Partner Spotlight: Behrent Engineering Company
Slip-forming a concrete silo. Design and photo courtesy of Behrent Engineering Company.
Editor’s note: From time to time, we feature valued business partners and vendors on the UCEC blog. Today, we’re pleased to introduce you to Behrent Engineering Company.
By Mark Inboden
UCEC enjoys a rewarding professional relationship with Behrent Engineering Company. Based in Lakewood, CO, Behrent provides engineering and design services to industries such as aggregates, cement, food and beverage, mining, manufacturing, and energy. They have been in business since 1962.
Behrent is a full-service engineering firm, so when UCEC works with Behrent on a panel system design, the end user is a Behrent client. Our two organizations have worked together for decades, predating my arrival at UCEC more than 14 years ago. Behrent Principal Electrical Engineer (and past president), Terry Shelander, helpfully supplied some background information about the firm.
“Our motto is: ‘When it has to work,’” Terry says. “Our company culture recognizes that our projects and plans have to serve the client, and it has to work correctly.”
Terry says Behrent sets itself apart from other firms because of its many senior licensed engineers who are credentialed in 32 states and provinces. “Behrent has a breadth of experience with engineers who have worked many types of projects in various industries, and we have in-depth knowledge of national codes, standards and construction practices” he says.
My favorite recent Behrent story concerns the upgrade to a plant boiler control panel for one of their clients. This was a large industrial boiler, seven stories tall and 450,000 pounds per hour steaming capacity. Using Behrent’s designs, we built large PLC panels to replace both the obsolete flame-safety controls and the combustion controls. The completed panels were tested by the Behrent engineers and the client representatives here in our shop. The resulting on-site start up was efficient and on schedule. Quite frankly, one old panel was a mess to look at:
Other engineering companies may have been intimidated by the panel, but Behrent knew that by partnering with UCEC a modern replacement could be fabricated that could maximize the re-use of the existing field-wiring:
Quite a difference, right?
Another time, we worked on a project to get a cement plant up and running that was damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Behrent designed a portable building and control panels. UCEC wired and assembled it in our parking lot. It was trucked down to New Orleans, and a crane then placed it on the side of the cement plant building three stories above the river. Before the hurricane, all the controls were in the building basement, so Behrent designed a "flood proof" control center that extended high above the river. Both Behrent and UCEC did a super quick turn on this, as it was vital to get the cement plant going since it would be needed for the rebuilding of New Orleans.
At UCEC, we try to surround ourselves with other professionals who are high performers. With the long history between UCEC and Behrent Engineering Company, I know that we’re working with a like-minded partner, and I hope our success together continues for many more decades.
“UCEC is incredibly welcoming when our engineers stop by the shop. UCEC’s open-door policy has made them very easy to work with over the years.”
Our partners help us succeed each and every day. From time to time, I’ll share additional partner success stories in this space. Thank you for visiting the UCEC blog, and if we can help you in any way, please reach out.
Mark is President and CEO of UCEC. Want to know more about UCEC? Sign up to receive our blog posts by email.