• Posted: June 30, 2021
• better construction, Kelso-Burnett, NECA 2019 Las Vegas, NECA Project Excellence Awards, Newport Industries, Rivers Casino, Rock & Roll McDonald’s, Stefan Lopata

 

One of the benefits of working with Newport Industries is that they’re a one-stop-shop. Customers can receive fire alarm services, fire pump testing, monitoring, and more all on one invoice. One of the companies under the Newport Industries name is Kelso-Burnett, a 115-year-old Chicago-area electrical contractor. Founded by Jim Kelso and Oliver Burnet, Kelso-Burnett is one of eight other companies that are owned by Newport Industries. 

As the company has grown, so has the number of support staff needed to keep the company running. Kelso-Burnett currently employs about 137 office employees that own the company and about 500 union electricians. Though Kelso-Burnett started in the city of Chicago, they’ve expanded to do work in Rockford, Gurnee, Rolling Meadows, and even in Southeastern Wisconsin.

When asked about the key to Kelso-Burnett’s success over the years, the CEO of Newport Industries, Stefan Lopata was quick to answer.

“I think it’s because we’re an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) company. Because we plan very hard, very well for our succession planning so we make sure that there’s an easy transition and that the goals are all the same. I believe that that’s extremely important for the company and it’s proven to be very successful.” 

Newport Industries is continuously evolving with the industry trends and always looking for opportunities to diversify and uphold their fiduciary responsibility to their employees/owners. 

“We look at different niche markets. We have a utility group that does solar and utility, they do fossil fuel, we’ve been doing coal-burning plants in the 50s,” said Lopata. 

Currently, one of the larger projects that Kelso-Burnett has is a $10 million expansion at Rivers Casino. 

“The biggest challenges went away. Because when we built it the first time, the 50,000 square foot gambling floor was on water,” said Lopata. “Now the laws changed, you don’t have to do that but that allowed the expansion, that you didn’t have to have it on water anymore. So that will work very well.” 

The Rivers Casino project is a great example of Newport Industries coming together to serve customers in a number of ways. Newport Industries company KB Advanced Technologies is working with Kelso-Burnett and CONTECH is doing the fire alarm. 

When it comes to the company’s longevity, Lopata acknowledges that there are many benefits to being in the electrical business for more than a century. 

“There are so many different facets to the electrical industry that the learning curve is long. And once you’re in, that knowledge is passed down generationally.”