–149, 152 “command briefings” program and, 133 MaconPower founding and, 109–113 MetroPower founding and, 77–78, 81, 90, 126 Gibson, Dan Sr., 99, 109–110, 126 Gibson, Terri, 109 Gibson Electric, 87, 99 Golabowski, ≤ay, 42, 49, 52, 54, 98, 173 Good Electric, 63 Goodman Networks, 172 Gorbachev, Mikhail, 91 Grau, John, 91, 94, 103–104 Graybar Electric, 37 Great ≤iver Energy, 123 Greenleaf, ≤obert K., 159–161 Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, 160, 162, 176 Greenspan, Alan, 146 Gri∞th, Clay, 61, 145 Gross Electric, 64 Guaranty Title Services, 164 Gulf Canada Limited, 79 Gustafson, Brad, 151 Gwinnett County Public Schools, 115

H Haiti, earthquake in, 177 Hall, Bart, 111 Hall, James, 70 Hallman, ≤obert, 110–111 Hamann, Jan, 128

188

Hammond, Cason, 99 Hansen, Dave, 122 Hanson, Bob, 27 Harrison, Jerome, 75 Harvard Business ≤eview, 136 Have Gun - Will Travel television show, 68 Heder, Doug, 98 Heinritz, ≤oger, 7, 15 Heise, Denise, 128 Henderson, Jake, 68–69 Henderson Electric, 68–69 Hendricks, Jim, 133 Henrichs, Bob, 98 Herman Andrae Electrical Company, 62 Herr, John, 128 Hill, Chan, 111–112 Hill, Jerry, 128 Hinckley, John, 68 Hinson, Brenda, 73–75 Hinson, Jamie, 73 Hinson, ≤onnie, 48, 53, 61 CarolinaPower founding and, 139, 148 “command briefings” program and, 99, 133 continuing education and, 85 Donovan Companies acquisition and, 122 on electrical contracting industry, 105 expansion of MetroPower and, 109 joins MetroPower, 70–71, 73–76, 79–81, 98, 111, 118 meeting with Drucker, 94–97, 99, 103 on mentoring, 92 open shop philosophy and, 87 ownership-sharing plan and, 103, 105 as PPC Partners CEO, 164, 176 safety policies at PPC Partners and, 125–126 servant leadership philosophy and, 161–162 Hinson, Temple, 112 Hodgson, Harry, 7, 15

Index

Holiday Inn, Pieper Electric contract with, 43 homeostatic control principle, Pieper adoption of, 83 Hormel Foods, Pieper Electric contract with, 43 Horning, Larry, 86, 106, 118, 162 Hossli, Peggy, 143 Houston, Ben, 161 Howard Johnson restaurant chain, Pieper Electric Company work for, 27, 70 Huckeba, Je≠, 111 Human Genome Project, 133 Hurricane Andrew, 114 Hurricane Katrina, 175

I IBM, MetroPower contract with, 114 IDAC company, 146, 174 IDEAL Plumbing and Heating, 87, 99, 128–129 Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC), 105, 144 Independent Electrical Service (IES), 105 Indian Ocean tsunami, 175 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), 5, 7–8, 12, 15, 22, 32 Iraq War, 174–175

J Jameson, ≤achel, 162 Janesville, Wisconsin, Pieper Electric’s expansion in, 23, 26–27, 29 Japan, earthquake and tsunami in, 177 John P. Mader Electric Inc., 36–37 Johnson, Gary, 61, 152–154, 172 Johnson, Lyndon B., 38 Johnson, ≤alph, 103–104 Johnson, ≤obert Sr., 103 Jones, Barbara, 173 Jones Island wastewater treatment plant, 58, 65

Joseph Wittig Company, 128, 132 Judd, ≤ichard, 173 Junior Achievement, PPC Partners’ involvement in, 168–170

K “Keating Five” scandal, 90–91 Keller Electric, 87, 99 Kelliher, Mike, 162 Kennedy, John F., 17, 38 Kennedy, ≤obert F., 39 Kenosha, Wisconsin, Pieper Electric plant in, 142–143 Kiedrowski, Bob, 93 Kiefer, Fred Kiefer, Lizzie, 4 Kiefer, Minie, 4 King, Billie Jean, 64 King, Martin Luther Jr., 38 Kinlow Heating, 132 Kletti, John, 52, 55, 61, 92–93, 172, 173 KOA Kampgrounds, 119 Komp, Christine, 53, 145 Koster, ≤oland, 32 Kraninger, Martin, 103–104 Krug, Wyatt, 151

