Tarentum electrical contractor relocates to New Kensington

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A Tarentum business that started in its owner’s home three decades ago has built and moved into a larger facility to keep up with its growth.

Omni Electric has moved out of the building it still owns at Lock Street and Fourth Avenue for a new facility it built on a previously empty lot on Seventh Street in New Kensington.

The need for more room was behind the relocation, said Brian Brestensky, the company’s superintendent, who has worked with Omni owner Greg Riggatire for 23 years.

“We more or less ran out of space” in Tarentum, Brestensky said. “We needed something bigger.”

In addition to Pennsylvania, Omni is also licensed to work in West Virginia and Ohio, and takes jobs within a four-hour radius of Pittsburgh, Brestensky said. Most of their work is within 30 miles of the city, he said.

“Pittsburgh has always done well through the years,” he said. “It’s always been consistent. We’re doing our job right so people hire you back. We never really hurt for work. It’s a pretty good area for construction.”

An electrical contractor, Omni does mostly commercial work, but also does some residential, Brestensky said. It has 18 employees.

Their commercial work includes new construction, remodels and additions. In the residential realm, it does work for home warranties, Brestensky said.

The new building is more than double the size of the Tarentum location, where Omni had been since 1999.

Omni had worked on the move for nearly two years. It bought the property in New Kensington in November 2017 and started the permit process with the city in April 2018, Brestensky said. Construction started in September 2018 and the building was finished in June.

The new facility features off-street parking and two 14-foot tall garage doors, so the company can keep its bucket truck inside, Brestensky said.

“Everything is in our own little complex here,” Brestensky said.

Brestensky said Omni will try to rent its Tarentum property. It could be put up for sale if a tenant isn’t found.

Tarentum Councilwoman Lou Ann Homa said she can understand why the need for more space prompted Omni’s relocation. Because there’s little parking in the immediate area, Homa said a business with walk-up traffic would be better suited for that location.

“It would be great if something moved in there,” she said.