NECA contractor Coltrane Systems, LLC along with IBEW Local 1 is part of the team building St. Louis County Library’s $31.8 million Clark Family Branch which will debut this summer. Located at 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., the 74,000-square-foot building is the largest branch in the district and replaces the library’s former headquarters building. Coltrane Systems' scope of work for this project incorporated the electrical as well as the communication systems, including structured cabling, paging, distributed antenna system, audio-visual, access control, and video surveillance. The library was designed by Lamar Johnson Collaborative and ICS Construction Services LTD served as the general contractor.  Learn more

Our members never forget the sacrifices others have made.  That especially includes IBEW Local 1’s Rick Dinnella.  The St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted that Dinnella again led an effort this year to place 14,000 flags on the graves of Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.  Read more.

A tip of the cap to NECA contractor PayneCrest Electric, which is in the midst of a year-long 70^th anniversary celebration.  PayneCrest traces its roots to two firms founded in the early 1950s that grew on parallel tracks of service. Crest Electric specialized in commercial and telecommunications contracting.  Payne Electric focused on industrial/commercial and inaugurated a term for its prowess in the automotive industry – “the car guys.” Payne acquired Crest in 2000, uniting two entrepreneurial legacies that today define one of the largest electrical contractors in St. Louis with projects that span the country. Its prowess in manufacturing evolved to power robotics and on Feb. 14, 2005, Engineering News Record (ENR) acknowledged PayneCrest’s pioneering use of mobile CAD trailers in an article titled “Rolling Thunder.” In 2022, PayneCrest expanded its capabilities with the debut of its 30,000-square-foot pre-fabrication facility. The firm’s reputation for seeking out and delivering only the most complex projects has earned it multiple honors, including being saluted in AGC Keystone Awards for building excellence 28 times since Payne united with Crest. Learn more.