PJ Flanagan is CEO of Ireland-based H&MV Engineering. [Photo: H&MV]
Ireland-based H&MV Engineering planted its North American headquarters in Dallas. The move is part of a push to create 1,000 new U.S. jobs and reach $3.5 billion in revenue over the next five years.
H&MV designs and builds high-voltage substations and grid connections for the tech, energy and utility industries. The engineering firm said it benefits from rising demand for infrastructure supporting AI, data centers, electric grids, battery storage and utilities.
“What I like about Dallas is how quickly it has gone from being a new location for us to becoming central to the U.S. business,” PJ Flanagan, CEO of H&MV, told Dallas Innovates.
Texas and Louisiana are the firm’s most active markets, he said.
Putting down roots in Dallas
H&MV’s North American headquarters just opened at 3131 McKinney Ave. The move follows the firm’s acquisition earlier this year of Amarillo-based Cooke Power Services. Cooke provides high-voltage electrical services.
H&MV employees moved into the McKinney Avenue space earlier this month, Flanagan said. Dallas already was the firm’s U.S. headquarters, but H&MV recently extended the reach to all of North America.
Dallas stood out when the company weighed locations for the North American headquarters, Flanagan said.
“The more time I spent here, the clearer it became that Dallas was where we should build from,” Flanagan told Dallas Innovates.
Flanagan said the Dallas operation gives H&MV proximity to data center, power grid and power transmission projects in Texas. He said more than $7 billion in high-voltage projects is expected in DFW and along the I-35 corridor in the coming years.
H&MV launched the Dallas office late last year “as our U.S. business was starting to move quickly,” Flanagan said. “Since then, we have added Cooke, built out the team and now have multiple projects in design and construction across the country.”
“What excites me is the chance to build a strong team here and give people room to grow with us,” said Flanagan, who began his H&MV career as an apprentice.
A growing headcount
Globally, H&MV employs about 1,900 people.
Almost 100 people currently work in the Dallas office, including Cooke employees retained by H&MV. Flanagan said adding 1,000 jobs in the U.S., particularly Dallas, will boost the firm’s engineering, construction and project delivery capabilities. H&MV will tap into DFW’s deep pool of construction management workers to fill some of the new roles, he said.
In Dallas, Flanagan said, “you can recruit here, reach customers quickly and run a fast-growing regional business.”
“The region is attracting huge data center and technology investments, but all of that depends on power,” Flanagan said. “The high-voltage system has to expand with the economy.”
Funding fuels growth
H&MV’s growth in Dallas comes amid big gains in revenue. In 2020, the firm recorded annual revenue of $70 million. Today, annual revenue exceeds $1.1 billion, and the company said it aims to reach $3.5 billion in five years.
That growth has been fueled in part by a hefty funding round. In August, H&MV said it raised nearly $865 million from investors Exponent, Apollo S3, Pantheon and SQ Capital. As a result, the firm’s valuation climbed to $1.6 billion.
Today, H&MV boasts $2.3 billion in booked orders and a project pipeline totaling $18.6 billion, the company said.
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