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Intelligent Building Consulting Firm Joins Egan

Tuesday, February 9th, 2016

TekNecks

MINNEAPOLIS, MN (February 19, 2016) – Specialty trade contractor Egan Company announces the asset acquisition of intelligent building consulting firm TekNecks based in Minneapolis, Minn. TekNecks offers varied information technology services to commercial properties.

“TekNecks and Egan have a long history of working together,” said Michael Kohn, former TekNecks owner. “I’m excited to continue to develop our unique systems of technology delivery and network management and present these offerings to current and new customers. This ‘joining of forces’ is a natural fit. Both Egan and TekNecks have an opportunity to expand our services together and experience great growth.”

With the merger, Egan Company will continue to be a leader in the intelligent building and information technology industry in the Twin Cities. “TekNecks expands Egan’s intelligent building services, and offers a specific service that Egan wasn’t able to deliver before,” said Jeff Hawthorne, Egan Company Senior Vice President. “TekNecks will help us offer complete property management and IT network services – from conception to completion, and we have eliminated the need for customers to hire multiple contractors for maintenance.”

TekNecks’ three employees will office within Egan Company’s Brooklyn Park, Minn. facility, but will maintain the TekNecks presence in Downtown Minneapolis.

About Egan Company:
Egan Company is a specialty contractor that represents over 15 skilled trade unions serving virtually every infrastructure discipline in the industry. Core services include: electrical, mechanical, curtainwall/glass (InterClad), millwrights, controls and system integration, building automation, and service. Egan serves every stage of a building and provides in-house expertise in planning, design, engineering, construction, and maintenance.

Media Contact:
Jessica Johnson
jkjohnson@eganco.com // 763-595-4310

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Download a PDF of the press release.

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A Tradition of Paying it Forward

Friday, August 28th, 2015

So much is changing in the construction industry, but some values never quite lose their luster. Notions like family, community, and charity, for example, are as prevalent today as they were in 1945 when Egan Company was founded.

For the past 70 years, Egan has been actively involved in the community by rallying employees to support generous causes, and the first half of 2015 was no different as employees collaborated with Twin Cities-based Hearts & Hammers for the thirteenth time and participated once again in a local food-packing competition through the non-profit, Matter.

IMGP2814 2006 Hearts & Hammers 044New Life to an Old Home

“Remodel” is a word that gets thrown around a lot at Egan. Usually, it pertains to a commercial project. But last May, Egan employees partnered with Hearts & Hammers for a different kind of remodel; one that would transform the house of an elderly Minneapolis resident.

There were more than 40 Egan employees in attendance, including Egan Leaders, and field and office personnel. We spent the morning and afternoon fixing up and repainting the house. The house had survived years of wear-and-tear, including a fire on the front porch years ago.

“This year was one of the first that we’ve had an all-Egan team, so it was great to see everyone participate and work together to help out someone in need,” said Jim Malecha, Egan Company President & CEO.

A fresh coat of paint took off years from the house and garage’s façade, and the backyard is now transformed with an all-new walking path, a reinforced deck, and a neat little sitting area inside a newly refurbished garden.

“I’ve been here 47 years and I just can’t believe it’s my house,” said Katherine, homeowner.

DSC_0497Packing Meals for Healthy Competition

A food-packing competition was held through Matter, a local nonprofit, to support local children and families in need of nutritious meals.

Eight teams of Egan employees raced to pack meals, and the competition was fierce, with teams rushing to arrange and seal boxes as quickly as possible within a time limit. When the final tallies were counted, the winning team came out on top after packing 81 total boxes.

“This event was for a good cause to help provide food for kids in food deserts in the Twin Cities,” said Nick Ravetto, Egan Company Safety Coordinator. “It also brought together people at Egan for a great team-building event.”

Ninety-five Egan employees attended the event and packed 695 boxes, which amounted to 3,475 meals. Quenton Marty, President of Matter, said the boxes Egan packed would provide over a week and half of meals to students in local free lunch programs.

The group (and individual) efforts of Egan volunteers have been a lasting source of pride throughout all seventy years of the company’s existence. Each day brings more opportunities, and each day we hope to continue our rich tradition of supporting the local community.