L Lake Geneva Playboy Club resort, Pieper Electric contract with, 31, 39 Lamb, Frank, 75, 79 Law, Bill, 103 Lee, Trung, 92–93, 163 Leissring, Brad, 169 LeMaster, Mike, 141, 144–145 Lemberg Electric, 63 Julius Pieper’s work at, 5, 14 Lennox, Dave, 128 Lentz, Steven, 141, 144 Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, 126 Life magazine, 22 Linbeck Corporation, 126

189

Lintner, Andy, 142 Long, David, 117 Look magazine Wiring Advancement Award, 22, 38 Lord Electric, 78 Lore, Ed., 99 Lubar, Joe, 18 Lubar, Shel, 103–104

M Macon, Georgia, MetroPower expansion in, 109–110 MaconPower annual “turkey fry” at, 170 formation of, 109–114, 148 Macon State College, 111 Magaw Electric Company, 62 Maiman, Martin, 18–19, 54 Malone, J. L., 71 Maney, Leo, 83, 173 Marquette University, Pieper Electric cooperative program with, 64 Martin, Latresa, 128, 141, 169 Martin, Tony, 129 Martin Army Hospital, MetroPower contract with, 79–80, 98 Masi, Anita, 143 Maurer Electric, 146, 174 MCC Powers, 87, 99 McDaniels, Jack, 70–71, 73 McGoohan, Phil, 99, 102 McLuhan, Marshall, 91 McWilliams, ≤ichard, 112 Medical Center of Central Georgia, 111, 177 Melco Electric, 64 Melstrand, Dan, 53, 118, 176 mentoring program, at PPC Partners, 92–93 Mequon Nature Preserve, 166 Mericle Electric, 132 merit shops, expansion of, 67–69, 86–87

Index

MetroPower, 48, 53, 61, 122. See also CarolinaPower accidents and safety at, 125–126, 130–131 apprenticeship program at, 144–145 Branch 11 project, 177 Branch 16 project, 163–164, 177 branch locations for, 183 Christmas in April program and, 170 collaborative initiatives at, 163 “command briefings” program, 99 continuing education at, 85, 139 data cabling business and, 114–115, 132, 148, 174 decentralized management at, 86 employee safety committee at, 158–159 employee satisfaction at, 175 establishment in Georgia of, 69–70, 73–80, 98, 125, 139–140 expansion of, 79–81, 98–99, 109, 111, 114–115, 132, 146, 164, 177 revenues and sales at, 81–82, 91, 99, 117, 146, 174 safety record at, 146, 154–155 servant leadership philosophy at, 161–162 South Carolina branch, 74 uninterruptible power sources technology and, 117, 132, 174 Meyers-Briggs Personality Inventory, 60 Miami Herald, 10, 12 Miami Hurricane (student newspaper), 11 M&I Bank, Pieper’s relations with, 29 Michels, Mike, 53, 129, 137, 142, 155, 157 as Pieper Electric COO, 164, 176 Microsoft Windows, 132 Mid-Atlantic Brewery, Pieper Electric contract with, 51, 54–56 Middleton, Steve, 163–164 Midwest Energy Company, 119, 132 military contracts, MetroPower’s handling of, 80, 99

Milken, Michael, 91 Millard, Michelle, 90, 162, 169 Miller Brewing Company, Pieper Electric project with, 51, 54–56, 65, 68 Miller Park project, Pieper Electric involvement in, 153, 174 Milprint Industrial, 5 Milstead, Darrell, 68–70 Milwaukee, Wisconsin economic crisis in, 42 revitalization project, Pieper Electric contract for, 58–59, 65 as “Toolbox of the World,” 1 Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC), 141, 144, 166 Milwaukee Arena, 31 Milwaukee Art Museum, 174 Milwaukee Boys and Girls Tech, 2 Milwaukee Greyhound bus terminal, 31 Milwaukee Home Show, Pieper participation in, 19–20 Milwaukee Journal, 4, 30, 36, 51, 62–64, 84, 120 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 136, 167, 171 Milwaukee Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees), Distinguished Service Award to Dick Pieper, 32, 168 Milwaukee School of Engineering PPC Partners’ contract with, 166 Servant Leadership Chair at, 159 Milwaukee Sentinel, 88–89 Milwaukee United Way, Pieper Electric support for, 64 Minnesota Power, 123 Mixon, Tom, 111 Mohawk Carpet, 174 Moore, Alton, 48, 111 Moore, Chris, 74, 139, 148–149, 152, 163–164 Moore, Marcy, 149 Moral Majority, 88 Morrison, Bob, 111

