#FeaturedProject
Norco HS Baseball Field Lighting

Highlighting our customer's projects is one of our favorite things to do in our newsletter. And this project is just too cool not to share. At Norco High School in Norco, we provided a new sports lighting system for the varsity baseball field which included 8 new Musco poles, a new electrical backbone, and a new control cabinet.

This project sounds simple enough but came with a few obstacles we needed to overcome. First was getting the electrical conduits out to the new pole locations without damaging the field. Directional boring ended up being the best way to get the conduit installed with limited disruption to the site.

Once we were able to get the conduit to the correct location, we were then challenged with obtaining the required new panelboard in time to meet the schedule. Material shortages put the estimated ship date for the panelboard six months after the project was scheduled to be completed.

After an in-depth site evaluation, we came up with a plan to eliminate the need for the required panelboard by pulling new feeder wire and installing a new, larger main breaker in an existing panelboard. Once the plan was approved by the engineer, we jumped into action and completed the project.

We would like to give a special thanks again to Alex with TTS Engineering Inc. for going above and beyond to help us out on this project, their additional support was integral to our success.

Owner: Corona-Norco Unified School District
Estimator: Patrick Howard; Foreman: Jason Vonmoos; Crew Size: 2-4

This was our Foreman, Jason's, first project working with Musco lighting. We could have easily had a more experienced Foreman on this project, but instead we brought in our veteran Foreman, Wayne, for the day to provide guidance on the day the poles were received and assembly began. Now Jason is experienced and can take on any future Musco lighting projects.

Foreman Jason and Electrician Warren did a great job keeping this project moving forward safely and with little impact to the site.

#FeaturedProject
Little Lakes Elementary

Let us introduce you to our latest #FeaturedProject, Little Lakes includes the modernization of an existing elementary school campus in Hemet. We will be adding 2 new buildings, relocating 12 existing portable classrooms, adding a portable restroom building, and upgrading the supporting electrical backbone for the entire campus. The school is completely closed and the project is on a tight timeline. We are working in 6 separate buildings plus doing site work at the same time. Trade coordination and organization is key to stay on schedule in multiple areas at once and Construction Manager Erickson-Hall has done an exceptional job of bringing the trades together and keeping them on the same page.

Foreman Mike Glancy, Leadman Erich, and crew are doing an excellent job staying on top of the tasks being completed throughout the site. The installation of our prefabricated assemblies is helping push the production averages and limit the time needed in each area. Alex with TTS Engineering Inc. always ensures they are onsite every time we need them for our underground needs, even if we are tying them up on other projects.

Little Lake has been the trial job for multiple new in-house prefab processes. Prefab Manager Troy and Foreman Mike have worked together to come up with some new, creative prefab opportunities. Mike has been providing much needed feedback from the field allowing us to adjust the prefab assemblies before they get shipped out. We are eager to see how the new prefab assemblies increase our productivity.

Owner: Hemet Unified School District
Estimator: Patrick Howard; Project Manager: Roger Hernandez; Foreman: Mike Glancy; Crew Size: 4-10

#FeaturedProject
Soboba Horseshoe Travel Center

We are finishing out the year with a different type of project than you are used to seeing for our #FeaturedProject. Take a look at the brand new, built-from-the-ground-up convenience store and fueling station we are completing for Soboba Economic Development Corporation. This is our second project with W.E. O'Neil. We are not completing the electrical on the fueling system but we are including new utility connections.

This project had such an aggressive schedule that we had to begin underground work without having a completed design from the fueling contractor. To add fuel to the fire, some additional last-minute changes were made and the scope was adjusted yet our Champion team was still able to complete everything and kept the project moving within the schedule.

The Soboba project has been Andrew Cruz's first deep underground project as a Foreman. He has stepped up to the challenge, thanks to the support of Field Superintendent, Anthony, and got the electrical room knocked out, navigated So-Cal Edison's requirements for the new utility connections, and all underground conduits ended up right where they needed to be. Foreman Andrew Cruz and his crew's work has been super clean, and coordination with other trades and the fueling contractor has been going great. Nice work team!

Owner: Soboba Economic Development Corporation
Estimator: Mike McMullen; Project Manager: Roger Hernandez; Foreman: Andrew Cruz; Crew Size: 2-4

Rough Stage Update

In our last newsletter, we introduced the Soboba Horseshoe Travel Center, a brand-new, built-from-the-ground-up convenience store and fueling station we are completing for Soboba Economic Development Corporation. Progress is going well, and we have just entered the "rough" stage of the project. We are starting to pull branch wire as well as preparing for fixtures and trim. Foreman Andrew’s underground layout was spot-on, making it easy to transition to the rough stage. We are also starting to work on the site lighting with our underground subcontractor, TTS Engineering, while the other trades are catching up in the building.

The aggressive schedule continues to not be a problem for our team. We even prefabricate some of the panel boards and gutters to cut install time down in the field. It’s been a great experience teaming up with W.E. O’Neil on this project. Everyone is working extremely well with each other. We can't wait to check back in on this project.

