Sherman+Reilly acquired in merger, continuing Chattanooga operations

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – A local utility company that’s been around for nearly a century announced a big change on Tuesday.

Sherman+Reilly have been making products for utility companies across the country here in Chattanooga since 1927.

They have been a part of Chattanooga’s economic history, being based where the Tennessee Aquarium sits now until they moved to their current Alton Park location in the 1970s.

However, they announced Tuesday they are moving forward from being a locally owned company, but that doesn’t mean they are leaving Chattanooga.

They have been acquired by Quanta Services, based in Houston, which is one of the largest companies that service the broad energy industry.

Sherman+Reilly manufactures transmission and distribution equipment for hundreds of electric utility companies across the country.

Sherman+Reilly’s CEO David Ring said, “We’re a leader in the straining equipment business which is used by electrical utilities when they hang their power lines.”

Ring says that Sherman+Reilly’s ability to continue providing products for utility companies across the country will only be enhanced by this merger.

He said, “The number one thing that we really focus on is the safety of our products. We have a real commitment to bring linemen home… [We’re] Really building out our product line in terms of product offering and we’ll have great resources from Quanta in terms of subject matter experts and those that can really help us understand their environment and we can tailor our products to their specific needs.”

Ring says that the manufacturer, which currently has 110 employees, is planned to grow as they expand operations.

He said, “I would expect, and again this is just a wild projection, but over the next three to five years there’ll be substantial growth in the facility here, and possibly elsewhere because they are a company that is distributed across the US so I can see us opening offices elsewhere just to service local customers but certainly we will see growth over the next three to five years.”

Locally, some of their main customers include TVA, as some of the equipment to maintain those high-tension power lines come from Sherman and Reilly.