Page 28 - BusinessWest September 1, 2025

“I envision it
as creating
opportunities
for people in
the technology
space. If they’re
operating the
robots, they get
a little higher-
tech job, and it’s
much easier than
the backbreaking
work they were
doing before.”
continued, “we do all the programming, we do all the testing here,
and then we take it to their site, install it, and then train their opera-
tors. We do the whole thing.”
While there has always been negative talk about robots replac-
ing workers, Holmberg said this technology can be a positive for
both employers and employees.
“Automation sometimes can be a taboo thing because people say,
‘well, it’s eliminating jobs.’ But in some cases, it’s creating opportu-
nities for clients that can’t find laborers to do the work anymore. So
in some instances, without automation, they’re not going to survive
because they can’t do the work. This allows companies to be able
to differentiate themselves and do things less expensively because
they can do things faster. This doesn’t take a break, doesn’t go home
sick, it doesn’t do any of that stuff because it’s running all the time.
“But I also look at it as an advancement for the employee,” he
went on. “If I’m the employee that was doing that tedious task of
picking something up and placing the round peg in the round hole
all day long, now I get to operate the robot that’s doing that. And
maybe I’m operating several robots. So I’m able to achieve a higher
value at a job by learning the robotics, learning those skills, and
now I have a much different career.
“So I envision it as creating opportunities for people in the tech-
nology space,” he added. “If they’re operating the robots, they get
a little higher-tech job, and it’s much easier than the backbreaking
work they were doing before.”
Complete Package
Holmberg explained that Elm Electrical has long operated as a
four-legged stool, so to speak — its construction division (the main
business, which launched the company), an automation group, a
service group that provides 24/7 support service for companies,
and its control panel business.
“So, ideally, we like to sell a solution that has all four of the legs
in the stool. If we can sell an automation solution where we get the
after-market support service, that’s great. If we can do our installa-
tion, our construction group can install it and put it in place. And if
it has control panels in it, now we’ve sold all four legs of the stool.
That’s what we try to do.”
Most electrical contractors don’t offer all four niches, he added.
“Typically, they would have the service business unit and the con-
tracting division, but they don’t have a panel shop where they build
the control panels; they would typically farm that work out. And
most integrators doing the automation work like we do, that’s all
they do, and they would hire an electrical contractor to do the
installation. So it’s rare to find somebody that has all four legs and
be able to supply that complete turnkey solution.”
While automation is a growth industry, he added, it also requires
significant investment up front, which can be a challenge for poten-
tial clients.
“There’s not a manufacturing facility that can’t leverage automa-
tion. They want to do something to make their job easier and to
make their products faster. They want to open up capacity. They
want to make it higher-quality. Now, whether or not they can afford
to do that is the next question. Do they have the capital to do that?
That’s an investment.”
He acknowledged that further growth is complicated by uncer-
tainty in manufacturing around the economy, tariff impacts, and
other factors, but the overall potential remains.
“I feel like automation is a place to be. Think about it — today,
everybody wants something now, they want it tomorrow, they don’t
want to wait. You can order something on Amazon, and it’s deliv-
ered that day,” Holmberg said. “That mindset means you’ve got to
build it faster, you’ve got to have it ready faster — and all that is
going to take automation.”
At the end of the day, he told BusinessWest, “we want to help
customers solve their problems. That’s what we hope to do. We
want to develop solutions. That’s the business we’re in — developing
solutions and helping customers solve a problem.”
And those customers aren’t choosing from pre-designed models,
he added. “Everything we do is custom. We develop it for you. It
ends up being your solution for your project. So we like to be a part-
ner with our clients. That’s how we get more work — by doing good
things for good people.” BW
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SEPTEMBER 1, 2025
Business W est