By Pete Soyer
Tempo Electric started in 1976 when three people decided to put together a partnership. Tempo Electric now employs about 23 people and has Spectrum Computer and Sound as a subsidiary.
In its next major progression, on July 1, Tempo Electric became part of EnSource Energy Services Inc.
EnSource is a Canadian company based in Calgary, Alberta, that supplies products and services to oil, gas and distributed power generation markets. Tempo Electric was part of $7 million acquisition of three companies by EnSource, involving $5.3 million in cash and 247,125 common shares of the company.
Tempo Electric is now part of EnSource subsidiary Syndicated Technologies Ltd., known as Syntech. Syntech is the largest open shop provider of electrical and instrumentation services in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, according to an EnSource press release.
Terry Schend, the current manager and the only original partner left of Tempo Electric, said Wednesday the decision to merge with Syntech came after the 25th anniversary of Tempo Electric's start.
Talk began in January about a possible merger and then things began moving fast, Schend said.
"The merger was the best thing for customers and employees," he said.
The merger will give local employees a greater opportunity for advancement, he said.
Also, Tempo Electric has had to subcontract people from as far away as Denver to help with instrumentations, said Debi Rhines, president of Spectrum Computer and Sound and general manager of Tempo Electric. With the merger, Tempo Electric has new instrumentations that can meet the company's and the customers' needs.
Tempo Electric is still locally driven, Schend said. When EnSource bought Tempo, the stock shares in Tempo Electric were traded for the same amount of stock shares in EnSource. "We still own stock in the company," Schend said. Rhines added, "We still have managerial control over part of it."
Tempo Electric has always been focused on the Hi-Line area, Schend said.
Another benefit of the merger is Tempo Electric will be hiring more technicians, who will be moving with their families into the area, Schend said.
Rhines said no drawbacks have emerged from the merger. "It's all very beneficial," she said.
Tempo Electric has done service work, construction work and brought in communications dealing with phone systems, computer systems and computer networking, Schend said.
Tempo Electric recently moved to 615 First St. W. because of the merger because the company needed more room. It formerly was located at 512 Second St.
Tempo Electric is the first purchase in the United States for Syntech and it plans to build on the purchase to open more branches in the United States.