190

Mother Teresa, 170 Mount St. Helens, 68 MP Systems, 118–119, 122–123, 131–133, 146, 154–155, 157. See also PieperLine Alliant Energy contract with, 118, 140, 174 branch locations for, 183 Ditter as president of, 164, 177 employee safety committee at, 158 employee satisfaction at, 175 voluntarism at, 169–170 municipal utilities, Pieper Electric’s involvement in, 27 Murphy, Mary Beth, 88 Myers, I. E., 23, 26

N ‘narrowbacks,’ early electricians as, 26 National Cash ≤egister (NC≤), 114–115 National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), 7–8, 15, 41, 59, 71, 91, 103 National Electric Service, 63 Nelson, Mel, 26–27, 52 Nelson, Wayne, 26 Netlon Limited, 79 Neuman, Larry, 98 Nick, Justin, 129 Nixon, ≤ichard, 64 Norlight Telecommunications, 164 Northern States Power Company, 118, 123 Northwest Airlines, 4, 14

O Obama, Barack, 176 O’Brien, Bill, 132 Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), 64, 125, 129, 131, 176 O’Connor, Tom, 143 Oestreich, Kermit, 32, 39

Index

Oestreich Electric company Pieper purchase of, 32, 39 Pieper sale of, 65 Ohlgart, Tom, 49, 55, 58, 99, 117, 133 Oklahoma city bombing, 133 open shop contracting, 67 Operation Desert Storm, 132 Operation Production System, Pieper Electric’s adoption of, 48, 56, 173 Orr, Steve, 142 Osetek, Bob, 122–123, 173 Oswald, Travs, 145 Ott, Jack, 85 “overhead adder” system, Pieper Electric’s development of, 49

P Pacl, Steve, 172 Palubicki, Al, 98 Panel Shop, 82 Parent Age (University of Miami newspaper), 12 Parra, ≤ick, 140 Parson, Sheila, 119, 123, 173 Patton, Neal, 132 Pelosi, Nancy, 176 Perry Market Place, 110 Persian Gulf War, 114 Petering, Mark, 124 Phelps, Ken, 43, 83, 131, 133, 162 Phillip Morris, 51, 54–55 Phoebe Putney Hospital, 139, 170–171 Pieper, Ann, 101, 133 Pieper, Arnold, 2, 14 Pieper, Bridget, 101 Pieper, Julius continued involvement in Pieper Electric, 32, 49 death of, 133 early life of, 2, 14 expansion of Pieper Electric and, 22 family relocation to Florida Keys and, 8

founding of Pieper Electric, 2, 5, 7, 13–15, 18–19, 135 joins Milwaukee police force, 3, 14 Look magazine Wiring Advancement Award and, 22 marriage and family of, 3, 11, 14 photos of, 52, 98 relations with Dick, 17–18, 52 sells Pieper Electric to son Dick, 13, 17, 38 Pieper, ≤ichard, 173 automobiles as hobby for, 8–10 awards received by, 32, 168 business values and management style of, 34, 51–53, 101–103 career planning by, 101 charitable activities of, 168–170 childhood of, 3–5, 14–15 ClearHorizons development and, 167, 171 college experiences of, 10–12, 15 “command briefings” program and, 99, 133 community and industry leadership activities of, 32 on continuing education policy, 85, 136–137 customer service philosophy of, 22–23, 152 decentralized management philosophy of, 83, 86, 94–97 Donovan Companies acquisition recalled by, 119, 122 Drucker meeting with, 94–97, 99 dyslexia of, 5 early business ventures of, 9 early days at Pieper Electric, 5, 7, 14 employee ownership model of, 105–107, 109 EN≤ interview with, 123, 125 family relocation to Florida Keys and, 8–9

