JAB Monthly Update: July 2026
This month, JAB is proving why Chicago keeps calling on us. This has been one of our busiest months yet, and here’s a little snippet into what we’ve been up to.
Just Wrapped: Wells Fargo, Bronzeville
JAB Electrical Construction recently wrapped up the full electrical scope for Wells Fargo’s newest branch, located at 3907 S Dr Martin Luther King Jr Dr in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood, and we’re proud of the work our team put into bringing this project to life.
This branch is part of a much bigger story. It’s one piece of Wells Fargo’s $175 million, multi-year investment across the Chicago area, with new branches opening in historically underinvested neighborhoods like Bronzeville and Bridgeport. At the July 2025 groundbreaking on the southeast corner of 39th Street and Martin Luther King Drive, Wells Fargo also announced a $150,000 donation to the Quad Communities Development Corporation to support local business development. The new branch itself houses a HOPE Inside Center, offering free financial education and one-on-one coaching to the community, open to everyone, not just customers.
For our part, JAB handled the full electrical package for the new construction, working alongside general contractor Nacional Group and their project management team. Our scope covered everything from the ground up: new electrical service and distribution, power for all the building’s mechanical systems, a complete interior and exterior lighting package including the property’s canopy lighting, and power to the branch’s exterior monument sign. We also handled the conduit infrastructure supporting the branch’s full security system.
Projects like this are exactly why we do what we do. As a certified minority- and woman-owned electrical contractor, being part of a project that’s investing directly in the Bronzeville community means something to our whole team.
In Progress: Maywood Fine Arts
Right now, our crews are in full swing on the interior renovation of Maywood Fine Arts (officially known as “1970 – Maywood Fine Arts Phase II”) at 25 N. 5th Ave in Maywood, Illinois.
Maywood Fine Arts has been a fixture of the community since 1996, when a group of parents and community leaders founded the nonprofit and transformed a boarded-up former bank building into a vibrant home for arts education. Today, the organization offers dance, music, art, drama, and more to children throughout Maywood and the surrounding area. This renovation marks the final phase of a 15-year capital improvement plan for the building, a milestone the community celebrated with a kickoff ceremony on April 30, 2026, attended by Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch.
JAB is handling a comprehensive electrical scope for the renovation, working under general contractor Macon Construction. Our work includes reworking the building’s electrical service and installing new panelboards, providing power for a full replacement of the building’s mechanical systems, and installing an extensive new interior lighting package with modern lighting controls throughout. We’re also restoring and reconnecting the building’s existing fire alarm system, along with the code-required upgrades needed along the way.
It’s meaningful work: helping modernize a building that’s given three decades of arts education to the Maywood community, and setting it up to serve for decades more.
New Award: University of Chicago Lab Renovation
We’re excited to share that JAB Electrical Construction has been awarded a new lab renovation project at the University of Chicago.
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Our scope covers a full electrical upgrade to support the space’s new use as a modern research lab, from updated power distribution and infrastructure to a complete interior lighting package throughout the space.
We’ll share more information on this project as we get closer to starting.
We’re looking forward to getting to work on this one and adding another research institution to our growing list of institutional and educational clients.
Community: ASA Chicago Golf Outing
JAB recently had the opportunity to attend the ASA Chicago Golf Outing as a guest of Kathy MacIntosh of HorizonWorks, and it turned into one of the best networking days we’ve had all year, connecting with more than 100 people across Chicago’s construction industry.
ASA Chicago (the Association of Subcontractors & Affiliates) brings together subcontractors, specialty contractors, and suppliers from across the region for education, advocacy, and networking. A day on the course turned out to be a great way to meet a lot of good people at once, and we’re already following up on several new connections made that day.
A big thank you to Kathy and the team at HorizonWorks for the invite. HorizonWorks is proudly Veteran Owned, and holds certifications as a VBE, MBE, WBE, DBE, and BEP business. Beyond those credentials, HorizonWorks offers management consulting, staffing, and professional development services, helping businesses across our industry build stronger teams and stronger operations. It’s exactly the kind of well-rounded, diverse business we’re glad to see represented in this industry, and we’re grateful for the connection.
We’re looking forward to more days like this one, building relationships across Chicago’s construction community.
That’s our update for this month, thanks for reading, and we’ll see you next month.