Sorensen Companies
Multi disciplined Telecommunications Contractor

Expect change. Analyze the landscape. Take the opportunities. Stop being the chess piece; become the player. It’s your move.”

These insightful words by the famous life and business strategist Tony Robbins precisely depict the story of Craig Sorensen, a lineman for the telephone company Mountain Bell—who decided to make hay while the sun shines. Back in 1977, when Sorensen realized the growing trend in the industry of subcontracting a lot of work out to 3rd party contractors, he decided to grab the opportunity with both hands. Craig took a leap of faith and established Sorensen Companies Inc. (SCI) as a construction infrastructure-based company to subcontract utility excavation in Syracuse, Utah. Since the company's first sole-source contract with what's today called Lumen Technologies (Qwest then), SCI has come a long way.

As a second-generation family-owned business, SCI has stayed afloat in the market over the years by transitioning from basic telephone construction to building effective telecommunications networks. Today, SCI serves as a multi-disciplined licensed contractor specializing in utility, communication, cellular wireless, pipeline, waterline, and roadway construction. Whether it's FTTX (fiber-toanything) deployment or cell tower and LTE (long-term evolution) construction—SCI does it all. Additionally, the company provides construction services for electrical power and natural gas distribution and water and sewer systems, including water meter replacements, water meter additions for secondary water lines, and more. "We're one of the largest fiber optic installation contractors in the intermountain west (Western U.S) for major companies including Google Fiber. We are one of the few early adopters of newer technology like micro-trenching, yet we still are well versed in conventional methods of placement such as directional drilling and plowing. We are experts in all types of fiber deployment, whether it's fiber to cell sites, Fiber to the Home (FTTH), backbone fiber installations, and cross country/ long haul optical fiber networks" states Chad Sorensen, VP of Sorensen Companies Inc.

Sorensen elaborates that the company has placed over 20 million feet of fiber just in cross country work to meet the growing fiber infrastructure demand. As one of the largest full-service utility excavation companies, currently, SCI is expanding Google's network almost 50 miles a week. Irrespective of the type of distribution, from communications, fiber optics, and power to traffic control—infrastructure is at the company's core. Besides utilizing its wireless division, SCI builds cell towers, DAS networks, and LTE upgrades for several providers, including AT&T, T-Mobile, and Dish Network. "Our guarantee as a contractor is to provide the best solution to our clients and not compensate quality with costs," asserts Sorensen.
As a company that runs one of the largest micro-trenching operations in the western U.S., SCI ensures low impact, resident-friendly, high-speed fiber deployments. Several customer success stories are a testament to SCI's capabilities and innovation brought in. For instance, Sorensen highlights the story of a Hideout, Utah customer who approached SCI with a very difficult FTTH build in the challenging mountainous area of Utah. The project was about 55,000 feet, and the ground conditions for traditional construction, such as plowing and directional drilling, were not very conducive, making it a costintensive process. The company helped them change the design to a micro-trenching scenario as it's a less invasive method for fiber optic installations. "We were able to accommodate the entire city of Hideout and provide FTTH in under half the expected construction time and less than 50 percent of the cost from the original bid," says Sorensen.

Notably, SCI offered the customer the new model, redesigned the entire project, and reduced the $3.4 million project to $1.5 million in half the time. "We always strive to make sure that we're providing our customers with all of the possible solutions to meet their goals. We are not a low bid contractor but a value contractor—bringing value relationship to the table," mentions Sorensen.

Over the years, SCI has earned a solid reputation for excellence, garnering several repeat customers due to their trust in the company's fair pricing and quality of work. Besides an extremely experienced construction team, SCI has a fleet of over 1,000 specialized equipment and trucks operating in the 14 western U.S., with a primary focus in home state Utah and the Rocky Mountain region. Also, the company relishes a talented workforce of 280 employees along with a large subcontract base.

Currently, SCI is handling the big FTTH projects in Elko and Spring Creek, Nevada, and the different cities throughout Utah, such as Providence, Utah. Moving ahead, the company aims to grow exponentially in terms of its customer and subcontract base as well as the workforce. "We have positioned our business to help every customer that has a need and desire to expand their networks and bridge the digital divide with FTTH, whether it's rural, urban, last mile or long haul," concludes Sorensen.