Health care and data center projects are the bread and butter for Irving, Texas-based Walker Engineering. The firm has played a major role in some landmark hospitality projects such as the Dallas Omni Hotel and the Houston Marriott Marquis, both completed within the last decade.

查理·沃克（Charlie Walker）在36年前创立了Walker Engineering。2013年，他的儿子斯科特（Scott）和侄子布伦特（Nephew Brent）分别接管了该公司的首席执行官和总裁，自从过渡时，该公司继续蓬勃发展。

In the last four years, the electrical subcontractor has grown its regional revenue by about $80 million, $65 million of that in 2016 alone. The firm attributes the increase to a strong economy in Texas as well as its own procurement strategy.

“Both 2016 and 2017 have been very good years for Walker Engineering. The economy here in Texas is just very good right now, especially here in Dallas, which is our home office,” says Scott Walker. “A lot of the guys who have worked for Walker Engineering for 25 or 30 years can’t remember a time where it’s been this good, with this amount of work, the sizes of projects and the different types of projects—it’s really amazing.”

The second generation of Walkers also have taken a much more aggressive stance to growing the company across the state and have made several management changes that are proving beneficial today.

It is a cultural shift that aims to return to the roots upon which the company was founded. “With Scott and I actively engaged in the day-to-day operations of the company, it gives our customers easier access to our leadership,” Brent Walker explains. “It also allows us to be nimble in situations where other organizations with more complex ownership structures might have a harder time reacting quickly.”

该公司还在投资其年轻的领导力。它的许多经理都在35至50岁之间，其中大多数在40多岁之间。斯科特解释说，他们很有动力，渴望留下自己的印记。

沃克已经在它的四个显著增长divisions, especially in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, thanks to the many corporate campus developments and data center projects. Meanwhile, the firm’s Houston division has had steady growth because of the strong health care market. Austin has proven to be a stable market as well, with steady work in hospitality and some corporate-campus projects. The company reopened an office in San Antonio to pursue the data center and private development markets.

“San Antonio was new revenue that we didn’t have previously, while the other divisions just really all gained their goals and did more revenue than they had done previously,” Scott says. “In 2017, we saw another uptick, it’s just continued to grow within our groups. Really, all four of our divisions—Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Houston—have all been relatively busy. A lot of good opportunities out there.”

While the availability of qualified project managers and superintendents has been a limiting factor for many electrical subcontractors, Walker continues to develop individuals within the company and attract talented employees from its competitors.

斯科特说：“这是我们成长时所面临的最大障碍，试图找到合格的，熟练的人来管理我们能够着陆的所有项目。”18luck官网“作为电力分包商，我认为这一州和行业前进的最大挑战是找到合格的，熟练的电工。其他行业也受到这一影响，但是越来越多的人不想进入交易并进行这项工作。”

In the last four years, the firm has doubled the number of field employees. “We have about 2,000 employees total, which is almost double where we were four or five years ago,” Scott says.

同时,沃克也变得安全team to 30 safety professionals from six, Brent adds. “By identifying the connection between safety, quality and production, we have realized the value of providing the same level of talent in our safety program as we do in estimating, engineering, QA/QC, BIM and operational teams,” he says.

The firm brought on a safety director, Scott Sears, who has helped Walker Engineering develop its culture of safety over the last five years, Scott explains.

“The way that we approach safety is we want every employee to really buy in and believe that it’s their job every day to focus on safety. We don’t want people on the jobsites that are safety people going around being the safety cop,” he says. “We want our people to understand how to work safely and to buy into that philosophy. We believe that if employees all buy into it that, they’ll keep themselves safe as well as watch after each other and try to reduce the number of safety incidents.”

Walker’s EMR in 2016 was 0.47, and this year is tracking around 0.53 with an incident rate of 0.99.

斯科特说：“我们俩都花了很多时间试图提出新的方法来实施我们认为对员工有益的新计划。”“这绝对是我们公司的重点之一，并且将继续成为我们前进的重点。”

Iconic Jobs

Walker Engineering has played a role on several major projects across Texas, including the Dallas Omni Hotel, which has been a signature element in the Dallas skyline since its completion in 2011.

