Stronghold Engineering, Inc.

Stronghold Engineering is a design-build general contractor founded in Perris, California in 1991 by Beverly and Scott Bailey. The firm works across federal, institutional and commercial construction, and it carries an unusual amount of self-performed capability for a builder its size, including high-voltage electrical, civil construction, solar photovoltaic and carport installations, and battery storage. It also provides ongoing operations and maintenance rather than handing every project off at closeout. Federal work is a core market. Stronghold is the prime contractor on the National Park Service’s $208 million Transcanyon Waterline replacement at the Grand Canyon, and in August 2026 the FAA awarded it a $100.9 million contract for a new 185-foot air traffic control tower and TRACON facility at San Jose Mineta International Airport.

Scott and Beverly Bailey opened the business as Stronghold Electric in October 1991, at the kitchen table of their house in Moreno Valley. Thirty-four years later the firm reports more than $3 billion in construction put in place.

Self-performance is the structural difference. Stronghold does between 30 and 100 percent of the work on a given project with its own forces, covering electrical, civil and concrete scopes, which is why it can carry renewable energy jobs end to end: consulting, site inspection, design, procurement, installation, then operations and maintenance after the ribbon is cut. Staffing behind that includes more than 15 general and electrical construction project managers, roughly 20 superintendents, and a matching bench of quality control and site safety officers.

Safety figures are published in two places on the company site and do not agree: the FAQ page lists an EMR of 0.65 and the About page cites a current EMR of 0.80. Both are below industry average; owners running a prequalification should ask which is current.

The certification stack matters for public work. Stronghold is a Women’s Business Enterprise through WBENC and a Minority Business Enterprise through NMSDC, with Supplier Clearinghouse recognition for both, and it is one of the more successful graduates of the SBA’s 8(a) program for small disadvantaged businesses. It now mentors other small contractors and maintains a standing pool of prequalified SDVBE, MBE, WBE and other small disadvantaged subcontractors, which is a real advantage on jobs carrying participation goals.

Licensing reaches well past California. The firm holds A, B and C-11 classifications in California, A and C-2 in Nevada, A and C-11 in Arizona, a general contractor licence in Oregon, and a Utah licence with LRF. Recent project locations include Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Hawaii and Colorado. Named public clients run from the National Park Service to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to the County of Santa Clara.

In March 2026 the firm took an ABC Southern California Regional Excellence Award for the photovoltaic project at the UC Riverside School of Business.