Shelley Nasby and Randy Rema hold a couple of the awards Reese Electric recently received from the Associated General Contractors of America, including a first place construction safety excellence award. World Photo by Lou Sennick

First there was one. Then another and another.

Since September 2007, Reese Electric in North Bend has received a succession of awards, culminating in a first-place Construction Safety Excellence award from the Associated General Contractors of America.

The award is for a specialty contractors, with fewer than 100,000 work hours. More than 460 companies had vied for the honor and 62 were invited to a convention in Las Vegas in March.

This award placed the company in the top 19 in the nation, each receiving a first-place in its own category. Of the 19, Reese Electric came out No. 6.

“They took all the categories, all the winners, and they ranked them first to last,” said Shelley Nasby, the company’s director of operations and safety coordinator. “Our competition included huge contracting firms with 3 million-plus hours. They have entire departments dedicated to working safely. Many of those employees have specialized safety degrees.”

Reese Electric was called upon first out of the 62 to give a five-minute presentation, including a Power Point presentation, said Nasby, who gave the presentation, along with president-owner Randy Rema.

“We focused on the employees and how they brought the (accident) rate down,” Nasby said. “Two of us accepted the award. That’s our entire safety staff. It’s 1/20th of what I do.”

Nasby said the company’s safety rate steadily improved since Rema purchased it in 2004.

“Management is totally dedicated to the safety,” Nasby said. “Our employees are empowered to work safely, even if that means stopping work.”

She also owes the awards to longevity of employees, allowing them to continue with safety education programs. Of about 60 employees, 25 percent have been with the company at least 10 years.

In September 2007, Reese Electric received the Associated General Contractors Oregon Columbia Chapter’s Safety Program Recognition Indicating Dedication and Excellence award. In January, the company was a recipient of the Oregon-Columbia Chapter’s Recognition of Safety Excellence award.

In addition, in 2006, the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce chose Reese Electric as the Business of the Year.

Reese Electric went from 20 employees to 60 since 2004, with 47 employees in North Bend and 13 spread out between offices in Florence, Newport and Bandon, and a satellite office in Gold Beach.

Ben and Viola Reese started the business in Coos Bay in 1946 on Lockhart Avenue. In 1947, it moved to Virginia Avenue in North Bend, and rented space in an old dairy building. A year later it relocated to its present location, 2011 Union Ave., in North Bend.

For more information, call 756-0581 or visit http://www.reeseelectric.com/.