A History of Service

Panel Upgrade Expertsts Electrical Contractors, Inc. is the brainchild of Lawrence Baumlin, a former Naval Submariner and Master Electrician with more than 35 years experience. Lawrence is the son of noted geneologist, Mimzi Skinner and John "Big Jack" Baumlin. Electricity runs in the blood in his family. His father, Big Jack, was a Korean War veteran and a distinguished I.B.E.W. electrician for the remainder of his career. After many years of working as a key supervisor on many highway projects, Lawrence was aided by Big Jack and Mimzi with the establishment of Southern Lights with the dream of creating a legacy of service and professionalism in the Electrical trade. Since that time, Southern Lights has made the move from doing residential jobs, to county work, to sub contracting on major asset management jobs, to currently contracting directly with the State of Florida on Highway Lighting maintenance jobs. Lawrence holds Master Electrican Licenses in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Virginia and South Carolina. His vision is to contract with DOT for the entire Southeast of the United States.

Much has already been accomplished but our company does not rest on its laurels. We continue to grow and provide work for some of the most qualified and accomplished electricans in the industry. Our company is very much a close knit group. Larry's fiance, Justina Perez is CFO of the company. She has managed the office for the last decade and navigated the challenges of beaurocracy admirably in that time. William Parks, a former apprentice who worked alongside Lawrence in "the early years" is now a Master Electrician and quite accomplished in his own right. Hamilton Dixon, a sometime coworker and long time friend of the family now manages the Shop and keeps everyone rolling with his humor, wisdom, and mechanical expertise. Southern Lights has now been joined by Lawrence's son, Brian Bonfonti, who aids Tina with day to day operations. In addition, Michael Parks, nephew to William Parks, and Aaron Perez, Tina's son, both serve as apprentice electricians, assuring the legacy of the company is in good hands.