Our History
T.E.M. Group, Inc. started out as TEM Electric in 1999. TEM Electric was a dream of the founder and owner Tom Masterson. Tom developed his passion for electric work from his father, a maintenance electrician at Fort Knox in Kentucky. Tom’s mother was from Panama. Tom’s Hispanic heritage qualifies T.E.M. Group, Inc. as an MBE and DBE.
Tom started the business with longtime friend Rick Davis. In the beginning, they worked out of the living room of Tom’s home. In 2001, they leased an office in Lexington and Pat Abrams came aboard as an estimator. In 2003, they opened a branch office in Louisville, Kentucky. Soon thereafter, Tom’s brother, Gary Masterson, came aboard.
In 2005, Louisville became the headquarters and Lexington became the branch office. In 2008, Bill Hoskinson came aboard to head-up the general contracting work for Bechtel at the Richmond, Kentucky Bluegrass Army Depot. In 2009, T.E.M. Group, Inc. was named Small Business of the Year for Kentucky by the SBA. Tom Masterson was invited to the White House for a reception with the President.
In 2010, T.E.M. Group, Inc. purchased the facility at 3560 Bashford Avenue in Louisville, Kentucky, where we are presently located. In 2012, Ron Boughey started as CFO and took over the financial management of the company, steering TE.M. Group, Inc. towards more profitable lines of business. Ron improved our banking, surety, vendor and other third-party relationships.
In 2013, Hall Contracting divested itself of its electrical contracting division and T.E.M. Group, Inc. was asked to help complete their backlog. We completed Hall’s work and were able to pick up key employees, customers and acquire extra equipment. Tom Clark and Greg Myers came aboard bringing their expertise in water and waste water treatment plants.
In 2015, Scott Saylor was hired to start-up our Heavy Highway Division. Scott was instrumental in developing the employees, equipment, and relationships that has allowed us to bid major roadway projects with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC). Scott retired after three years and our team continues to grow the business. Heavy Highway currently does $5 million annually with KYTC.
T.E.M. Group, Inc. recently reached annual revenues of $20 million dollars and 75 employees in Louisville and Lexington. We have worked at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, Center Hill Dam in Tennessee and the Dale Carlia Aqueduct in Washington D.C. Louisville Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) was a major factor in the start-up and growth of T.E.M. Group, Inc. We have extensive utility work experience. Bechtel and its projects at the Bluegrass Army Depot had a major impact in our growth as well.