George Grieb grew tired of watching Lawrence’s construction market slow, his regulatory costs increase and his business’ growth potential shrink.

This year he finally decided to do something about it.

“I looked ahead and decided, if we’re going to survive and stay in Lawrence – which is a great place to be – we’re going to have to get into some different businesses,” said Grieb, president and owner of Lynn Electric Inc.

Now Grieb, who bought the company six years ago after working there five years as an electrician, is adding employees, filling out a new building and expanding into new markets for security, preventative maintenance and high-speed data service.

He considers the moves essential if he is to remain a strong player in a market that has taken some hits.

“I wanted to get rid of the peaks and valleys of the construction markets,” Grieb said. “We all know, in Lawrence, that the construction boom is coming to an end.”

That’s why Grieb has added two new divisions to work alongside his electrical contracting operation:

¢ Lynn Electric Communications, which installs systems for building security, video surveillance, audio-visual equipment, fire alarms, telephone service and data networking for industrial, commercial and residential customers.

¢ Tegg Services, a licensed division that uses high-tech equipment – such as infrared cameras – to detect potential problems in critical equipment so that repairs can be made before they shut down.

Together, the two new divisions already have added eight employees to a company that started the year with 21, and Grieb has plans to hire another salesperson to help boost business.

Tegg Services already has checked out and handled preventative maintenance at a Caterpillar plant in Wamego, West Junior High School in Lawrence and Lawrence’s Wastewater Treatment Plant.

“It’s for critical power needs – where if it shuts down, it costs money or it’s not safe,” Grieb said. “In the mid-’90s, when everything was booming, it was, ‘Let’s put all new (stuff) in.’ Now it’s more about taking care of what you have.”

The communications division already has hooked up a bar surveillance system for The Hawk, a fire alarm system for Kansas University Law School and high-speed data lines for the football offices of head coach Mark Mangino and others in the Kansas University Athletics Department.

“They like to be at the top of technology over at KU,” said Ryan Kruse, general manager for Lynn Electric Communications. “We hope to be able to do a lot more.”

The company’s three divisions are operating at 1849 E. 1450 Road, at the edge of North Lawrence, with electricians and others fanning out to work sites from Manhattan to the Kansas City area. The 9,800-square-foot building is nearly twice the size of Lynn Electric’s old shop in southeast Lawrence, and the resulting move and additional lines of business ended up being a $500,000 investment for Grieb.

The moves have led to a “modest” increase in business thus far, he said, but he figures that sales should increase by up to 25 percent in 2006.

“It’s a major risk, but it’s starting to pay off,” Grieb said Tuesday, walking through his shop. “We decided we wanted to stay in Lawrence, instead of going someplace else. Our roots are here and we have some great repeat customers here. : It is going to take some time.”