“The Dallas Omni was a key hotel for the downtown Dallas Convention Center,” explains Donald R. Powell Jr., principal at Dallas-based design firm BOKA Powell LLC. “We were in a design-build relationship with Balfour Beatty Construction, and we had a design firm that did the performance specifications on the electrical, and then Walker did design-assist and the subcontracting. What I would say is they did an outstanding job meeting every one of the expectations from the standpoint of schedule, cost and quality.”

鲍威尔说，在该项目的后期添加了标志性的LED系统。“这是一个独特的案例，照明顾问和沃克的贡献确实成为了建筑成功的重要组成部分。[这是一个相当简单的建筑，但照明确实将其提升到了达拉斯天际线的标志性的东西。”

在博卡·鲍威尔（Boka Powell）在沃克（Walker）的30年历史上，在此期间，鲍威尔（Powell）完成了超过400万平方英尺的项目，回忆起在欧文（Irving）成为愿望的愿望。18luck官网

“Walker Engineering donated 100% of the electrical system for that entire building. It was 13,500 square feet,” Powell says. “Walker throughout that period not only helped us build the initial building, but came back and helped make any changes that were required for Make A Wish. I don’t have a dollar amount or donation amount that they gave, but it was well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars they contributed to that project.”

博卡·鲍威尔（Boka Powell）最近的另一个项目是达拉斯海龟溪（Turtle Creek）的佩罗家族办事处，沃克（Walker）参与了设计辅助角色和电力分包。

“Just as a general rule, I’m very comfortable every time I hear that Walker is our partner because of the caliber and the quality of people that they bring to the table,” Powell says.

斯科特指出，沃克的许多项目都是设计18luck官网助理，在设计阶段很早就将团队带入了工作，从而与顾问，总承包商和所有权集团进行了密切的协调，以帮助找到节省工作中资金的方法。

Walker Engineering is currently executing an $80-million electrical and low voltage contract, which includes 875,000 sq ft across the 20-level North Campus Expansion for Houston Methodist Hospital. The overall construction cost of the project is $500 million. Work will wrap up in spring 2018.

最近的其他项目包括休斯顿万18luck官网豪酒店酒店，这是一家1,001间客房的高端酒店多相数据中心，具有2500万美元的电气合同。

Walker has been an important partner to Austin Commercial on health care work as well, particularly in the Houston area, notes Brad Brown, president of Austin Commercial. Walker served as the electrical subcontractor on the Memorial Hermann–Cypress Hospital interiors build-out, a $62-million project completed in February.

“Our regional industry is fortunate to have many partners that support general contractors through great preconstruction services, commitment to zero safety incidents on projects and meeting deliverables throughout the project,” Brown says. “Walker certainly exhibits this commitment and understanding and works hard managing their relationships to ensure they are meeting expectations.”

Growth to Come

展望未来，沃克（Walker）增长最大的地区是低压，网络技术部门以及工业市场。

该网络技术部门目前带来了该公司当前收入的约10％至15％，但斯科特（Scott）看到该部门在未来五年内增长，可能占收入的25％至30％。

“We’re trying to do more in oil and gas, water, wastewater, manufacturing, food and beverage, those types of projects. So that’s another major focus for us,” Scott says. “I really see those two areas as the main growth areas for Walker moving forward.”

While there could be potential for growth on the commercial side in San Antonio or Austin, the prospects for doing additional work in Dallas or Houston is more limited, given that Walker is already doing a large amount of work in those areas, Scott notes.

“There’s probably not a ton of growth on the commercial side for us unless we were to go to a new market, but right now I don’t have any plans to go to Oklahoma City or Louisiana or something like that,” he adds.

该公司继续寻求新的机会。它正在与其他几位电气分包商竞争，以在阿灵顿的新德克萨斯游骑兵球场上工作，该奖项将在不久的将来宣布。

While data centers and hospitals may not be as glamorous as something like a stadium project, Walker will be pursuing a lot of those jobs in the coming year, Scott says.

他补充说：“一旦您超过了2018年，它就会变得更加模糊，但我认为2018年，2019年，尤其是在达拉斯市场上，看起来很强劲。”“得克萨斯州的整体经济非常强劲，这个国家将继续增长。未来将有很多建筑机会。”