Henry Brown, CEO, Miller Electric Company

As a result of the growth of technology segments like datacenters and the rise of artificial intelligence, the demand for energy and the future of electrical companies are promising. “We’re in the growth age for electrical in the country,” Henry Brown, CEO of Miller Electric Company in Jacksonville, told Invest:.

What were the main highlights and key milestones for Miller Electric Company over the last year or two?

Over the last couple of years, our business has continued to grow here in Northeast Florida, throughout the entire state of Florida, and in the Southeast. We continue to work on major projects throughout Jacksonville for all the different hospitals and we are moving forward with a new expansion at the airport. 

We’re also looking forward to the renovation of the stadium for the Jaguars. Leading up to that stadium, as a pre-project, we completed the entire electrical and systems scope for the Jaguars’ football operations center, and we partnered with them to acquire the naming rights as the Miller Electric Center. This project is not only a showcase of our work, but also is representative of our core value of community and our commitment to invest in Jacksonville.

What is your overview of the electrical industry in North Florida?

Electrical continues to grow as both an overall part of construction projects and the overall built environment. We’re in the growth age for electrical in the country. We’re seeing that come to light in things like datacenter projects throughout the Southeast that require a lot of power. We don’t have many of those in Jacksonville, but we’re working on datacenters for clients elsewhere in Florida and throughout the Southeast. The key is for Jacksonville to position itself to be able to attract technology companies and AI companies. Other industries like fintech and medical technology companies are all using AI, which also drives electrical demand. 

The robustness of the electrical and construction industries is also driving the need for electrical workers. We are spending significant resources to develop our talent pipeline. We invest heavily in growing our workforce in Northeast Florida and across our footprint. Creating meaningful careers and economic opportunities for people from all backgrounds is an impactful part of our work.

Which industries or sectors do you expect to be the main drivers of growth?

Our two biggest industries are healthcare and datacenters. Healthcare demand, especially in Florida, is driven by demographics, the increase in population, and the amount of growth that we’ve had in terms of people moving to the Northeast as well as the aging population. That has been creating more demand within our healthcare system, making it a strong market for us. We’re the leading electrical contractor for healthcare in Florida. Building expertise in that market, understanding the needs of our healthcare clients, and then being able to serve those needs and help them in turn serve their clients has been a key driver of our growth. 

Secondly, datacenters. We’re the largest electrical contractor for data centers in the Southeast. And data centers are powering everything that we know in our economy today, from social media to online transactions. Of course, AI is driving data center growth, and we have positioned ourselves to capitalize on that and grow with that market.

A third piece is transportation, specifically the transition to electric vehicles in our economy. We’ve developed Miller EV solutions as our offering to be the leading installer of electric vehicle charging solutions, not only here in Northeast Florida but across the country. It is moving a little bit slower than what we originally anticipated, but we still see that as a significant growth opportunity. We’re here to help build out that charging infrastructure to be able to meet those needs.

What trends is Miller Electric observing in terms of the sustainability aspect of your work?

One of the big ways we play in sustainability is the electric vehicle transition, and helping transition our transportation economy from traditional fossil fuel-burning vehicles to electric vehicles that are much more sustainable and better for our environment. We play a big part in that by building out that infrastructure for EV charging. Here at our office, we have what we call the EVIDC, which is the Electric Vehicle Innovation Design Center, where we have all different types of chargers and different installations. We have a microgrid with solar and battery storage powering the chargers that allow people to charge with a much lower carbon footprint. We use that as a model to help show our clients what they can do at their sites in terms of building that sustainable charging infrastructure.

What are the primary challenges for Miller Electric and the overall electric sector? 

The supply chain challenges in our industry that resulted from the pandemic still exist. We’ve learned to work through that by partnering early with clients on early design and release orders early for the long lead items. By being more of a partner with those clients, we can use our purchasing power and the leverage we have with vendors to be able to expedite orders.

Overall, though, the No. 1 challenge in our industry is still the labor shortage – especially in Florida and the Southeast – and Jacksonville is at the center of that. The economy is strong, and the opportunities for construction, maintenance, and service in our industry are strong, having outpaced the workforce development in the sector. We’ve done a good job of combating that by recruiting at all levels. We start building awareness for opportunities in our industry as early as middle school. Our workforce team goes into middle schools, creating awareness of jobs in the electrical industry, and then follows those students through high school, working with sports coaches, working with organizations like Junior Achievement, and various other organizations for students to show them the opportunities in the trades, and specifically the electrical trade.

What will be the main priorities for Miller Electric over the next two to three years?

We will continue to grow our business in all major markets throughout Florida and the Southeast. In Jacksonville, we’re not only the largest electrical contractor, but we’re part of the fabric of the community. We’re invested in Jacksonville. We reinvest a lot of our profits back into Jacksonville, not only to grow the workforce but also through our charitable involvement. We want to continue to do that. We also want to take that to the other communities where we work. 

There are a lot of exciting things happening in Jacksonville. The main goal is to make sure that we’re a part of that, that we’re able to serve those clients, that we’re able to build those projects, and that we’re able to give back by continuing to grow that workforce and continuing to invest in our community and our economy for the long run.