Joe Murphy

The name might not ring a bell. However, if you have lived in or passed through the Las Vegas area in the past 35 years, rest assured, you’re familiar with (and have benefited from) Joe Murphy’s work.

That’s because Murphy Electric — the small business Murphy launched back in 1989 — has serviced the electrical, design, and contractor needs of every conceivable commercial and industrial entity that has set up shop in Southern Nevada in the past three-plus decades.

Schools, banks, hotels, retailers, data service providers, manufacturers — all are among Murphy Electric’s lengthy roster of clients.

What does all this have to do with UNLV — and, specifically, the university’s Alumni Association honoring Murphy with the 2024 Silver State Award?

Everything, actually.

To fully understand why, though, you first must understand the depths of Murphy’s Southern Nevada roots. Doing that requires traveling back to 1981, the year an 18-year-old Murphy was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base a few miles northeast of downtown Las Vegas.

If Murphy doesn’t land at Nellis, he never would’ve developed an affinity for Las Vegas and its freewheeling spirit; never would’ve gotten wrapped up in the excitement of Runnin’ Rebels basketball; and never would’ve found himself at a hotel-casino dancehall not far from his air base one night in 1983.

That last one? It’s important. Because that dancehall is where Murphy spotted a pretty lady named Julie, asked her to dance, got rejected, asked again, got rejected again, persisted a third time, and finally got a “yes” — followed by another “yes” at the altar two years later.

Had none of this transpired, Murphy wouldn’t have remained in Las Vegas after completing his military commitment. And if he doesn’t remain in Las Vegas, he doesn’t struggle to find employment in the preferred field (avionics mechanic) that led him to enlist in the Air Force.

Without that job-hunt struggle, Murphy doesn’t reconsider his career path; discover and enroll in an electrician apprenticeship program; get accepted and subsequently land a job with an electrical company whose owner becomes his mentor; and soon realize the limited growth ceiling at his mentor’s company, resulting in his eventual decision to depart and start Murphy Electric.

That roll of the dice — followed by years of hard work, of navigating small-business growing pains, of insisting on providing quality service without cutting corners — it all led to the aforementioned roster of clients. 

Thanks to those clients, Murphy Electric and sister company NexGen Integrated Solutions did $65 million in gross revenue last year. And thanks to that revenue, Murphy has been in a position to give back to his community.

The beneficiaries of that philanthropy include the Rebel Athletic Fund, which Murphy and his wife have given to for 15 consecutive years, and the UNLV Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine, for which the Murphys established the Emily Stevens Scholarship in 2015 in memory of the daughter of family friends. The scholarship offsets a student’s medical school tuition costs.

All of this explains why Joe Murphy was selected to receive the 2024 Silver State Award, which annually recognizes a non-alumnus for their ongoing support of the university and the community at-large.

Murphy joins a long list of distinguished Silver State Award recipients, including three previous university presidents (Kenny Guinn in 1996, Don Snyder in 2001, and Carol C. Harter in 2019); two Nevada governors (Guinn and Bob Miller in 2011); the duo whose surnames grace the Thomas & Mack Center (Jerome Mack and Perry Thomas in 1981); and the legendary basketball coach who won hundreds of games in that building (Jerry Tarkanian in 2010).

These previous honorees (and all the others)? They’re the reason why Murphy initially intended to decline the award. They’re also why he ultimately had a change of heart.

“My immediate reaction was to turn it down because I didn’t feel I needed to be given any award. And I certainly didn’t believe I ‘deserved’ to be honored,” Murphy says. “Then I spoke with my good friend, UNLV athletics director Erick Harper. He encouraged me to reconsider, so I thought about it for several days, then looked at the past recipients.

“That’s when I realized what an incredible honor this is. So I very humbly accepted it.”

While it’s easy to understand Murphy’s “I’m-not-worthy” reticence, it’s even easier to understand why the Alumni Association chose him for the honor — and why Harper pressed him to take it. Because beyond his known (and unknown) financial contributions, Murphy also has served UNLV and various community organizations in other impactful ways.

This includes stints on the UNLV Foundation Board of Trustees, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Foundation Board of Directors (currently serving as treasurer), and the Las Vegas Bowl Committee.

Murphy also has done extensive fundraising for and donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. And as a past member of the Southern Highlands Charity Foundation board — the first formal board he joined — Murphy helped raise funds for numerous community causes. Some of those funds were used to build a new Boys & Girls Club in the Southern Highlands community a decade ago.

Indeed, when it comes to the needs of his entire Las Vegas Valley, the Air Force veteran turned electrician turned owner of a highly successful electrical contracting company continues to be, yes, plugged in.

What were your initial impressions of Las Vegas when you arrived and began your service at Nellis Air Force Base?

I was 18 years old and fresh out of technical school training in Denver, where I had trained to be an avionics mechanic on F-16s — at the time, the newest fighter jet in the Air Force inventory. 

I had no idea in the moment what a gift it was that I was stationed at Nellis. Back then, Las Vegas was very small — the population was maybe 280,000. Also, Nevada was a “freewill” state with very limited rules and regulations. Certain areas didn’t even have speed limits. And it was close to the end of that era when you basically were allowed to do almost anything within limits — as long as you didn’t infringe on anyone else’s rights.

So I fell in love with Las Vegas immediately. That love grew in summer 1983, when I met my future wife at the Sam’s Town dancehall. She turned down my first two invitations to dance. But for whatever reason, I wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. So I asked one more time, and luckily, the third time was the charm.