New Coding System

Soboba is the first project to implement Champion’s new Conduit Color Coding System which allows us to give better feedback to Estimating once the project is complete. It also helps with future maintenance, making it easier to track circuits down and make changes.

Featured in 2021 Wrap-up Newsletter

#FeaturedProject
Crafton Hills College Exterior Lighting

When we saw the opportunity from San Bernardino College District to make their Crafton Hills College Campus a brighter and safer campus, we jumped right on it. For this project, we were tasked to retrofit approximately 271 non-LED fixtures and add new wireless controls, as well as retrofit another 189 fixtures with just new controls. Upgrading existing electrical to today’s technological advancements can be difficult, but we were up to the challenge. That is why we selected this project as this quarter’s #FeaturedProject.

Installing that many fixtures and controls is no problem for us, but changing that many different styles of fixtures to LEDs and adding wireless controls all while preserving the external look of the fixture took an incredible amount of effort. We had the right man on the job. Our Foreman, Jonathon Novoa, did an exceptionally thorough job of tracking each module, labeling, and grouping the controls in site-specific boxes. His pre-planning of the controls made the install simpler and minimized errors. It will also help troubleshooting fixtures in the future.

The biggest challenge we overcame was mounting the antenna and module to the Louis Poulsen fixture. We worked hand-in-hand with the owner, manufacturer, and the design team to rectify the unforeseen fixture compatibility issues. Our team was able to provide a solution by creating a “mockup model” fabricating a bracket to mount the module and drill the tenon to install the antenna. We took our time to do the job right and find a lasting solution.

This project, while time-consuming, is another successfully completed #FeaturedProject. Job well done, team!

Owner: San Bernardino Community College District
Estimator: Patrick Howard; Project Manager: Roger Hernandez;
Foreman: Johnathan Novoa; Crew Size: 2-4
Featured in Summer 2021 Newsletter
Light fixture photos above: left - before, middle, during retrofit, right - after; fixture #432

#FeaturedProject
Olita Elementary School HVAC & Roof Replacement

Olita Elementary School in La Habra was built in 1959, so it was no surprise that it was time for some upgrades. We jumped at the chance to get this school running more efficiently by providing electrical for new HVAC and work required to facilitate re-roofing. This required the replacement of some existing electrical panels and feeders. We also installed seismic bracing for the existing light fixtures to increase safety.

This quarter’s #FeaturedProject had an HVAC system and roof that had served the school well but were in need of replacement. When working on a building of that age, many unforeseen issues could come up. However, there were no real challenges that weren't handled on site by our veteran Foreman who can handle anything.

Why is this our #FeaturedProject? Well, our General Contractor, Erickson Hall Construction, and Owner, Lowell Joint School District, were so impressed with our performance on this project that they put us to work on another school in the district, doing the same scope. Great job to our Foreman, Wayne Ridder!

GC/CM: Erickson Hall Construction
Estimator: Randy Robison; Project Manager: Troy Reeves; Foreman: Wayne Ridder; Crew Size: 2
Featured in Spring 2021 Newsletter

#FeaturedProject
Outlier Coffee - Phoenix, Arizona

The Outlier Coffee project entailed transforming a 4,482 square foot empty unit into a coffee shop. This tenant improvement required mechanical plumbing and electrical upgrades to support the needs of the new tenants. Champion had the opportunity to bid this project because of our existing relationship with Jokake Construction and our Las Encinas Psychiatric Hospital project we are currently working on in Pasadena. We have completed many tenant improvements throughout the years but this is our first of many in Arizona. We are grateful for the opportunity to show Arizona a sip of our work.

This project required new lighting, power, and AC units that were tied into existing electrical panels. The existing panels we used to feed the new lighting and power were located on the other side of a finished stairwell and two finished restrooms. In order to eliminate the need to cut open the existing finished ceiling, Foreman Carlos Bencomo and Journeyman Ivan Valdez investigated the existing electrical conduit system and found alternative pathways, saving time and repair costs for the owner.

Carlos and Ivan did a great job on this project. They were able to identify problems and get ahead of them to keep the project on track. A challenge they encountered halfway through the project was COVID-19, which caused the owner to halt the project for two months. Once it was safe, our team returned with enhanced PPE and completed the project.

Service Manager Evan Banda and President Tom Rowden provided additional support from our home office in California, keeping the Project Manager well-informed of the project's status through numerous visits.

We are proud of our team and the results of this project. Great job to everyone involved! Special thanks to Will Larza with CED Phoenix for providing the lighting for the project.

GC/CM: Jokake Construction
Estimator: Tom Rowden; Project Manager: Kevin Shearer; Foreman: Carlos Bencomo; Crew Size: 2
3rd Quarter 2020 #FeaturedProject Article

#FeaturedProject
Phoenix Services

Phoenix Services is a commercial metals company that runs an Electric Arc Furnace steel mill in Rancho Cucamonga. Champion Electric's Account Manager, Gene Barnhurst, designed and built their entire electrical system over the course of many years. Tony from Phoenix Services was kind enough to take us on a tour of the work we have completed. Take a look!

2nd Quarter 2020 #FeaturedProject Article