Power surge

In a large manufacturing operation, the hidden wires that keep everything running become like a complex network of nerves. Human beings using computers are the decision makers, the brains of the network. The lights, the moving parts, machinery and equipment are like limbs and organs. The nerves aren't as glamorous as the thinking brain or the moving limbs, but without them there's no life to your animal. That's where Electrix comes in.
The fast-growing Vancouver company takes a familiar trade, electrical work, to a new level, building electrical networks when life and death, or sometimes a lot of money, are on the line. It's paying off, with revenue forecast at $28 million to $30 million this year.
Electrix has wired Intel Corp. microchip factories, Boeing's Dreamliner finishing plant, Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital's controls and a wind power project in Montana.
The owners aren't interested in the latest housing development or retail outlet.
"We've really focused on highly technical stuff that's more challenging than the run of the mill, and where the potential gain and loss from a failure is magnified," said Raymond Kelly, Electrix president. "A lot of electrical contractors try to be everything to everybody. That's not us."

Bad timing at the start
Owners Kelly and Jeff Marsh, vice president, left E C Company in June 2001 to found Electrix.
The timing could not have been worse. After a solid start and first-year sales projections of more than $1 million, along came 9/11 and business dried up.
But Kelly and March kept at it, and as the economy rebounded, their business grew. Electrix saw revenue of just under $20 million in 2007, Kelly said. He projects $28 million to $30 million this year.
Electrix now has a core staff of about 50 people, including engineers, project foremen and administrators.
"We fluctuate the number of craft people working for us," Kelly said. "We hire journeymen electricians, and that's driven by project." Total staffing now is at about 85.
"Because of the type of work we do, we go union," Marsh said. "The union in this region is especially strong, and that skill focus is important to our business."

How big is enough?
Looking ahead, the question becomes how big does Electrix really want to get?
"Growing from $5 million to $20 million in revenues, we made a leap as a business," Kelly said.
"When a business hits the $50 million to $70 million mark, there's another measure of expansion and growth you go through. We have a ways before we hit that threshold, and we don't know if we want to grow that big or not," he said. "You become more corporate, more process-driven, as you grow. Growth for growth's sake isn't what we're after."


Electrix at a glance:
• What: Electrical contractor, specializing in high-end and complex projects.
• Owners: Raymond Kelly and Jeff March.
• Projected 2008 revenue: $28 million to $30 million.
• Employees: 50 permanent, about 85 total.
• Where: 115 V St., Vancouver.
• On the Web: www.electrix.biz .

Courtney Sherwood covers high-tech business. Reach her at 360-735-4553 or
courtney.sherwood@columbian.com