It’s all about looking ahead at Electrical Systems of Maine where both commercial and residential customers can count on expert work for efficiency and safety.

For more than 25 years, ESM has helped businesses and homeowners with dependable electrical design work and installations both large and small.

David Tassinari, founder and president, and his son, Matt, who is the firm’s corporate financial officer, head a full-service company that began in the family’s garage. The company grew and moved on through several Auburn locations. In the early days, they worked from a chicken barn near the Hartt’s Transportation Systems terminal on Hotel Road and ESM once operated out of the Washington Street building formerly occupied by the WBLM radio station.

As the company expanded, David bought a 24,000-square-foot facility located on Minot Avenue in January of 2007 and immediately began a total remodeling project there.

The building continues to serve the company well, Matt commented. The facility has bright and attractive offices, a large conference room and a reception area at the front. The spacious shop and warehouse at the rear provide 18,000 square feet of wide-open working space.

The business operates completely under one roof. Warehousing was formerly located at a separate location from the main offices.

With that small-scale beginning, ESM has steadily expanded while maintaining its reputation one job at a time on projects ranging from hospitals and manufacturing facilities to commercial buildings and high-end residential homes.

The firm provides a full range of electrical contracting services with cutting-edge options related to energy efficiency, safety and economy for its customers.

“A customer comes to us and gets the full package,” Matt said, explaining that the firm is ready and able to do wiring work and generator installation in older homes as well as new construction.

“It could be anything from a light switch or a whole house, or a residential stand-by generator system,” Matt said.

ESM is a major distributor in the area for Generac stand-by electrical generator systems. ESM installed 50 generators last year. With that kind of demand, the best time to install a stand-by generator is spring and summer, Matt said.

Noting that many Mainers were caught off-guard by the Christmas ice storm this past winter, he said it was a special pleasure when several of those customers called to thank the ESM team for providing back-up power to handle just such emergencies.

Other major electrical projects completed in 2013 include the new police station in Brunswick, an addition to the manufacturing space at Auburn Manufacturing, Bates Mill Apartment Complex, Southern Maine Community Collage extension in Brunswick and electrical renovations for the Falmouth Middle School.

Matt described a recent retrofit they did of parking lot lighting at Whited Truck and RV Center in Auburn. The new LED lighting resulted in reduced wattage and the pay-back period for the installation is just three years, he said. The improved lighting is accomplished with fewer fixtures that provide more light, and the life span of the modern light units can be as much as 22 years.

“The future is going to be LED lighting,” Matt said.

ESM’s services include engineering and design, control panel manufacturing, project management, maintenance and service, fire alarm systems, phone and data wiring and thermal imaging.

The ESM team has total experience of more than 100 years of combined work in the field.

Craig Norcross, operations manager, has been with ESM for 22 years. Steve McGuire, senior estimator, has 14 years of service, Michelle Fournier, office manager, has been with the company for eight years, and Nolan Meunier, senior project manager, has been at ESM for four years.

Matt said the current ESM work force numbers 31, with 24 of them in the field. Others are office personnel and project managers. He said more employees may be added soon.

Going forward into 2014 looks to be a great year for ESM. They have a good backlog of projects ranging from residential generator installations to large industrial projects such as pavement plant electrical upgrades to computerized shipping systems.

Electrical Systems of Maine is at 1200 Minot Ave., Auburn. The office can be reached at 207-783-7126.