Upon the death of his father, a 14-year-old Jimmy Stansell Sr. began working as a water boy on construction sites.  He later became an apprentice electrician for Nicholson Electric.  In 1940, at age 29, he started Stansell Electric Company, operating it out of his garage.

As the business grew, Jimmy Stansell Sr. bought Nicholson Electric and began operating out of the office at 1430 Church Street. Once World War II ended, Pete Stansell returned to Nashville to join the company after serving in the Marines.  Russell Stansell joined the company after working at Nashville Bridge Company, where he wired PT boats.  Jimmy Stansell gave both brothers a 1/3 interest in the business and paid the gift tax.

SEC starts a small appliance repair shop which later became known as Factory Service Centers. It became one of the largest appliance repair depots in the southeast until mass production methods made small appliance repair less feasible.

With no prior experience in the field, SEC installed the first actuated traffic signal in Nashville. This led SEC into the signal construction business as well as becoming a distributor for Automatic Signal of Norwalk, CT.

SEC partnered with the popular Harvey’s Department Store to create a nativity scene every Christmas season at the Parthenon. It became the must-see annual Christmas attraction in Nashville until the late 1960s.

Growth of Factory Service Centers forced Jimmy Stansell Sr. to move the construction division of SEC to 203 McMillin Street, formerly the warden’s residence of the Nashville Prison. SEC is up to 35 employees.

Jimmy Stansell, Jr. joins the company after receiving an electrical engineering degree from Vanderbilt, completing graduate studies in Traffic Engineering at Yale University, and spending a year as a Traffic Engineer in Louisville, KY. He had worked off and on for the company since he was 14.  Later that year, SEC lands its first major interstate lighting project on I-40 west of 40th Avenue, and completes the WLAC-TV (now WTVF) studios on James Robertson Parkway.

Completed a total renovation of the War Memorial Building. The iconic government structure would also have its large electrical service rebuilt by SEC decades later in 2008, a testament to the longevity of the company.
Completes TDOT contract on I-40 in Jackson, TN, the first high-mast lighting project in the state.

SEC lands the largest project to-date for the construction of White’s Creek Comprehensive High School. SEC is now up to approximately 45 employees.

 

With continued growth, SEC again moves – this time, to 1630 Church Street Alley. The Stansells were “do-it-yourself” contractors, moving an existing building they owned on Church Street across the alley, as well as adding space below and around it.

At the age of 70, Jimmy Stansell Sr. received his GED diploma, exemplifying his passion for lifelong education and training, an education he missed after his father died.

As highway and transportation electrical work was increasing across Tennessee, SEC officially became a merit shop contractor and very active in Associated Builders and Contractors of Middle Tennessee.  Jimmy Stansell, Jr. would subsequently be the president of the organization in 1987, and David Stansell will serve as chairman of ABC in 2016.

SEC was awarded the contract for The Nashville House office building in the MetroCenter complex.  This was the first building in the megaproject located north of downtown Nashville. SEC would subsequently work on more than 15 building projects in MetroCenter, many of them being design/build. 

Helping to usher in a new era of data and communications, SEC developed concentrated expertise in cabling, starting with the installation, testing and integration of cabling in the IBM building. As one of Nashville’s first “wired facilities,” it was a very complex and challenging project for its time.

SEC celebrates its 50th Anniversary by completing its largest contract to date ($2,100,000), the lighting on Runway 2C/20C at the Nashville Int’l Airport. 

The project was significant because it had to be completed in 9 months and much of the work had to be done at night.

Jake Stansell joins the company in June of 1998, after receiving an electrical engineering degree from the University of Tennessee. David Stansell, a graduate of the University of Virginia, joins in November of 1999 after owning and running a software development company for 10 years.

As SEC closes out the 20th century, it has grown to more than 75 employees, with sales of $10.5 million. Little did they know, they would more than triple in size over the next 15 years…

SEC completes its first Intelligent Transportation System project for TDOT with a contract value of $1.1 million. It would be the first of many ITS projects SEC has completed across the state of TN. To date, the company has completed in excess of $75 million in ITS projects, from Memphis to Johnson City.

One day shy of his 92nd birthday, Jimmy Stansell Sr. passes away on April 26th, 2003. Until the day he died, he was a regular at the office, taking part in the business he created and loved.

SEC completes the lighting of the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge, now named the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge. The bridge, which spans the Cumberland River, has become an iconic fixture of the downtown Nashville landscape.

SEC completes work on the Gateway Bridge/Korean Veterans Bridge, which has been hailed as a new front door to Nashville, connecting downtown to East Nashville. In July of 2015, SEC completed the LED lighting of the entire bridge, which can be programmed with up to as many as 256 changing colors.

To meet the demands of rapid growth, SEC moves into a newly remodeled 250,000 sq. ft. corporate headquarters. The facilities are conveniently positioned at the intersection of three interstate highways, just 5 minutes from downtown Nashville and 6 miles from the Nashville International Airport.

The SEC headquarters building is flooded 42” above floor level during the Nashville flood of 2010. The leadership team created and enacted a restoration plan that enabled the company to be fully operational four days after the water receded. The building was completely restored to full use six weeks after the flood. Thirty vehicles were lost and many others had to be repaired.

SEC expands its presence in the Southeast, opening an office in Chattanooga. Also, it completes a massive project for Ft. Knox in Kentucky – The Human Resources Center of Excellence. SEC named AGC’s Subcontractor of the Year.

Jake Stansell serves as President of the Tennessee Road Builders Association, 20 years after Jimmy served as president. Jimmy receives the association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and SEC is named the TRBA Subcontractor of the Year.

Through the years, SEC has completed numerous high-profile public projects, including the Downtown Franklin Streetscape, the Church Street Renovation, Korean Veterans Boulevard. And in 2013, it completed the lighting of the Avenue of the Arts on Fifth Avenue.

Having grown to nearly 200 employees and poised for even further growth and success in the coming decades, SEC celebrates its 75th Anniversary. On September 29th, an epic anniversary celebration takes place at the Hard Rock Cafe surrounded by the greatest friends, clients, and partners a company could ask for.