Jon Pollock

Jon was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. He received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Washington University in 1968 and began working for a large mid-western based contractor. In ten years, Jon became a Vice President and Branch Manager of their Houston office. When asked to return to St. Louis, he resigned from the firm in order to remain in Texas. The next five years were spent with a local electrical contractor, where he rose to the position of Vice President.

In 1983, Jon founded Pollock Electric, with one job and three employees. During Houston's most challenging economic period, his firm grew into a multi-million dollar organization. The company provided all types of electrical services ranging from inspections and one-man emergency calls to high-rise design and build projects. Total billings in 1997 exceeded $20 million.

On January 27, 1998, Jon brought together Pollock Electric and 15 other firms throughout the country to consolidate the electrical contracting industry. The new firm known as Integrated Electrical Services (IES) went public on the New York Stock Exchange. Pollock has served as CEO and Vice Chairman of the Board for this innovative organization. On day one, IES was just over $300 million a year in size. Less than three years later, the company grew to 80+ firms and did over $1.6 billion in revenues, becoming one of the largest electrical contractors in the country. Jon retired from IES in 2002 to pursue other interests.

Recognizing a continuing need to develop people, Jon co-founded Innovative Leadership Partners. This organization offered a variety of programs designed to help both people and companies grow. More than 600 leaders from around the country have completed one of the Leadership Development courses. Presently Jon provides facilitation and consulting services to a variety of companies and coaching to individual leaders. He also has become a popular national speaker discussing among other topics, his experience in going public.

After consulting with Methodist Hospital on their $109 million flood restoration, Jon realized how much he missed the electrical contracting industry. In 2003, just after a non-compete expired, Jon started his third company, Trio Electric from scratch. This firm has grown extraordinarily well and has become a major Houston electrical firm doing approximately $60 million annually. After 11 years Jon retired for the second time and sold the business to his son Beau Pollock.

Mr. Pollock is a Registered Professional Engineer in Texas and several other states. He has served on the Houston Electrical Board and is past National President of the Independent Electrical Contractors association (IEC). This organization selected Jon as their “Electrical Man of the Year” in 1996. Jon is past President of the Texas State IEC as well as the Houston Chapter.

In addition, Jon has served on the American Subcontractors Association Board and represented the electrical industry on the Associated General Contractors Advisory Board. In 1997, he founded the Houston Workforce Coalition, which has combined the resources of a number of construction companies to find, train and retain employees for all facets of the construction industry. He has served on the Houston Holocaust Board and several other boards as well.

After many years of writing for journals and industry magazines, “Questions for Kids” is his first published book.