191

global sailing trip of, 120–121 global travel by, 29–30, 38 IDEAL Plumbing acquisition recalled by, 128 Look magazine Wiring Advancement Award and, 22 MaconPower founding and, 111 marketing and promotional e≠orts of, 19–20, 38 marks 50 years with PPC Partners, 135 marriage to Susan Stau≠, 30–31 MetroPower founding and, 70–71, 73–75 as non-executive board chairman, 164, 176 ownership sharing plan and, 103–105 photos of, 53, 98, 120 Pieper Electric purchased from father Julius, 13, 17, 38 on productivity improvement, 152–154 relations with father Julius, 17–18, 52 religious faith of, 4–5, 34, 88, 90, 98 safety policies of, 24–25, 121, 125–126, 130–131, 155 servant leadership philosophy of, 159–162 speeding tickets of, 9–10, 15 Pieper, ≤ichard Jr., 101 Pieper, ≤ose (Wolf ) expansion of Pieper Electric and, 22 family relocation to Florida Keys and, 8–9 marriage to Julius Pieper, 3, 14 return to Wisconsin by, 10 Pieper, Susan (Stau≠ ), 5 marriage to Dick Pieper, 30–31, 56, 101, 121 Pieper Electric Company accident free campaign at, 24–25, 39 acquisitions by, 31, 128, 146, 150–151, 174 Automation Controls Division, 82–83, 98

Pieper Electric Company, continued back-up generation project for, 148, 174 bought by Dick Pieper from father Julius, 13, 17 bowling team for, 65 branch locations for, 183 business philosophy at, 50, 65 collaborative initiatives at, 163 “command briefings” program, 99 company profit centers established, 38 computer technology installed at, 44, 46–49, 64 Construction Division at, 43 continuing education program at, 35, 38, 84–85, 98, 125, 133 control panels development by, 82–83, 98 corporate business planning at, 64 corporate restructuring of, 155, 164 customer service philosophy at, 22–23, 27 datacom division of, 169 development reviews at, 35, 39 Dick joins father at, 13 Dick Pieper’s purchase of, 13, 38 Dick’s management of, 17–18 early advertising campaign by, 19 employee safety committee at, 158 employee satisfaction at, 175 financial management at, 44, 46–47, 49–50, 56, 64 founding of, 5, 7, 14 franchising system launched by, 36–37, 39 global expansion of, 29–30, 38 growth of, 22, 42, 47, 49 Kenosha plant, 139, 142–143 management restructuring at, 44, 46–47, 49–50 marketing and promotional campaigns, 19–20, 38 national expansion of, 32, 36, 39, 65

notable projects of, 31, 43 “people development” program at, 35 productivity improvements at, 152–154 Protection Division of, 31 public disclosure of financial information by, 50–51, 64 radio and television advertising by, 20, 38 revenue figures for, 20, 38–39, 41, 50, 64, 91, 174 safety policies at, 24–25, 39, 125–126, 130–133, 154–155, 157–158 sales figures for, 20, 31, 38, 41, 50, 64, 91, 146 SOS Fixit initiative and, 87–88, 98 sta≠ development at, 39 strike, 59 traveling warehouse service launched, 39 union conﬂicts with, 5, 7–8, 15, 17, 67–68 vision statement, 132, 155 Water/Wastewater Treatment branch, 58, 65, 83 Waukesha branch of, 172 Wisconsin expansion of, 22–23, 26–27, 29, 38–39 Pieper family disposition of PPC Partners ownership by, 101–102, 132 portrait of, 15 relocation to Florida Keys by, 8–9, 15 PieperLine, 99, 118–119, 122–123, 132, 140, 146, 148, 174. See also MP Systems Pieper Man logo, 19, 27, 30, 38, 133 PieperPower anniversary symphony, 124 PieperPower logo, 19–20, 31, 36, 39 Pima Junior College, Pieper Electric contract with, 32 planned abandonment principle, 94 Pomeroy, Dick, 26

