“I think we knocked it out of the ballpark.”
So says Tyler Bowen, president, Rocky Mountain Electric (RME), headquartered in Meridian, ID. The ‘it’ is the partnership RME formed with Magic Valley Electric (MVE), Jerome, ID, in December 2024 and announced to the industry in January 2025. MVE CEO Billy Salts indicates the partnership is working well as the two companies were in alignment about why and how they made the move.
“We wanted to do it differently and really focus on employees — on their development and building leaders,” he says. “Tyler and I had to think outside the box, and we saw a huge opportunity to build something bigger and better together than we could do individually. It wasn’t just about size; it was more about capability and what we could do for our team members and for our customers.”
The Two Companies, Separately
When they began talking about this partnership mid-2024, both companies were strong and operating successfully in their respective markets. But Tyler and Billy each had a burning desire to do more.
Rocky Mountain Electric was founded in 1978 in Boise by Mike and Suzanne Delacy handling all sorts of electrical construction but focused mainly in commercial and industrial work. Tyler says RME has been a member of IEC since 1996, and personally he is still a member of the eighth IEC Forum Group ever formed. The company remains family owned and operated and also operates a location in Salt Lake City, UT.
Billy, who has been in the electrical industry for 26 years, founded Magic Valley Electric in 2013 with a focus on large-scale electrical projects and electrical service primarily within agricultural, industrial, commercial, solar, and automation. In addition, the company has an excavation department that supports the company. The company’s core values of attitude, integrity, character, vision, determination, and safety fuel its culture.
Tyler and Billy note each of their companies have about 200 employees. Company Idaho headquarters offices are about 125 miles apart and serve some of the highest populated areas of the state of Idaho.
“The Treasure Valley, Boise area, was kind of a little secret for a long time, but as everyone can read in every newspaper, that’s not the case now,” Tyler reports. “Our market was shifting with more people coming to town and we had to get a strategy together. That’s when Billy and I started to talk about providing more for our employees and we thought we could do that together better than alone.”
The Two Companies, Together
Tyler and Billy note that partnerships happen in the industry but it’s not as common among competing companies.
“Having that initial conversation is not always the easiest thing,” Billy remembers. “A lot of people don’t ever have that conversation based on ego or whatever it may be, but we soon saw how aligned we were. We both wanted what was best for our people and our customers, and it was clear that partnering was the right choice.”
Both leaders were energized by their conversations, spending their time talking about being sure this would be the right fit for everybody.
“It was important that we do it the right way, and considered all angles of how strategically and culturally we were going to bring these two companies together,” Billy adds.
“We didn’t want to change leadership; we didn’t want to change culture,” Tyler notes. “Change is tough for everyone, and we knew it would be tough for our employees. The right messaging was very important.”
That meant communicating to each and every employee that this partnership was formed so that each company could continue to grow, offer more to customers, and, most importantly, better take great care of their greatest resource — employees.
“We saw opportunities everywhere if we came together,” Billy says. “It gave us the ability to offer more to our employees, like building out roadmaps for their careers. For our customers, we would be able to do more complex projects by sharing resource teams, have stronger buying power, better systems, and more.”
Tyler notes because of their alignment on how best to do business, customers don’t feel any hiccups or feel like anything has changed for them if the company pulls in MVE employees to assist with RME projects.
“They get the same high level of service we’ve always offered,” Tyler says. “Everyone’s biggest concern now is manpower, especially in Idaho. Together, we’re getting invited to bigger dances because together we are 400 employees strong.”
In terms of employee benefits, the partnership has allowed both RME and MVE to offer 100 percent employee paid health insurance for employees and their families. This improvement is one of which Tyler and Billy are most proud.
“With our scale and our efficiency in the partnership, it allowed us to reinvest back into both companies,” Billy notes. “It was exciting to announce that we were going to be able to do 100 percent health insurance. That was a game changer. We really want to be the best place to work in the industry in this area and this is one way we can show it. We want our people to be happy; we want them to be here their entire career.”
“We also were able to up our 401K match, PTO time, bereavement pay,” Tyler adds. “Together, we are so much stronger and can offer much more for our employees. The main change our employees saw was better benefits, better things for them coming.”
To accomplish the partnership, they formed a parent company, or shared services structure, which is One Team Electrical Group. Rocky Mountain Electric and Magic Valley Electric operate as separate entities under One Team.
“One Team is the support mechanism,” Billy explains. “We can centralize certain things to help each company become more efficient. Areas like accounting, finance, HR, benefits, and safety.”
Both Tyler and Billy have been encouraged by employee engagement in the short time they’ve been operating together. They have seen cooperation and a willingness to reach out to one another across all aspects of the business. They credit incredible managers who reinforce daily why the partnership was formed in the first place.
“It’s been rewarding to see people leaning on those from the other company,” adds Tiffani Fisher, executive assistant at MVE. “It’s fun to hear someone say, I’m going to call the estimator at RME, because he knows more about these types of projects. As we’ve facilitated team bonding events and trainings, people have learned of someone from the other company with additional skills they can benefit from, and now we’re leaning on that.”
Tyler and Billy agree. For example, Tyler mentions that MVE has a solar division and a lot more agriculture experience than RME.
“We rely heavily on them,” Tyler says. “They have a panel shop and automation division so we can use their resources and learn from them. It’s pretty seamless when we come together. That has been a lot of fun.”
The three add that similar interactions are happening in the office as well as with field teams where they look to each other’s strengths with job descriptions, policies, or marketing and work together for the benefit of all.
What’s Ahead?
While appreciative that their hard work to come together seems to be working for all in this short year-and-a-half partnership, Tyler and Billy know they have to continue to work hard at this venture. They need to build upon the current culture, stay accountable to their employees, and execute on company growth for both RME and MVE that was expected by forming the partnership.
“From the beginning, we wanted the partnership to be a value add to each company,” Billy says. “Coming together was about protecting each other’s identify and we didn’t want to lose what made each company special. We wanted to bring relationships together and empower each other and learn from each other. This is our livelihoods; these companies are our babies!”
“There could be other companies that can partner up with us in the future, but they have to really align with our values, our morals,” Tyler shares. “The leaders have to align, the culture has to be very similar, and you have to believe in your employees. This is very important to us. It’s not just to make more money or grow quickly. We have to be true partners.”
Tyler and Billy say think about the people first; that’s what matters most. The rest will follow.