Play to Your Strengths

Welcome to our May issue, which is, by long-standing tradition, the home of our Book of Giants, a feature where we profile some of the nation’s largest mechanical contractors. The feature starts on pg. 18, and we also have a round-up of what some of the top contractors have been up to this past year on pg. 38.

We look to the large contractors each year for several reasons. First, most are engaged in a wide variety of work: commercial, engineering, data centers, education, government, service, maintenance, healthcare, industrial, infrastructure… the list goes on. Not many of our readers engage in so many types of work, but most of our readers can usually find something they do on that list.  

Second, they are working on the cutting edge of today’s construction technology. Whether that means prefabrication techniques, automation, building information modeling or Artificial Intelligence, they have dedicated teams looking at any innovation that could win them a competitive advantage. They choices they make often filter down to affect the rest of the industry. 

Third, they are operating on a larger scale and along longer timelines, which lets us talk about some of the big issues affecting the wider marketplace. These days that means volatile materials and energy prices.

For example, I did some of the interviewing for this year’s Book of Giants, and I was fascinated to learn how sophisticated an approach Andy J. Egan is taking to pricing materials; how their procurement department is tied into their preconstruction teams, and then in turn to their estimators, managers and field teams.

Mechanical contracting has always been a difficult, demanding job, and it isn’t getting easier anytime soon. Technical demands, compliance pressures, and system complexity are all rising. At the same time the most important tool to manage those pressures—workers possessing deep system expertise—is more rare than ever.

It seems to me that the solution the two Giants profiled this year (Egan and McKinstry) have found, is to play to their strengths. They have each found what they’re really good at, then leveraged it across the business model.

Egan has been deeply invested in digital technology for decades. Now, that tech-forward approach is not just aiding operations, it is helping them attract younger workers who might not have considered careers in contracting, but who do want to work in tech. 

In a similar way, McKinstry has been a long-time investor in prefabrication. Now they have a group that specializes in off-site manufacturing, and it has allowed them to diversify into broader markets providing greater growth and stability for their entire company.  

I want to congratulate all our Giants on their continued success and thank them for taking the time to talk to us this month.

I can’t wrap up this editorial without also taking the time to thank our long-running hydronics columnist Pat Linhardt, who has filed his final column with us (on pg. 22).

Pat came to write for CONTRACTOR not long after I was made Editor-in-Chief and having him on board gave me a greater sense of stability in those early days. With his comprehensive knowledge of hydronic systems old and new, as well as a dry sense of humor, Pat became the anchor for our popular Hydronics & Radiant section. Over the years he has written some of the most widely read articles we’ve ever published.

We wish Pat a speedy recovery from his current health issues, a few more strokes off his golf game, and all the happiness in the world. Next month we will feature the first column from Brady Brophy, Pat’s handpicked successor.