ST. LOUIS – Two Electrical Connection-member contractors earned awards at the annual Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Missouri Keystone Awards.  PayneCrest Electric, Inc. was saluted for construction excellence in the delivery of its Monsanto/Bayer Greenhouses project.  PayneCrest was also honored for its work on the Ameren Labadie Fly Ash facility, which was an award finalist.  Meanwhile, Aschinger Electric Co. earned a Specialty Contractor of the Year (SCOTY) Award in the electrical category.  In addition, Guarantee Electrical Co. was honored as a finalist for its work on The Last Hotel in downtown St. Louis and the Ameren Wastewater Treatment Process facility.

All three contractors are members of the St. Louis Chapter of the National Electrical Contractor Association (NECA) which partners with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1 to form the Electrical Connection.

Since 1997, when the AGC Keystone Awards competition was launched, more than 100 NECA contractor projects have been honored in the awards program, 32 of which earned AGC Keystone Awards.  According to the AGC, “the awards are a glowing recognition of construction professionals whose skill, teamwork and spirit of innovation make a lasting contribution to a community by building facilities that support and enhance the quality of life. Safety performance, use of technology or new innovations, and workforce diversity are also essential components of overall performance.”

In awarding PayneCrest its Keystone Award for the Monsanto/Bayer Greenhouses, the program noted that “PayneCrest overcame extraordinary complexities in remodeling 26 greenhouses as Monsanto transitioned to new ownership under Bayer. Each greenhouse required intense specialized infrastructure within its extremely limited space with a strict mandate to avoid shading plants with electrical systems. PayneCrest created, tested and refined mockups to guide pre-fabrication and installation with extraordinary precision, delivering on all expectations.”

Program notes for the other honored Electrical Connection-member projects included:

·         PayneCrest’s Ameren Labadie Fly Ash – “New EPA regulations eliminating fly ash ponds compelled Ameren to tap PayneCrest’s design/build skills for solutions to treat and dispose of the Labadie Power Plant fly ash. PayneCrest’s detective work revealed unknown aging infrastructure and integrated it with new electrical systems. It deftly managed work in tight spaces to power new EPA-compliant silo storage facilities to treat the fly ash.”

·         Guarantee’s Last Hotel – “Historic renovation is always tricky, when it involves digging through layers of history in a city like St. Louis. Leveraging the historic International Shoe factory building’s Art Deco elegance into the contemporary destination of The Last Hotel, led Guarantee’s project team through a century’s worth of urban archaeology, a wilderness of unmapped utilities between buildings, below streets, below the basement.”

·         Guarantee’s Ameren Wastewater Treatment Process project – “Among the challenges of the project were the uncertainties created by the innovative nature of the technology involved, which drove a relentless effort to adapt and test equipment to better calibrate performance. Working closely with Ameren’s design team and engineers, Guarantee’s installers were involved from design through commissioning, testing and adjusting sensors and equipment over the course of the project.”

“The successful and innovative delivery of these complex projects reflects theproficiencies of our Electrical Connection NECA contractors and the skills and safety of our IBEW workforce,” noted Jim Curran, executive director, Electrical Connection.  “As we work with civic and business leadership in Missouri, we can confidently provide countless examples of IBEW/NECA’s readiness to efficiently and creatively deliver the next generation of electrical and communications projects.” 

Winners of the 2019 Keystone Awards were celebrated at the AGC’s Construction Awards Gala scheduled for Monday, Nov. 4, 2019 at the River City Casino & Hotel in St. Louis.

The Associated General Contractors of Missouri represents more than 500 commercial, industrial, heavy and highway contractors, industry partners and related firms in 110 counties in Missouri. For more information, visit www.agcmo.org.

Electrical Connection members provide safe and reliable electrical construction, maintenance, repair and replacement services across Missouri, the nation and the world.  For more information visit www.electricalconnection.org.