192

power line work, Pieper Electric’s involvement in, 23, 26–28, 38, 44, 64, 118–119, 131 PPC Partners acquisitions by, 87, 99, 119, 122–123, 128, 132 apprenticeship training at, 141, 144 board of directors, historical listing of, 182 business locations for, 193 business model for, 95–96 ClearHorizons project and, 163, 167, 171, 176 Cleaver DISC profile at, 60–61 collaborative initiatives at, 162–163 “command briefings” program at, 99, 137 community action programs at, 168–170 continuing education at, 84, 133, 136–137, 139, 148, 175 decentralized management at, 83, 86, 94–96 Drucker’s assessment of, 95–96 employee ownership program at, 102, 105–107, 109, 113, 133, 148, 174 EN≤ Top 600 Specialty Contractors ranking for, 123, 125 ethics statement of, 90, 99 fiftieth anniversary celebration of, 133 green initiatives of, 164, 166 Hinson hired by, 73–74 leadership preparation at, 136–137 management information systems at, 118, 133 management restructuring at, 103–104, 137, 164 mentoring at, 92–93 mission statement for, 88, 90, 113 national expansion by, 68–69 organizational tracking system at, 133 ownership-sharing plan at, 101–105

Pieper family planned disposition of ownership in, 101–102, 132 productivity improvements at, 152–154 Project Management Academy, 150 purchase o≠er for, 105–106 recruiting policies at, 117 safety record at, 25, 125–126, 130–133, 155, 157–158, 175–176 sales and revenues at, 91, 99, 105, 146, 148, 154–155, 174–175 servant leadership philosophy at, 159–162, 176 sixtieth anniversary celebration for, 176 sixty-fifth anniversary celebration at, 177 strategic planning for, 96–97, 102–105, 132 union relations with, 67–68 values statement at, 90 voluntarism at, 168–170 Waste Elimination Networking Group initiative, 152–154, 174–175 PPC Partners Foundation, 132, 168–169 Priebe, David, 151 Proctor & Gamble, 29 ProLighting, 174 public utilities, Pieper Electric contracts with, 44 Publix grocery chain, 115 Purdy, Sam, 125

≤ ≤eagan, ≤onald, 68 ≤eddy News magazine, 22 renewable energy, PPC Partners’ commitment to, 166–167, 171, 176 ≤euss, Henry, 58–59, 65 ≤iemer, Scott, 90, 173 ≤iggs, Bobby, 64 right to vote for 18-year-olds, 64 ≤iverwood Paper, 111

≤obbins, Kelly, 128 ≤oberts, Jack, 37 ≤obins Air Force Base Logistics Operation Center, MetroPower contract with, 80, 99, 111, 146 ≤ockwell Automation, 164 ≤ode, Bonnie, 7 ≤ode, Joe, 7, 154 ≤ogers, Bob, 70, 81 “roll-ups” phenomenon in electrical contracting, 105 ≤owe, ≤oberta, 125–126 ≤um ≤unner (yacht), 9

S Sabre Group, 115 Sadat, Anwar, 65 safety, Pieper’s commitment to, 24–25, 125–127, 130–131 Safety Herald newsletter, 131 Sage Mechanical, 128 Saint Gobain Glass Company, 148, 174 Salk, Jonas, 15 Sansbury, Jim, 111 Saturday Evening Post, 22 Sca∞di, Tony, 173 SCANA Corporation, 163–164, 177 Scheibler, Sam, 159 Scherer, Mike, 129 Scherer, Tom, 172 Schmidt, Grace, 98 Schoch, Nick, 150 Scholten, Betty (MetroBetty), 81, 109, 117 Schroeder, Mark, 172 Schultz Electric, 174 Schwalbach, Gordy, 98 Schwenn, Heather, 129 Scopp Electric, 87, 99 Scrimpsher, William, 111 Senge, Peter, 136 September 11 terrorist attacks, 146, 174 Servant as Leader, The (Greenleaf ), 159