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Compressed Schedule Calls for Cross-Trade Coordination

Saturday, September 20th, 2014

lakes_internationalThe side-effects of the deluge of rain we received this last spring are still being felt today. On top of flooding and lake closures, there was a direct impact on construction projects that had to push back start dates because of wet soil.

New building construction for the Lakes International Language Academy (LILA) adopted an aggressive new timeline to combat this obstacle. The K-6 charter school looked to build upon the success of its tuition-free immersion program (Spanish or Chinese) that follows an accredited International Baccalaureate Primary Years curriculum in the form of a new facility.

The rain, while good for flowers, turned the work site into a challenge. The foundation’s soil turned to soft clay, making for a less-than-ideal work environment. In fact, a concrete composite had to be mixed into areas where soil integrity was most vulnerable, effectively turning the school’s new parking lot into a great big cinder block.

highres_lakes_smallerEgan’s Electrical, Mechanical, and Building Systems & Services groups partnered with general contractor Kraus-Anderson to find a way to get the job done on time.

Collaboration between Egan and Kraus-Anderson’s Project Manager Jake Boerboon and Superintendent Jesse Fiskewold were essential to project success. Even closer coordination was required than is customary for a project like this. Potentials for lost-time or further delays were addressed and resolved before the fact, creating an extremely well-organized work model.

Design/Build was also a huge factor in facilitating the accelerated timeline. Thanks to Egan doing the design and construction, many issues were resolved before they could reach the field. Without this, on-site problem solving would be a necessity and could have delayed the project further.

The construction team benefited greatly from prefabrication on this project. Circuits and feeders were crafted in-house and pre-assembly of the duct helped reduce installation time in the field. Close coordination between mechanical and electrical also minimized penetrations in the precast and allowed coordination of hanger systems, nearly cutting the initial estimate time in half.

Egan also supplied the academy’s building automation system. The weather delay shortened the installation timeframe significantly, requiring work to be completed in about a week.

The project finished on time, giving the school about two weeks to furnish and organize the building to be student-ready for the Fall.

The Lakes International Language Academy Project is a newly constructed, 43,000 square foot, two-story facility that included two parking lots and a gymnasium. The building’s automation system included integrating seven Lennox RTUs, installing controls on VAV boxes, and interlocking the kitchen make up unit with miscellaneous exhaust fans.

Core project team: LILA Building Co. and Kraus-Anderson Construction Company

Egan services performed: Design Build of Mechanical, Plumbing, Electrical Systems, and Building Automation Systems

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Summer of School Upgrades and Installs

Friday, September 19th, 2014

anoka-hennepin-school-outsideEvery summer, Egan Company’s Building Systems & Services (BSS) group upgrades or installs new building automation or fire systems in schools across Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Egan completed work this summer in over eight school districts, including St. Paul Public Schools, Eden Prairie Schools, Anoka-Hennepin School District, School District of Clear Lake, and St. Michael-Albertville School District. All of this work is compressed into a three-month timeframe and equates to over 20,000 hours of manpower.

The building automation system controls everything from air handling units to VAV boxes to pool converters to lighting. Many schools also incorporate energy efficient systems to produce lower utility bills. The fire systems in the schools provide smoke management systems, advance detection, voice evacuation and exit technology, and sprinkler system monitoring.

The installation of these two systems can prove challenging, especially in such a short timeframe; however, Egan simplifies the project process by providing system engineering, design, installation, and start-up and commissioning to finish the job quickly.

All systems were updated before school started this Fall. Year round, Egan also provides maintenance to these–and other–school districts.

“Every summer we roll up our sleeves for various schools,” said Tom Addabbo, Egan Account Manager. “It’s always a challenge to help bring these schools back online before the school year starts. Fortunately, our field team does it year after year and knows what it takes to meet these tight timelines.”

Summer 2014 Numbers At-a-Glance

  • 4,505 hours of building automation system setup, engineering, graphics, and drafting
  • 11,290 hours of building automation field installs
  • 1,681 hours of building automation commissioning
  • 4,900 hours of fire systems field installs
  • 538 hours of fire systems testing and inspection

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Technology bands Egan Together

Wednesday, September 17th, 2014

jim-nonnJim Nonn, Egan Company’s Chief Information Officer hadn’t planned for this. As he watched the antenna wave in the -20 degree wind chill, he thought, “This isn’t going to work.”