We began dating shortly thereafter and got married in 1985 after I fulfilled my service commitment. That’s when Las Vegas truly became my home, and it remains so to this day.

What was your first exposure to UNLV?

I remember attending a comedy concert at the brand new Thomas & Mack Center — junior enlisted Air Force members were given free tickets. We had to wear our uniforms and were picked up at Nellis in beautiful buses. I don’t recall who sponsored us that evening, but I do recall getting free food and drinks at the concert. It was a first class event.

At the time Runnin’ Rebel basketball was the hot ticket in Las Vegas. Having grown up in ACC country, I didn’t care for the Rebels. All that changed when I watched a game from the nosebleed seats. It was such a great experience, and the community excitement for the Runnin’ Rebels was incredible. It was also infectious, because I quickly became a big fan.

What happened after you completed your Air Force duties that led you to start your own electrical company?

After my active-duty service commitment ended, I applied for jobs in aircraft maintenance, which was my chosen field. However, I didn’t receive any offers — which, looking back, was a blessing because my career probably would’ve turned out totally different.

As for what led me down the electrician path, back in high school, I had taken an electrician class and done vocational training. I recalled liking what I had learned. So when I found out about an electrician apprenticeship program while having trouble landing an aircraft maintenance job, I applied. I ultimately was accepted to the program and hired by Mike McFarlane, who was the majority owner of M&M Electric.

Mr. McFarlane became a great mentor, and I worked for M&M electric for four years before getting my master electrician’s license. I needed that to start my own business, which became a goal when I realized that, because of M&M’s organizational structure, I didn’t have a path to leadership or ownership.

So I started Murphy Electric in 1989.

How were you able to grow Murphy Electric to what it is today? 

Like most small business startups, we launched with a small working crew and little capital. Yet we managed to grow the business incrementally in the first decade (while learning some painful lessons along the way).

The company’s major breakthrough and turning point came in 2001. That’s when we were awarded a large food distribution contract for a Fortune 100 corporation. The willingness of this client to trust Murphy Electric for such a large project elevated our status in Las Vegas — we were now a big player in the electric world.

Over the past two decades, we’ve established design-build relationships with many other major clients. However, those relationships would not exist if integrity was not our company’s main pillar.

As a business owner, I also have prioritized the importance of empowering my team to make decisions, improve their leadership skills, and increase their job satisfaction. Because I believe the only way to achieve business objectives is to create a strong team where each member feels invested. That’s how you develop trust, which is an essential component to the success of any operation.

This team-centered approach helped us find a niche in the pool industry. It also allowed us to launch our sister business NextGen Integrated Solutions, which is a low-voltage security fire protection company.

Murphy Electric has now grown to the point that we currently do $65 million in gross revenue. And I’m proud to say that it’s also grown into a family business.

My youngest son Nick works in Murphy Electric’s solar division — that is, when he isn’t playing for the Las Vegas Desert Dogs professional lacrosse team. Another son Chris — who attended UNLV and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs — serves as fire protection manager for our sister company, NextGen Protection.

Meanwhile, Chris’ twin brother Joe IV chose to serve his country in the military, graduating from the Air Force Academy in 2021. He now serves as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Space Force in Colorado Springs.

UNLV has benefited greatly from your generous philanthropy. What initially prompted this desire to give back?

Mike Bonner (’78, and current vice chairman of the UNLV Foundation Board of Trustees) and Greg Lee (2023 Silver State Award recipient) are very good friends of mine. Mike once shared with me that UNLV is the major economic engine that’s responsible for our community’s sustained growth and diversity.

That perspective had never occurred to me. But after he said it, I realized how much I have benefited — and continue to benefit — from the community. 

At the time, I had been giving to other important community-based causes, but the university was not high on my list. That changed after seeing how committed Mike and Greg were to UNLV, and why they were such passionate champions of our hometown university.

Greg and I decided to give to the Rebel Athletic Foundation to support the school’s underfunded athletics programs. After making that commitment, the doors opened and I got a firsthand glimpse at some of the great things people were doing at UNLV.

As I started to attend some of the donor-related functions, I realized how many people I personally knew who are part of the UNLV giving circle. This strengthened my philanthropic commitment — as did the realization that many of UNLV’s benefactors were not university alumni or even had a child who attended the university. 

The simple fact is this university represents the community that I have called home for more than 40 years. It’s a community I love. That’s why I’m involved and why I’m happy to do whatever I can to support UNLV’s missions.

In addition to Rebel athletics, you support the UNLV Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine through a scholarship that you and your wife established. Why was it important to get involved with this university entity?

Because it’s a game-changer — not only for UNLV but all of Las Vegas. Yes, the university needed a medical school to enhance its profile. But more than that, as our community has grown, so has the need for more quality physicians to tend to our various health care needs.

As the medical school matures and more doctors who go through the program decide to practice here, everyone living in Southern Nevada will benefit.

Your philanthropy extends beyond UNLV to several community organizations. What’s your philosophy when it comes to giving back — be it volunteering time, donating money, or both?

Without question, time is the most valuable asset you can give to a person or organization in need. Yes, the money part is important. But it doesn’t take much effort to write a check, especially if you’re fortunate enough to have the financial means to do so.

Volunteering your time requires making a physical and emotional commitment that sometimes isn’t easy. But much like a financial gift, that commitment can have an immense and long-lasting impact. And often you can see it and feel it in real time.

Either way, though, giving back and not expecting anything in return leads to a fulfilling life — at least in my experience.