Among Boston’s family of esteemed electrical contractors, the name “Fischbach & Moore” resonates further and more profoundly than most. Founded in 1918 – one of the nation’s first electric public works contractors – the company has weathered industry shifts, ownership changes, and growing pains to become the “go-to” professionals for the region’s most ambitious and most massively challenging public infrastructure projects.
The latest milestone for the century-old company is its membership on the NECA Boston Board of Directors, underscoring its longstanding commitment to industry leadership.
“To be offered to sit on the NECA board and to be a part of the growth, especially under Kristen Gowin’s leadership, was an honor. Fischbach has been involved with NECA for so many years that when this invitation was presented, it felt like a natural continuation of a longstanding and meaningful partnership,” said Shawn Greenwood, industry veteran and current Owner and President of Fischbach & Moore Electric Group, LLC. Greenwood began his career as a truck driver and rose through the ranks at Fischbach & Moore over the past 38 years.
“When I started at Fischbach & Moore in 1994, the company was under three different owners,” he explained, “Under Billy Green’s leadership, Fischbach worked on two major projects, including the Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant and the Central Artery/Ted Williams Tunnel, known as the “Big Dig”, which was a massive and highly complex project totaling $14 billion in work. The mentors and leaders I encountered on these projects helped shape my aspirations to pursue a leadership role.” In 2005, the owners of Sullivan McLaughlin acquired Fischbach & Moore. Greendwood stated, “During this transition, we realigned our operations and strengthened our core competencies, with a renewed focus on the MBTA, MWRA, MassDOT, and MassPort.”
According to Greenwood, the change signaled the start of a transformative period of growth and success for the company. “We’ve grown exponentially and now offer expanded services in utility work and electrical testing, while also making significant investments in our workforce and in specialized track and utility equipment.”
“Fischbach and Moore is a trusted leader in public works with a notable and well-established relationship with the MBTA.” Greenwood explains, “When looking back on our past projects with the MBTA, we were able to foster and solidify our relationship with the corporation through trust, consistency, and experience.
Major work includes the South Coast Rail project, a $140 million initiative delivering advanced signal and fiber-optic infrastructure across 37+ miles of railroad with a fully modernized PTC-equipped system and five new commuter rail stations, as well as the Harper’s GIS Substation in Virginia, a 300 MW project supporting offshore wind generation through advanced gas-insulated bus and high-voltage infrastructure, with additional three STATCOM projects underway along the East Coast.
The Green Line Signal Project (GLTPS) stands as one of Fischbach & Moore’s most recent complex projects. Requiring the installation of the Green Line Train Protection System along the MBTA Green Line D Branch and GLX, supplying and installing trackside sensors, power infrastructure, and control equipment designed to prevent train collisions through automated warnings and braking. Work is being performed using specialized high-rail vehicles during planned shutdowns to keep one of Boston’s busiest transit corridors running.
MBTA jobs like the GLTPS effort are uniquely challenging. Aging infrastructure, limited access, and an ever-shifting scope can make the most straightforward tasks difficult. But Fischbach’s crews are built for it: “It takes a skilled and resilient electrician to work in those conditions, navigating temperatures and challenging, hard-to-access environments.”
With the MBTA business strong, Fischbach is looking to new areas for expansion and growth, but the plan is to move strategically. The company’s new utilities group, for example, is building relationships with clients like Eversource and National Grid, but Greenwood is firm about pacing:
“Our concern right now is that there's so much infrastructure work in the utility fields and so many data centers going up that we could be too busy too quick. We’re not in a hurry to get big. We're in a hurry to do things well.”
Greenwood also points to the company’s testing division as a sign of the company’s expanding footprint in the industry. The division services 50–60 major facilities, including South Shore Hospital and the Hancock Building, and includes relay testing, infrared scanning, breaker maintenance — services that both stand alone and support the utilities expansion.
Today, Fischbach & Moore operates across multiple states and employs 140 field-craft personnel, with approximately 100 based in Massachusetts and 40 supporting major projects in Virginia, Georgia, and other regions. The company’s annual revenue ranges between $80 million and $120 million.
Greenwood emphasizes that transparency and teamwork define the company’s culture across all areas of operation. “We operate as one unified team, built on trust, communication, and accountability, while remaining deeply committed to giving back and supporting our community. That is what drives our success.”
Above all, trust is earned through consistent, high-level performance. That’s the Fischbach & Moore standard, defined by a legacy of proven results and an unwavering drive to lead the industry forward.