The antenna was part of a new “air-fiber” connection that sends/receives data from Egan’s corporate headquarters to Egan’s Industrial Controls group about a mile away at speeds of 1.4 Gigabytes/second. The connection consisted of two antennae on top of each building that needed direct, uninterrupted line-of-sight to each other.

Minnesota’s December weather had other plans. Not only was the antenna failing to stay put in the freezing wind, but it was also too short. Line-of-sight to Industrial Controls was cut off by another building. If these antennae failed to work, the Industrial Controls employees may as well have not shown up to work next Monday.

With the help of Egan pipefitters and low-voltage electrical employees, a team was formed to find a solution.

A taller, sturdier tower was fabricated in Egan’s pipe shop, customized electrical wiring was rigged to it, and a bucket truck and crane were procured to safely install the new equipment. All of this was completed same-day.

“It’s one of those times when I’m really glad I work at Egan, not just because of our construction capabilities, but the fact that people are willing to drop everything and help when you need it most,” Nonn said.

Both antennae have needed minimal maintenance since that icy December day, and connection speeds between Egan locations have been consistently superior.

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Collaboration with millwrights for safety, precision, and speed

Monday, September 15th, 2014

On a Tuesday afternoon, Egan Company was tasked with a project: Daktronics, a scoreboard and electronic display company, needed help to safely raise 3,000 pounds of cable dangling 150 feet from the Xcel Energy Center ceiling. And it had to be done in 72 hours.

The scoreboard had been lowered, taken apart, and left in the middle of the Xcel with wires dangling from the ceiling. In three days, the Xcel needed to be set up for a Rod Stewart concert. Xcel thought the wires could be raised and set on the catwalks high above the floor; however, the catwalks could not support the weight of the cables.

Further situation analysis by Egan’s Electrical Foreman, Project Manager, and Safety Director led to a concern with safety.

They concluded that a millwright needed to be involved to ensure the cables were lifted and installed safely. Egan Certified Millwright Marc Beltz met the team at the Xcel to determine a safe solution.

Egan’s millwright team is safe, efficient, and thorough. They understand what is needed to make the project work and that the needs of the client are to be met.

–Jason Hanlon, Braun Intertec Associate Principal/Senior Structural Engineer

Since 1999, Egan Company has offered millwright services to customers. Millwrights specialize in safely moving heavy equipment and the precise alignment of machines. Essentially, a millwright is an industrial mechanic.

Beltz and the electrical team partnered with Braun Intertec to develop a plan to raise the cables. Braun Intertec engineered rigging that met Egan’s objective to safely lift the heavy cables. The design was completed by early afternoon on Wednesday and the steel rig was fabricated on site by the Egan millwright team the next day.
millwright3

Egan’s millwright team understands that all procedures, design, and construction need to meet certain standards and requirements before the work can be completed,

said Jason Hanlon, Associate Principal/Senior Structural Engineer at Braun Intertec.

It takes more than just muscle to complete a job like this. Egan millwrights work with a high degree of precision and certainty to ensure proper installation of heavy materials. Once a precise and safe installation procedure was established on Thursday, the cables was lifted and installed in the ceiling in time for fans to enjoy the Rod Stewart concert.
Beltz attributes the success of this job to the great collaboration between groups at Egan.

We have the opportunity to work with every group at Egan and also collaborate with engineering firms,

Beltz said. “We’re proud to offer millwright services to customers.”

Beyond precisely moving heavy equipment, Egan millwright services also include welding, machinery installation, rigging, preventative maintenance for mechanical equipment, optical and laser alignment, and custom fabrication.
Primarily, Egan millwrights work in the power plant, foundry, food production, and manufacturing industries.

“We provide specialized services that you can’t get from anyone else but a millwright,” Beltz said. “If it moves, you need a millwright.”

Historically, the “mill” in millwright comes from building and maintaining flour mills, paper mills, and sawmills powered by wind and water. Though the trade has evolved since then, the basic idea is the same: to provide customers with necessary services to keep industries producing.

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