Earthcharter

SBA Case Study: Rev1 Power Services, Inc.

Friday, 26 February 2010 19:43

MEDIUM BUSINESS CATEGORY

Company Name: Rev1 Power Services, Inc.

Contact: Merritt Brown
Website: www.rev1ps.com
Number of Employees: 120
Certifications/Affiliations: MSPAlliance Green IT Certification
Year Established:  2001
Industry: Energy Services

Introduction: Rev1 Power Services was co-founded by the team of Rick Ehrgott and Dick Emery in 2001. Prior to Rev1, Rick was the co-founder and president of PenPower, a recruiting firm that provided contract and permanent personnel for the GE Energy companies, as well as companies outside of GE worldwide. PenPower was acquired and became a division of Granite Services, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the General Electric Company.  Following a successful career with GE Energy’s Power Plant Systems Division, Dick Emery teamed with Rick to establish Rev1 Power Services, Inc. and later, its subsidiary division of Rev1 Wind. Now with over 150 engineers and technicians deployed in more than 17 countries, Rev1 has rapidly grown to serve all segments of the energy industry including conventional, nuclear, and renewables.

Rev1 Power Services currently provides engineering and technical workforce solutions to all segments of the energy industry, including transmission & distribution, generation, nuclear, refinery, oil & gas, and solar. The company brings decades of collective experience in power generation to assist client needs with teams who have worked the full spectrum of energy projects, from initial development and planning to final turnover and project management services. Rev1 is also able to develop custom training programs when required, offering proven methods backed by meticulous attention to detail. 

Rev1 Wind provides skilled wind turbine technicians and support to the wind industry by assisting clients with their scheduled maintenance and ongoing O&M needs. Services include turbine inspections, maintenance cycle completion, and post-warranty opera­tions and maintenance. Rev1 offers flexible service packages that provide an economical approach to annual maintenance from a single mobilization schedule. (rev1ps.com)

Sustainable Practices and Initiatives (Planet)

Rev1 does make an effort to practices sustainable activities with regards to our planet. They utilize printer cartridge recycling programs and purchases paper products that are comprised of a percentage of recycled paper. Rev1 Wind is their division that supports wind and solar energy production industries. They also train and hire technicians in these fields. They provide engineering and technical support for environmentally-friendly technologies such as wind, bio-mass, hydro, and solar. The company’s Out of town guests and employees are encouraged to carpool to their office in Brandon. They also encourage renting low-emissions vehicles when their employees travel on business.

Economic Impact (Profit)

Rev1 is a financially strong and debt-free company that has developed partnerships with dozens of leading firms including AEP, General Electric, Black and Veatch, Florida Power & Light, Progress Energy, and Dominion Resources. Their growth and sustainability has generally paralleled the growth of their employee numbers at 18% per year. Their business is cyclical to a very limited degree. Some of the work they support are the seasonal outages of large generating facilities, typically that occur in the spring and fall each year. During these times, the company may add staff to contribute specialized skills just for these events.

Rev1 is always interested in improving the quality of their service, their business relationships, and the quality of their training programs. They continuously strive to improve these areas through customer and employee feedback. Rev1 submits a Customer Feedback Survey to each client following the service work performed. This allows the client to provide comment on the work performed by their technicians, and to offer any suggestions that will improve their service at a future time. They mostly receive positive feedback but will act aggressively to correct a problem should they receive negative responses. Rev1 Brandon uses local suppliers for their office products, cleaning and sanitation services, catering and food products, printing supplies, branded clothing and other branded products, and safety supplies. Additionally, their Brandon office is leased through a local property management company.

Community Commitment (People)

The company has an average total workforce of 120 employees for the past 3 years with a turnover rate that is less than 2% for that period. They have 141 full time employees and 3 part time employees. All of their Brandon employees reside in neighboring communities of Brandon, Tampa, Sarasota, Riverview, and Durant. This number has peaked during 2009 at over 150 combined regular and part time employees. For the past three years, they have grown nearly 34%, from an average of 92 employees in 2007 to their 2009 average of 139. Averaged annually, their growth rate for the last three years has been 18% per year. Their Full time employees are eligible for medical, dental, life insurance, short and long-term disability insurance, and supplemental medical insurance through their company carriers. However, part time employees are not eligible for benefits. In addition to medical and dental benefits, full time employees are also offered an opportunity to contribute to a 401k retirement plan. Also for full time employees, they provide up to 11 company paid holidays per year, vacation, and 40 hours of sick time. Rev1 also has both a Code of Safe Work Practices and a comprehensive Injury and Illness Protection Program (IIPP). As they are a national employer, both of these programs are required under many state mandates. Rev1 Power Services offers eligible employees and candidates a full range of technical and management training, as well as opportunity to pursue educational programs associated with their position. They have partnered with General Physics Corporation (www.gpworldwide.com) to provide online power generation fundamentals, electrical, safety, and project management training.  Rev1 Power Services also supports equal employment opportunities and has promoted the growth of a very diverse workforce where many ethnic groups are represented. They are a veteran-owned business and a military-friendly employer. Greater than 60% of their office staff are women and their field workforce has been comprised of approximately 8% women.

In addition to all of this a member of their Brandon office has coached youth basketball and soccer teams for the Plant City Parks & Recreation Department Optimist Sports Program for the past three years. This program supports kids who are otherwise ineligible for traditional school or little league sports programs.