The pool of qualified candidates is shrinking faster than most operators realize.
The qualified PM bench inside commutable radius lives at fewer than 15 firms. American Electric itself holds ~17% of the pool — which means protecting its own bench from EPC recruiting is as important as the search. Motor City Electric (Columbus Electrical operations), Keystone, Ironwood, Meridian, and Vanguard represent the highest-density donor targets. Each time a national EPC closes one of these candidates, the accessible pool shrinks by one — and counteroffer rates of 45–55% mean the replacement search is harder than the original.
Where the Qualified PM Talent Sits — Columbus Metro Commercial Electrical
Roughly 83% of qualified Columbus Metro commercial electrical PMs are passive. The minority actively searching are disproportionately the candidates other firms have already passed on.
- Donor pool concentration. The qualified PM bench lives inside fewer than 15 firms — American Electric, Keystone, Ironwood, Meridian, Vanguard, Brightline, Forge, and Lockwood.
- Counteroffer pressure. Counteroffers are occurring on 45–55% of PM-level resignations in the metro, up materially from prior cycles.
- Stability bias. Candidates with 8–15 year tenures move for backlog visibility, project quality, and support structure — not a marginal raise. American Electric's $250M healthcare / institutional backlog maps to this directly.
This tracker is a continuous signal feed, refreshed between briefings. The data behind Donor Pool Pressure feeds directly into your standing recommendations and quarterly executive review.