History: Sharlen Electric

Discover the Sharlen Electric Company story

Sharlen Electric Company’s roots can be traced back to 1963, when Bill Cullen Sr. started Cullen Electric, a Chicago electrical service. After years of success and steady growth, his son, Bill Jr., joined his father’s business and began his own career in the electrical contracting industry. Bill Sr. carefully grew his company into one of the most trusted electrical contractors in the Chicagoland area by being willing to adapt to the ever-changing conditions in the marketplace.

Upon Bill Sr.’s passing in the late 1980s, Bill Jr. kept his father’s vision alive by starting his own electrical contracting company in 1992: Sharlen Electric Company. Building on more than 50 years of experience in Chicago-area electrical contracting, Bill Jr. modeled Sharlen Electric after his father’s company, emphasizing flexibility, responsiveness, quality, and always going the extra mile.

Today, Sharlen Electric continues to lead the local electrical contracting industry, and a third generation of the Cullen family, Bill’s daughter and son, have joined the business. The team at Sharlen is proud to uphold the family business’s mentality, established decades ago: dedication to the client’s needs, passion for each project, and always doing business with integrity.

A History Defined by the Marketplace

Decades of success driven by a willingness to adapt

Sharlen Electric Company and our forebearer have been successful through more than half a century because of a unique ability to see shifts in the marketplace and adapt to them. As the local economy has changed through time, so too has Sharlen’s specific market focus, and the team has truly done it all over the years. The company’s telecom division was created in response to the recent explosion in networking and communications technology, and it has become a key part of the business. In the future, the team at Sharlen expects to maintain their flexibility and adaptability as changes the electrical energy continue to drive changing marketplace demands.