INTREN in Union works to outperform with utilities

UNION – During the late-2000s recession, a family-run trenching company aptly called Trench-It that began out of a home in unincorporated Crystal Lake nearly 20 years earlier dealt with growing pains.

By 2009, the family-run company outgrown its name, as Trench-It diversified operations to include utility design, installation and management services following years of digging ditches mainly for utility provider ComEd. Founder and CEO Loretta Rosenmayer had seen trenching work shrink from 100 percent of her business to 7 percent since she started Trench-It in 1988.

With diversified operations and increased business, the company had moved its headquarters a few years earlier to a larger, 46,000-square-foot building in rural Union.

But the downturn in the economy also forced cutbacks at Trench-It, and the company eventually laid off nearly 200 workers once the recession hit, Executive Vice President Matthew Turk recalled. As business changed and the economy lagged, employees “regrouped, reorganized the company and rebranded it,” he said.

Trench-It changed its name to INTREN, switched from a family-run company to a family-owned company and started looking for work outside of Illinois.

“We went to Iowa for a little job. We went to St. Louis for a little job. We started branching out. In 2010-11, when the economy came back – boom – our footprint was so big, we really quadrupled,” Turk said. “When it all came back, we already were in 10 more spots.”

With a renewed brand and expanded service area, INTREN since has experienced exponential growth. The success is one reason why McHenry County Economic Development Corp. last fall named INTREN a 2015 Business Champion for large employers.

INTREN now operates locations in seven states, performing construction, design, service and emergency response work for major utility companies across the country, municipalities and contractors.

The company employs 1,200 workers, a substantial increase from the roughly 320 people employed in the late 2000s. From 2012 to 2015 alone, INTREN’s revenue grew nearly 66 percent, going from $182.4 million to $303.4 million, according to company figures.

The changes at INTREN in the late 2000s were a major factor to the company’s national growth, said President Lance Rosenmayer, who started as a ditch digger for his mom, Loretta, in 1988 before moving up the company hierarchy.

“We got to the point where, as our customers’ needs changed, we changed,” Rosenmayer said. “When you go from a family-run company to a family-owned company, it’s tough because some don’t make the transition. It was a big change in the organization, but it really spurred our growth nationally.”

Since the recession, INTREN has worked on numerous multi-year projects for major utility companies, replacing aging manholes beneath downtown streets in Cincinnati, Ohio, and assisting ComEd – its first utility partner – with replacing hundreds of miles of underground cables for ComEd’s electric grid modernization.

INTREN recently reinvested in McHenry County primarily for the ComEd project, employing about 30 workers in a newly opened office in Woodstock. A key ingredient to INTREN's success is its longstanding relationship with ComEd, Rosenmayer said.

“We started out with Commonwealth Edison, and they were the ones who challenged us to always be better than who we were,” Rosenmayer said. “We all know the secret is were were trained by Commonwealth Edison. This company would not be what it is today if ComEd wasn’t our key supporter.”

INTREN took a proactive approach this past year with ComEd’s modernization program, suggesting ideas and working with municipalities on permits to help the Chicago area utility provider replace roughly 900 miles of underground cables in 2015, said Michelle Blaise, ComEd senior vice president for technical services.

The Union-based company typically has ideas ready for any project with ComEd. INTREN is known to make projects more efficient and even goes out of its way to mentor smaller subcontractors, positioning them for success, she said.

“We have a long history with INTREN. We’ve grown with them, and its been great to watch them grow and expand their business,” Blaise said. “The strength that INTREN brings to the table is their focus on safety, quality and innovation.”

INTREN’s reputation for quality work can be summed up in one word – stewardship. Rosenmayer said. It inspired INTREN’s slogan: Outperforming. Everyday.

Spearheaded by their founder and CEO, many INTREN employees are expected to become stewards outside of the workplace, as INTREN encourages its workers across seven states to donate time or money to community nonprofits, Rosenmayer said.

Pioneer Center for Human Services, the Raue Center for the Arts and nearly a dozen other organizations in McHenry County all have benefited from the company’s philosophy.

“If you really want to have a culture that is successful at caring, you have to carry it everywhere,” Rosenmayer said. “We make sure everyone understands they need to care for all three – employees, customers and community – to be successful.”