K&N Electric Motors Inc., a longtime Spokane vendor of industrial motors, has acquired Intermountain Electric Inc., a high-voltage electrical contractor here, and has moved that company to 5818 E. Broadway, in Spokane Valley.

Intermountain Electric, which employs six people, will continue to do business under its own name.

K&N repairs, remanufactures, and distributes industrial motors and also does crane modernization and fish mitigation work at hydroelectric dams. Intermountain Electric does medium- and high-voltage electrical construction and remodeling, says K&N CEO Jan Schmidlkofer.

The acquisition should provide a symbiotic relationship for the two entities, Schmidlkofer says. "It kind of widened the pie for us," she says. "We can build some of the things they install."

She declines to disclose the purchase price.

Prior to the acquisition, Intermountain had been run by the estate of former owner Stan Horton, who died in 2005.

"Without active ownership, it was decided the company should be sold to provide a better opportunity for growth and continued employment for the long-term employees," says Intermountain General Manager Ray Kemink, who has been retained by K&N.

K&N has moved Intermountain to 40,000 square feet of leased space on Broadway Avenue, a few blocks north of K&N's facility at 415 N. Fancher, from its old quarters at 5218 E. Sharp. An Intermountain spokesman says the move came after Spokane County Water District 3 decided to buy the property on Sharp for an expansion.

K&N has been in business since 1975. For the past decade, some of its biggest projects have involved constructing fish transfer facilities at dams on Pacific Northwest rivers.

The family-owned business is run by President Jerry Schmidlkofer; his daughter Jan; son Steve, who is the lead project manager and estimator for K&N; and son Bob, who has assumed the role of business and marketing director for Intermountain.

K&N has taken Intermountain's manager Kemink into its bidding process on new projects.

"We realized customers we deal with could also be served by Intermountain. This probably strengthens both businesses," Jan Schmidlkofer says.

K&N Electric Motors currently has 67 employees. Intermountain also has an office in Bellevue, Wash. Along with Kemink, Intermountain's CFO and lead estimator also were retained following the acquisition.