March 2023 Safety Calendar artist, 13 year-old Meriel, reminds us all to always use equipment, tools & machinery properly and to not be afraid to ask others for help – make sure you and others are safe.
Don’t Be A Fool . . . Use The Right Tool
Campus Hockey Comes Home to UConn with McPhee Tech Systems
McPhee was instrumental in the buildout of two very important facets of the new University of Connecticut 2,600-seat, Toscano Family Ice Forum on the Storrs campus in the state’s quiet corner. McPhee first partnered with Metropolitan Interactive of Oxford, CT to provide all the necessary cabling, terminations and installations of the audio/video infrastructure and components necessary to support the new arenas sound system, video systems and live broadcasts.
Project Foreman Kevin Zbyk says “a combined 32 miles – 170,000 linear feet of audio/video cabling was installed to support the facilities speakers, video displays, touch panels, Bluetooth receivers, cameras, audio tie-lines, microphone inputs, assisted listening antennas and live broadcast connectivity. In addition, the project required the installation of approximately one hundred fifty (150) ceiling/wall/pendant mounted speakers, eight (8) large arena speaker arrays, thirty-five (35) wall/pendant mounted displays and multiple remotely controlled PTZ cameras,” Kevin concludes.
McPhee also with long-time partner Daktronics Corp of Brookings, SD to provide the electrical and low voltage infrastructure for their large scale LED video displays. “We furnished and installed all necessary wiring to support the connectivity and power to the arena’s 25’x25’x15’, 22,000lb center-hung video display and self-climbing hoist. A fifty foot (50’) along with two (2) one-hundred twenty foot video ribbon displays compliment the 15’x 10’ stairwell mounted video wall,” says site foreman Kevin Riley A state-of-the-art AllSport scoring system provides singular control of the new scoreboard, goal lights and twenty (20) game clocks that are positioned throughout the arenas offices, locker rooms and training areas.
Safety Week 2022: Closing Message from CEO Mike McPhee
“At Phalcon we believe that planning is the foundation to top quality performance and safety“.
Phalcon Safety Week 2022 is another chance to acknowledge and thank each of more than 2500 employees, subcontractors, and partners for a daily commitment to building today’s electrical infrastructure safely. Our culture of Grit and Gratitude guides our way as leaders in our industry by driving toward a future where every day is a safe day for every Phalcon employee and where our customers and partners see us live out safety is a core value at Phalcon.
Congrats Everyone: Safety Achievement Award of Merit
Phalcon participates in a Specialty Trades Insurance Company (STIC) and was recently honored with one of six Awards of Merit out of 44 companies participating. Mike says: “the award is based on a combination of proactive items, trailing statistics and engagement/participation and is a direct reflection on our commitment to safety and ensuring that our employees get home safely at the end of the day.” Factors like OSHA Recordables, Lost Time Injuries and Risk Control all go into the achievement of this award.
Thanks to Mike for accepting this award our our behalf and Keep up the great work!
No Interruptions for the State of Tennessee
Harlan Electric was selected as the prime contractor to provide new replacement switchgear and back-feed all equipment throughout the William R. Snodgrass Tennessee Tower. Harlan was responsible for all aspects of the project which included enlarging the room, building a new wall, entry doorway and certain concrete demolition and install. Downtime was required to be limited to preplanned weekend outages. The concrete removal operation required noise abatement and planning for demolition activities high priority. This building houses significant State of Tennessee government offices making security, coordination, and communication of all activities of utmost importance.
The existing 50+ year old main switchgear was replaced with new 4160V, 1200 amp equipment. Elapsed time from power off of old gear to new gear back online was less than 48 hours. There were a total of 71, 5kv terminations installed and all passed 3rd party testing on first pass with no disruption to the occupant’s operations. The age of the building provided a significant challenge. The gear sections height was only a single inch shorter than the elevator cab height. The team devised a way of rolling the gear on and off the elevator on ¼ inch steel rods . . . leaving 1/2 inch clearance from the top of the cab.