193

servant leadership philosophy, PPC Partners’ adoption of, 159–161, 176 Setzer Electric, Pieper’s purchase of, 23, 38 Seven Seas Cruising Association, 121 Shamp, John, 123, 133 Shaw Corporation, 174 Shelco, Inc., 152, 163 Shepard, Al, 122 Shorewood Bakery, 2 Shorewood Inn, 30 Showers, Skip, 98 Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity, 10–11 Simmons Mattress Company, 117 Sinyard, ≤icky, 111 Ski∞ngton, Melissa, 140 Skinner, Britt, 143 Smallwood, Smith “Smitty,” 69–70 Smith, Tim, 129 Snyder, Ken, 18 solar power, PPC Partners’ initiatives in, 166, 176 SOS Fixit project, 87–88, 98 South Shore wastewater treatment plant, 58, 65 Soviet Union breakup of, 114 U.S. grain embargo against, 68 Sparks newsletter, 35, 42, 56, 58, 97, 124 Spears, Larry, 160 Spectra 59 graphic arts exhibition, 12 Spectrum Electric, 174 Spence, Je≠, 128 Square D, 29 Squires, Deanna, 112–113, 170 Sta≠ Electric Company, 62 Stein, Martin, 103–104 St. Mary’s Hospital, Pieper Electric contract with, 43, 93, 141 stock market crash of 1987, 91 Stoiber Electric, 63

Strand, ≤oger, 151 St. ≤egis Paper Company, Pieper Electric contract with, 43 Stromski, Leo, 98 Stroud and Company, 110 Stujenske, Emmy, 53, 173 Sugarman, Joe, 12 Surges, Chris, 60–61, 92 SWOT analysis, PPC Partner’s use of, 70, 87, 148–149, 167 Systems Technologies, Pieper Electric acquisition of, 150–151, 174

T Tea Party movement, 176 technology innovation impact on PPC Partners of, 95–96, 98 PPC Partners’ embrace of, 150–151 Tensar Corporation, 79, 98 Thoma Construction, 166 Thompson, Alan, 170 Thompson, Bill, 74, 76, 79–81, 98, 106, 148, 161 Thompson, Kelly, 170 Thrall Car Manufacturing Company, 114, 132 3M Corporation, 29 Three Mile Island nuclear disaster, 56, 65 Tienanmen Square, 91 Total Mechanical, 128 Touchette, John, 52, 103, 106, 120 Transus Intermodal LLC, 117 Trenko Electric, 132 Turala, Yuri, 55–56 “12 Hazards program,” 130

U uninterruptible power sources (UPS) technology, MetroPower involvement with, 117, 132, 174 unions, Pieper Electric Company conflicts with, 5, 7–8, 15, 17, 67–68

United Airlines, Covia Division, 114, 132 University of Miami, Dick Pieper’s attendance at, 10–12 University of Wisconsin-Madison, Pieper Electric Company work for, 27 US Army ≤eserve Center, 20 U.S. Bicentennial, 65 U.S. Business ≤eview, 131

V Vanalt company, 119, 122–123 Vanovich, Steve, 114–115, 117, 139 Vigue, Peter, 130

W Walesa, Lech, 68 Wall Street Journal, 124 Walmart, MaconPower contract with, 111 Ward, Sandra, 128 Warren and Associates, 110 Washington County Courthouse and Jail, 20 Waste Elimination Networking Group (WENG), 152–154, 174–175 wastewater treatment plants, Pieper Electric involvement in, 58, 65, 83 Watkins Motor Lines, 117 Waukesha Memorial Hospital, Pieper Electric contract with, 43 weapons of mass destruction, 175 Weathersby, ≤obert, 99 Wesleyan College, 110 West, Doug, 163 West, Eric, 61, 82, 144 Wierzba, Mike, 142–143 Williams, Brett, 112 Williams, Jerry, 74, 79 Willis, Shawn, 173 wind turbines, PPC Partners’ development of, 164, 166, 176 Winters, Todd, 142 Wisconsin Bridge and Iron Company, 46

194

Wisconsin Electric Power Company, 118 Pieper Electric contracts with, 26–27, 43 Wisconsin State Fair, 20 Wolf, Esther, 4 Wolf, George, 4–5 Women’s World television show, Pieper promotional spots on, 20 Wood, Tom, 129 World Trade Center, 1993 bombing of, 114 World War I, 14 World War II, 14 WTMJ-TV, Pieper television spots on, 20 Wyatt, Tommy, 139

X Xcel Energy, 118, 123

Y Yokosh, Frank, 54, 98 Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), 22, 46, 52, 60, 103, 106

Z Zahn, Leonard, 7, 15 Zaragoza, Federico, 93 Zastrow, June, 98 zero accident record, 125, 130, 132