In 2000, Rosendin Electric's employees completed their buyout of the Rosendin family to become the largest employee owned electrical contractor in the United States.

When Moses Rosendin founded Rosendin Electric in 1919, the average house sold for less than $4,000. The company began servicing the Santa Clara/San Jose, Calif., agricultural community by wiring homes and shops, rewinding motors for wells and pumps and extending pole line facilities for utility companies. It expanded its business to central California throughout the ’20s, the Depression and World War II.

The end of World War II brought rapid commercial and industrial growth to the Santa Clara Valley and enormously expanded work for Rosendin Electric, the company notes. It grew from eight employees in the late '30s to 90 employees in the 1950s.

In 2000, Rosendin Electric's employees completed their buyout of the Rosendin family to become the largest employee owned electrical contractor in the United States. "As an ESOP company, Rosendin Electric's employee owners are motivated to achieve extraordinary results," the company states. "By providing the highest levels of productivity, exceptional customer service and a quality product, we take pride in knowing our work will represent us for years to come."

Today, Rosendin has more than 1,800 employees and has averaged nearly $300 million in revenues for the past five years. Headquartered in San Jose, the company has branch offices in San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles; Tempe, Ariz.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Hillsboro, Ore; and, most recently, Las Vegas, NV.

According to Larry Hollis, vice president of business development, Rosendin Electric has a diverse project list that includes healthcare, wind farms, high-tech and data center projects.

"We're involved in most of the high-profile healthcare projects, especially in California with the SB1953 regulation that requires hospitals to upgrade to certain seismic levels," Hollis says.

Rosendin Electric constructs a large amount of healthcare work for Kaiser and Sutter, primarily in California. It has also taken on healthcare work in Nevada and Arizona with projects such as Carson Tahoe Hospital and Del Webb Hospital.

"Another big area is wind farm work," Hollis says. "We are installing wind turbines across the country. That's been a big market for us. We are becoming the premier electrical contractor in that business. The market has expanded due to government tax credits and mandates for power companies to expand their use of renewable resources. Another field we're seeing growth is the data center market, he continues. "Data centers are located where there is cheap power and access to data transmission lines."

Setting Itself Apart
Hollis says Rosendin Electric's culture starts with President and CEO Tom Sorley. Sorley has served as president since 1993. "He's a great leader," Hollis says. "He's demanding, but fair, and easy to talk to. That permeates to everyone else. People always say it starts at the top, and it's true."

The company's bonding capacity also sets it apart. "A very large bonding capacity is a huge deal in the construction market," Hollis explains. "A lot of companies can't do that. An example was a recent award at UC Berkeley where we were the second place bidder. Because the low bidder could not bond, we got the award at our price.

"We have seen a major growth in our design build work," he adds. "Our engineering department, led by Bill Mazzetti, has grown to over 40 percent of our business and is one of the largest in-house operations in the country. We think we offer our customers great value, service and speed to construction with this approach. That is in alignment with our mission statement."