Long-Term Partnership Scores Again
Recently, McPhee Electric and Daktronics Corp of Brookings, South Dakota have partnered up again to construct and install one of their state-of-the-art LED displays. Their latest ‘score’ is the Fairfield University Convocation Center’s new center-hung video display to provide game scoring and statistics for both men’s and women’s basketball. Chris Lappen, McPhee’s Project Manager says, “various McPhee teams are currently engaged in the construction and assembly of the center-hung video display, assembling and wiring the self-climbing hoist and installing/terminating wiring for electrical and signaling connections at the roof.”
The grand opening of the new 85,000 square-foot, 3,500-seat Arena is set for November of 2022. “An additional 2’ tall LED ribbon display mounted on the fascia between the concourse & club levels will encircle the entire center and provide a continuous loop of advertising, scoring and encouragement for both players and fans,“ Chris concludes. For more than 15 years, Chris’ team has installed and serviced hundreds of LED scoreboards, highway traffic signs and electronic billboards across New England for Daktronics resulting in this strong partnership and continues today.
Provincetown (MA) Battery Project Up and Running With McPhee’s Utility Division
The Utility Division of McPhee recently completed this Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project in Provincetown, MA at the tip of famous Cape Cod. “We performed the engineering, major component procurement and installation of the 25MW / 45.8MWh system which operates in parallel with the local distribution system. The systems battery racks, inverters, control systems, pad mounted transformers, and a 25 kV switchgear all interconnect to the existing distribution system adjacent to the facility“ says Jake McPhee, Director of Utility Estimating.
Serving more than 5,000 customers, this BESS provides back up power should the area lose their traditional power sources. A summer tourist mecca and literally at the ‘end-of-the-line’, a loss of power to Provincetown can turn critical very quickly and this system provides a state-of-the-art approach to increasing reliability for customers. “This is a good example of the type of leading-edge projects that McPhee has always excelled at – working collaboratively with the client and solving new problems that help bring innovative technologies to life,” Jake concludes.
Keeping The Wind Working
At an elevation of approximately 400 feet above the ocean surface, Tony Recanati (L) and Joe Aurora (R) of McPhee Electric stop for a moment take in the view from atop one of the wind power facilities east of Block Island, RI. Under the annual PowerHawke contract, Tony and Joe spent 5 days between the five towers performing the annual electrical preventive maintenance and inspections for the low voltage systems as well as a number of related repairs identified in previous inspections. Tony and Joe also recently completed the new globally recognized GWO Basic Safety Training prior to mobilization.
THE TEDDY’S: 2022 Phalcon Awards & Celebration
Almost 450 company employees, spouses and guests gathered on June 4th at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington DC to celebrate our collective history, accomplishments and partnership at the 2022 Phalcon Teddy Awards. After opening comments from the Phalcon partners – Mike, Marcus and Ed – and a video highlighting the history of Phalcon, gifts of appreciation were presented to Ted McPhee, founder of McPhee Electric and to Joe Richards, founder of Richards Electric.
“We owe so much to people like Ted and Joe for their leadership and vision. We stand on the shoulders of these industry giants’ as we move in to the future and cherish the legacy that they have provided us with ‘Grit & Gratitude.'” says Mike McPhee, CEO of Phalcon.
The Teddy Awards have been an annual tradition that started at McPhee more than 20 years ago and has been expanded over the years to now include the entire Phalcon family. The annual Phalcon Teddy’s Awards celebration takes time to reflect on our collective accomplishments and to honor and thank those who have contributed to our successes. The night was followed by dinner, dancing and plenty of time for Phalcon team members across the operating company locations to enjoy conversation and time together.
Richards Takes Home Two 2022 WBC Craftsmanship Awards
The 2022 Washington Building Congress Craftsmanship Award winners were recently announced with a banquet on June 3rd at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. The annual awards program honors individuals who provide exceptional workmanship on buildings throughout the Washington, DC area. Awards are given for a wide range of skills in categories such as concrete, doors and windows, electrical, finishes, masonry, mechanical, metals, sitework, special construction, and woods and plastics. Since its inception, the awards have recognized over 3,500 projects and over 13,700 craftsmen for their workmanship.
Richards is proud of our team members’ contributions to the following award-winning projects:
- Craftsmanship Award, Lighting Systems, BET MGM, Oxon Hill MD
- Craftsmanship Award, Lighting Systems, Tysons Galleria North Anchor Redevelopment, McLean VA
Congrats to the Richards team for the much deserved recognition again in 2022!