Family Electrical Business Heading Toward Third Decade

As new technologies used to keep buildings secure, heated and powered continue to emerge, Lynnfield-based is one company that is poised to benefit.

The company, founded in 1985 by Paul Guarracino, specializes in traditional areas such as fire alarms and surveillance cameras, but also now finds itself increasingly handling projects that call for solar panels and intelligent building technologies that help maximize energy efficiency.

Guarracino is a mechanical engineer who honed his skills and industry knowledge working for a nationally known company for 13 years. J.M. Electrical has been based in Lynnfield throughout its history, and Guarracino's three sons have joined him in helping to run the company. Along with his work at J.M. Electrical, Guarracino was recently .

He is also a former president of the Lynnfield Rotary and is a Paul Harris fellow with the organization in recognition of his community service. One nonprofit that J.M. Electrical has been particularly active in supporting is the St. Jude's Children's Hospital, including its Fitness For A Cure and Dress For Success events. Guarracino reports that his parents were also strong supporters of St. Jude's.

Given the advances in technology over the past several decades, employees at J.M. have had to keep up with their industry. Guarracino reports that the company has ISO 9001 certification and is certified by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners for designing and installing solar energy arrays. The company's founder adds tha the company's electricians also complete a five-year training program that exceeds state requirements by 2,000 hours.

Other clean energy applications the company works with are vehicle recharging stations and programmable thermostats that can help to significantly reduce a building's energy consumption. Clients include colleges, schools and hospitals, as well as other businesses, primarily located in Southern New England.

"We have done jobs multiple times for changing technology over 26 years," said Guarracino.

Looking ahead, the clean energy sector is likely to continue growing significantly notes Guarracino, especially now that gasoline has once again become so expensive.

The region's economy also appears to be showing some renewed momentum, said Guarracino, which also bodes well for J.M. Electrical. "We're seeing a lot of revitalization in the construction industry now in both commercial office and biotech," he reported. adding that many customers are now actually building their own spaces as opposed to renting. "Renting is still flat," he added, citing the availability of plenty of space in Boston.