Today we're starting a new series on Pendant's unsung heroes in our Panel Shop.

We build our own control panels in a shop right next door to our main office in Havre de Grace, Maryland. The panel shop crew are the members of our team whose jobs cannot be done remotely. They have to be here to be productive.

You might wonder why we build our own panels when there are 3rd party panel shops available to whom we could outsource that part of our projects. You may be thinking I'm going to brag on the quality and the professional look of what we produce, and you would be correct that we are proud of the product. But let's be real - few of our clients really think of those as qualities unique to Pendant. Those things are what I call "table stakes" - you cannot even be in the game if you don't have the ability to product high quality, sharp looking panels. What our clients really care about is that they do what they are supposed to do, and that the panels are on site on time to begin the electrical installation of the new system. In many ways, it's an unfair position to be in for the panel shop crew. They are almost like the closer in baseball - if he does his job well, it's what he was supposed to do. But mess it up? Ouch.

The ability to control the schedule is the number one reason we build panels with our people and in our shop. We know that nobody is going to care more about meeting the schedule than our team. We also know that we have the full view of our clients' schedules and the work we have to get done, so nobody will have a better idea of what needs to be done if the schedule gets tight. Build it well and get it out on time are the guiding principles for our shop team.

So, the bottom line is our guys in the shop do a great job, and they are all business when it comes to executing projects.

But this post isn't about that. This initial post in the series is about what makes the panel shop the key contributor to the cohesiveness of our team.

If you've never been in a panel shop, it's basically a wide open space with high ceilings, a few panel-building stations, some storage racks and cabinets, a bunch of wire spools hanging on the wall, and in our case an upstairs with a small conference room, an office, and a small CNC engraver for producing tags and labels. Ours also has a rest room. In short, nothing too exciting.

But somehow, this space for Pendant is a spot to which most, if not all, of our team meanders at some point during the day to take a break, clear their head, get a snack (for me it's peanuts in the shell), or answer the call of nature if our other two rest rooms are occupied.

I'm not sure why it's a near-universal interlude for our team members, but I can speculate, and it starts with the people.

Our panel shop crew is an amiable bunch, who manage to stay highly productive despite what must be numerous such infiltrations of their space. They can engage in the goofiest of conversations, but can also handle deadly serious topics with equal confidence.

Brad, our Director of Production, leads the charge and knows a little about a lot of things, and a lot about a few things. Go out into the town of Havre de Grace with him, and you'll walk away convinced he's the Mayor. Want some ideas for a great recipe, he's your man. Feel like talking Ravens or Orioles? Head on over. He'll play real golf, disc golf, cornhole, or Kan-Jam (the dumbest game ever invented) if you're so inclined. He's a great Dad, and an equally great friend. No conversation is too intellectual nor too degenerate. If you need a meme, he's an encyclopedia. Same with a video pertinent to the moment. In short, a fun guy who knows his stuff. If you're lucky, you might run into him on a project site where modifications to existing panels may be required.

We'll be writing more about all of our panel shop crew over time, but other team members like Bill and Crowe add color in their own way as well. Bill can talk workouts at the gym, general health and fitness, and stock investing amongst other topics. He also mostly controls the musical selection in the shop, and don't be surprised to hear Bach one day, Tech N9ne the next, and In This Moment the next. Crowe is the resident expert on the NBA as well as a source of some of the wildest personal anecdotes you will ever hear. And if you were a squirrel looking to invade the shop, you'd want to watch out for Crowe. squirrel blog post

All the while, you're likely to find yours truly shelling peanuts and munching away at least a couple of times a day. And thinking how fortunate I am to have this group of friends with whom to work, while also being able to count on them to deliver on what Pendant promises with such consistency and proficiency.

Want to see for yourself? Contact us here.