Making the world a better place

Kimbel Mechanical thrives through efficient project execution

As a dark economic cloud wrapped itself around the U.S. market, one mechanical contracting firm held steady through diversification, a proven track record with multi-family housing, military work and other large scale projects.

Kimbel Mechanical Systems Inc., headquartered in Springdale, Ark., is a firm that now employs 75 people and is actively recruiting a dozen more technicians. A few years before the housing bust, company managers felt what seemed to be a tremor or two that prompted them to assess their involvement in new construction work.

At the time, their military, tax credit, and multi-family work was growing. “So we moved toward these eagerly, and the decision paid off,” said Brad Smith, COO.

Over the past few years, a growing percentage of their employees have been involved in these types of projects, anywhere between New England and Texas. They’re growing, too, at a time when many larger firms are struggling.

Jobsites nationwide

For the past five years, Kimbel Mechanical has operated on a nearly national scale. With 80 jobsites currently in progress between Massachusetts and Oklahoma, it’s no surprise that they run a tight ship.
“Our ability to work successfully over such a broad geographic area can be attributed to many things,” said Smith. “We feel we’ve got a great management team, a culture that encourages efficiency and good work, and a highly efficient logistics system. After all, we purchase and move a lot of equipment, supplies and materials over a large area, and the clock is always ticking.”

The company is in the process of completing nearly 1,000 single-family home renovations at an Air Force base in Arkansas, expected to be finished in the summer of 2011. They are also completing plumbing installations for 133 new construction units and 10 units that were abandoned by a previous contractor. It’s substantial: each of the living units are 1,500- to 1,800-sq.-ft, three-bedroom homes.
Keeping jobs on track and logistics aren’t the only things taken seriously. The level of security, logistics and documentation is daunting. All products need to meet a completely separate set of standards on all facets of the job, and installed equipment, must also comply with the Buy American Act.

“Managing materials for any of the military jobsites is 10 times more complicated than for civilian residential jobs,” Smith said.

All the military housing units have Bradford White 50-gallon power vent water heaters with the new Icon system. The Icon water heater control system is right in line with the government interests — safety and efficiency all in one simple package.

Kimbel also replaced and repaired many of the sewer taps, mains and lateral lines to the residences. This was a major undertaking since the lines were more than 50 years old. This required close coordination with the general contractor, base housing management, military personnel and the Air Force. A similar project is under construction at an Air Force base in Massachusetts.

The Air Force projects, however, began with a challenging twist. Though neither of the jobsites were Kimbel’s first military project, both were well under construction before being abandoned by a large commercial contractor that filed for bankruptcy and dissolved.

When the firm went under, there was a two-and-a-half year period where nothing happened. After that, federal contracts were cut for a new general contractor who chose Kimbel Mechanical Systems to resume the work.

“It was interesting, but unpleasant, to pick up where they left off,” added Smith. “There was minimal information and few blueprints available to us, so there was a lot of extra work needed to figure out what was there, and what needed to be done.”

In addition to these military projects, Kimbel has worked on military housing projects in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kansas, and Virginia.

Guatemala-bound

No doubt, there’s a certain level of stress involved in growing a company amidst economic turmoil while sending people and material all over the country. High quality standards must be met consistently while meeting stringent deadlines. Kimbel managers acknowledge these needs and yet, at the same time, set their sites on giving back.

“It has become part of our culture, and now an important part of who we are as a company, and also as individuals,” said Smith.

“We know in our hearts that we’re blessed through our work and profitability, and — because of this — we knew there was more that we could do to make the world a better place,” he added. “We turned our attention toward some of the poorest people in the world — by sending crews to Casa Para Niños, one of the largest orphanages in Central America.”

“We believe that life is more than what you put in the bank,” continued Smith. “It’s not just about us. We, who have, are blessed with the