Ever since OC Blog became part of Red County, the magazine began publishing (the third issue arrived in mail boxes last week) and Red County blogs like San Bernardino began operating, I'm sure readers have wondered exactly who is behind the growing Red County media enterprise.

Although there are a number of shareholders in this undertaking, the driving force behind it it Tracy Price, former president of the Lincoln Club of Orange County and Chief Executive of Linc Group LLC.

The Orange County Business Journal published an article on Tracy and his company in the current issue, so I thought I'd share it with our readers to give them a better sense of the individual who's vision gives form and substance to Red County.

Irvine’s Linc Breaks Last Enron Link

SERVICES: HQ moves to Irvine from Houston; $475M in sales

By Sarah Tolkoff
Orange County Business Journal Staff

Linc Group LLC of Irvine has closed a chapter in a history that’s been “stranger than fiction,” in the words of Chief Executive Tracy Price.

Earlier this year, the company officially moved its headquarters from Houston to Irvine. In doing so, Linc severed its last tie to Enron Corp.

“It made sense to relocate the headquarters and not have to deal with the overhang of the previous Enron debacle,” Price said. “We didn’t need to have it hanging around with us everywhere we went.”

Price ended up as part of Enron after selling Irvine’s FieldCentrix—Linc Group’s predecessor—to the company in 2001. A decade earlier, Price drew up plans for FieldCentrix’s software and computer systems for field-service technicians on a napkin.

Enron started unraveling soon after the acquisition. Price spent two years extracting the business from Enron.

He found a white knight in GI Partners of Menlo Park, which led a buyout of the business in 2003.

(In another twist to a complicated tale, FieldCentrix ended up being bought in 2005 by Horsham, Pa.-based Astea International Inc.)

Linc Group, a mix of building maintenance service companies, is one of the few businesses that emerged from Enron untarnished and still kicking.

The protracted fight to break from the fallen energy giant has aged him, Price joked.

“I feel 150 in Enron years,” he said. “I’m easily older than Methuselah.”

The 49-year-old Price is known for his energy and rapid-fire conversation.

Price helped grow Linc from about $140 million in yearly revenue after the buyout to an expected $475 million this year.

Linc counts about 3,000 workers at operations in 45 states and seven countries.

The company already had an Irvine office. The new on-the-books headquarters is set to house all of the company’s merger and acquisition activity and its new lighting and electrical business, Price said.

Busy Buying
Linc has struck deals to buy several businesses so far this year.

Price said he plans to acquire about six companies a year until Linc is “built out” nationwide.

“This is kind of the next stage of our evolution. The first stage was to vanquish the despot—and that was an epic battle,” he said.

The company expects to seek additional private equity investment, he said.

“We’ve come close to outgrowing the group that we did our original transaction with,” Price said.

GI Partners has held Linc for about four years. It typically holds its investments for seven years.

“They are not looking to cash out yet,” Price said, “But they will be opportunistic just like anyone else.”

An initial public offering may be in the works two to three years out, Price said.

A recent acquisition bolstered Linc in Orange County.

“Being an OC-based company in our industry certainly gives you the pedigree of being more leading-edge,” Price said. “Orange County is a change agent—it has become a brand.”

Last month, Linc bought family owned Sundown Lighting & Electrical LP in Lake Forest, a provider of electrical system maintenance and services for big property managers such as Koll Co., CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. and Merit Property Management.

In 1980, Joe Thrailkill started Sundown Lighting in his garage with $3,000.

The company won a Family Owned Business award from the Business Journal in 2002.

More Space
Linc plans to consolidate into a bigger building on the heels of the deal, Price said.

The company has a handful of business units, some which came from Enron:

• Linc Facility Services, a Washington, D.C.-based provider of operational services to Fortune 500 companies and the government.

• Linc Service, an Atlanta-based provider of commercial heating, ventilation and air- conditioning services to midsize offices and schools.

• Linc Network, a Pittsburgh-based network of commercial heating, ventilation and air-conditioning service companies, which helps similar companies build franchises based on its business model.

• Linc Lighting and Electrical, the newest division, formed when Linc acquired Sundown.

• Linc Facility Services does about 75% of the business, according to spokeswoman Tracy Freed.

Customers
Big local customers include the Orange County Register, CB Richard Ellis and PM Realty Group.

In early 2006, Linc Facility Services scored a big contract with the office properties division of The Irvine Company. Linc Facility is providing facilities management and maintenance for the Irvine Co.’s office buildings at University Research Park, the Irvine Spectrum and Irvine Technology Center.

Some of its biggest customers are schools.

Locally, Linc Facility counts the University of California, Irvine, Chapman University and Trinity Law School as customers.

National customers include the Department of Defense, Applied Materials Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc., FedEx Corp., the San Francisco Giants and John F. Kennedy International Air-port.

Price said he sees growth in healthcare, government work and the “green” push by big institutions looking to cut energy costs.

Linc specializes in “bundled energy solutions” that involve retrofitting buildings to save energy and cut costs over time.

Price has close ties to OC.
He grew up in El Toro and was a member of El Toro High School’s second graduating class.

“Back then, if you wanted to buy groceries you had to go to Tustin,” he said.

He’s chairman of the Lincoln Club of Orange County and was cofounder of Red County magazine and blog, publications for conservative Republicans.

“I get involved with lots of presidential and state campaigns, but we are not picking a winner yet,” he said.

Price lives in Laguna Hills with his wife and four kids—two boys and two girls—ranging in age from 7 to 20.

About half a dozen of Linc’s top brass also live in OC, which weighed into the decision to move the headquarters.

Price said he’s glad to stay.

“Having almost had to move my family to Houston and live in that not-very-attractive city—it’s just a blessing,” he said.