Marathon Electrical Contractors

Electrical contractor shows commitment to employees through training, trust

By Dana C. Crisson

“A company is nothing but a collection of people,” says Larry Argo, president of Marathon Electrical Contractors of Birmingham. “This is especially true in a small business like we are. You don’t work for companies; you work for people.”

It is that philosophy that has helped Marathon grow from a startup company of 22 employees and first-year sales volume of $687,000, to a company with more than 400 employees and sales of more than $40 million last year.

In March 1987, after they were laid off from the company where they all worked, Larry Argo, Bill Proctor and Robert Bratton decided to pool their experience in electrical construction and start their own company. 

advertisement

“The three of us had so many common denominators,” Argo says. “We all came from the field, we were all married with stable family lives and three children apiece, and we shared common business values. We knew we could make this work.”

With talent and determination, Marathon was founded, with Argo as company president, Proctor as vice president and Bratton as secretary/treasurer.

Marathon established a clear mission statement at the beginning: to be the premier provider of electrical contracting services in the Southeast, committed to delivering quality products and services to its customers, while providing opportunities for growth and improvement for all of its employees.

The company services all aspects of the residential, commercial, industrial electrical construction industry, including fire alarm, security and sound systems, fiber optic and computer cabling. Its clients include light industrial, institutional, multifamily, churches, restaurants, banks and schools.

Argo says recruiting highly skilled workers has been the key to Marathon’s consistent performance.

“We are successful because we value our employees,” he adds. “We came from the field and we know what those guys are going through. Twenty of our employees have been with us for over 25 years and 100 more for more than 10 years.”

In addition to hiring top electricians and journeymen, the company has a strong commitment to education, offering on-the-job training in conjunction with accredited apprenticeship programs and continuing education programs such as Dale Carnegie and NEC.

Argo says he is proud of the fact that the firm has never laid off core employees, even in the lean construction years between 1989 and 1992, another factor that has helped Marathon establish a dedicated and secure workforce.

“By investing in our employees’ training, we are not only helping them advance, we are also better equipped to serve our clients by staying on the leading edge of technology,” Argo adds. “In my opinion, we have the best field staff and office staff in the business. We are called a ‘Marathon family’ here.”

Marathon also participates in the Construction Career Opportunity Program, a six-week seminar that gives Birmingham-area high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to explore careers in a number of construction trades. Marathon typically hires three to four students from the program each year.

“The image of construction is that it is dirty, and that you only work a day here and a day there, but through education and training, we are working to improve that perception,” Argo says. “The guys that work for us are the salt of the earth, hard-working and dedicated. Birmingham is blessed with an abundance of great general contractors and sub-contractors.”

The company has 30 to 40 projects at any given time, ranging from $20,000 to $12 million, and it is continually bidding on new projects.

“Bidding keeps us sharp and competitive,” Argo says.  “We are always in the process of adding new divisions. When we see a need, we fill it.”

The contractor started a Datacomm division several years ago to wire buildings for voice-over IP, computer and data wiring. It also added a prefab division, doing the work in-house and carrying it to the jobsite.

“Although the company has grown considerably over the years, it has been controlled growth,” Argo says. “In construction you don’t go bankrupt from not having enough work. You go bankrupt from having too much.”