M.C. Dean, Inc. is a design-build and systems integration corporation for complex,

mission-critical A mission critical (also mission essential) factor of a system is any factor (component, equipment, personnel, process, procedure, software, etc.) that is essential to business, organizational, or governmental operations. Failure or disruption o ...

organizations. Started in 1949 as a small electrical firm, it has since grown to 5,800 employees and a revenue of approximately $1.3 Billion. It’s headquartered in

Tysons, Virginia Tysons, also known as Tysons Corner, is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, spanning from the corner of Virginia State Route 123, SR 123 (Chain Bridge Road) and Virginia State Route 7, SR 7 (Leesburg Pike ...

, United States, and has over 30 other offices, including branches in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

;

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

;

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

;

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

;

Stuttgart, Germany Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

; and

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

History

After serving in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and working in the Newport News Naval Ship Yard as an electrician, Marion C. (M.C.) Dean returned to his roots in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

to start the firm. By the 1950s, the firm's roster of clients included the

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is a public airport in Arlington County, Virginia, United States, from Washington, D.C. The closest airport to the nation's capital, it is one of two airports owned by the federal government and ope ...

Bolling Air Force Base Bolling Air Force Base or Bolling AFB was a United States Air Force installation located in Washington, D.C. In 2010, it merged with Naval Support Facility Anacostia to form Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling. From its establishment, the base has s ...

, and the

Naval Research Laboratory The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. Located in Washington, DC, it was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, appl ...

. The firm illuminated some of Washington's most recognized monuments, including the

Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father of the United States, victorious commander-in-chief of the Continen ...

, the

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier A Tomb of the Unknown Soldier or Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is a monument dedicated to the services of an unknown soldier and the common memories of all soldiers killed in war. Such tombs are located in many nations and are usually high-profile na ...

and the United States Marine Corps Memorial In 1952, the firm created a non-union electrical apprenticeship program which continues to operate today as the largest of its kind in the Mid-Atlantic region. The apprenticeship's flagship program runs out of Washington DC's famed Cardozo High School. M.C. retired from the firm in 1980 and was succeeded by his son, Casey Dean. In 1997, Mr. Dean's grandson, Bill Dean, assumed the position of President and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

. He led the company towards the design-build delivery method, where a single source has absolute responsibility for both design and construction of a project. The company started to bid on and team up with other design-build forerunners such as

Hensel Phelps Construction Hensel Phelps Construction Co., located in Greeley, Colorado, is one of the largest general contractors and construction managers in the United States, ranked consistently among ENR's (Engineering News-Record) top 20 Contractors by revenue. The c ...

and

Clark Construction Clark Construction, also referred to as Clark Construction Group, LLC, is a construction firm headquartered in McLean, Virginia, and founded in 1906. The company had 2018 annual revenue of more than $5 billion, and is one of the largest commercial ...

to win more ambitious projects, such as the

U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, t ...

's Washington Headquarters/

Fort Belvoir Fort Belvoir ( ) is a United States Army installation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It was developed on the site of the former Belvoir (plantation), Belvoir plantation, seat of the prominent Lord ...

project, and expanded operations to include prefabrication of materials, along with sponsoring the

Solar Decathlon The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Decathlon is a collegiate competition, comprising 10 contests, that challenges student teams to design and build highly efficient and innovative buildings powered by renewable energy. The winners are se ...

. In 2011, M.C. Dean, Inc. was ranked as the second-largest electrical contractor in the United States. In 2013, M.C. Dean agreed to pay $875,000 in back wages and interest to 381 African-American, Hispanic and Asian job applicants the Department of Labor claims were denied "equal employment opportunity" by M.C. Dean.

Major projects

* The Phoenix Project (Washington, DC),

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command The Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR), based in San Diego, California, is one of six SYSCOM Echelon II organizations within the United States Navy and is the Navy's technical authority and acquisition command for C4ISR (Command ...

technical support services and command and control engineering (

) * Combined Forces Joint Operations Center (

Kabul, Afghanistan Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into 22 municipal districts. A 2025 estima ...

) *

Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA ) is the principal public transport operator in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Formed in 1971 as strictly a bus system, MARTA operates a network of Public transport bus service, bus route ...

(MARTA) (

) *

United States European Command The United States European Command (EUCOM) is one of the eleven Unified Combatant Command, unified combatant commands of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of focus covers and 51 countries and territori ...

Headquarters (

) *

Washington Dulles International Airport Washington Dulles International Airport ( ) – commonly known by its former name of Dulles International Airport, by its airport code of IAD, or simply as Dulles Airport – is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located w ...

(

Dulles, Virginia Dulles ( ) is an unincorporated area in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States, and is part of the Washington metropolitan area. The headquarters of Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems and ODIN Technologies, as well as the former headquarters ...

) * H Street NE/Benning Road Line of the

DC Streetcar The DC Streetcar is a surface streetcar network in Washington, D.C. that consists of a single line running in mixed traffic along H Street and Benning Road in the city's Northeast quadrant. The streetcars are the first to run in the Distri ...

Project (Washington, DC)

Rankings

* #2 – Top Electrical Contractors, Electrical Construction & Maintenance * #2 – Top Electrical Contractors, Engineering News Record * #9 – Top Specialty Contractors, Engineering News Record * #11 – Private Companies (in Washington DC)

Washington Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes ''The Business Journals'', which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States with each market ...

* #42 – Fastest Growing Companies, Washington Business Journal * #47 – Defense News Top 100,

Defense News ''Defense News'' is a website and newspaper about the politics, business, and technology of national security published by Sightline Media Group. Founded in 1986, ''Defense News'' says it serves an audience of senior military, government, and in ...

Subsidiaries and acquisitions

* OpenBand (1998) * Aneco Electrical Construction (2004) * CIM * Tibs Group (2004) * U.S. Electrical Testing (2021) * Energy Conservation Systems Inc. (IEC Systems) (2023)

References

{{reflist Companies based in Fairfax County, Virginia American companies established in 1949 Engineering companies of the United States 1949 establishments in Washington, D.C.

History

Major projects

Rankings

Subsidiaries and acquisitions

See also

References