Hank Brancaccio
President
Mared Mechanical Contractors, Inc.
4230 W. Douglas Ave., Milwaukee
www.maredmechanical.com
Industry: Mechanical contracting
Number of employees: 70
Family: Wife, Marie; and daughters: Lisa, 21, Susie, 18 and Natalie, 13
What was the smartest thing your company did in the past year?
“About a year ago we switched to Park Bank after a six- to nine-month process of investigating our banking options. To date it has been very positive in many aspects. The level of service has been good and they provided us with more creative financing than what we had in the past. I would still say we are in the beginning stage of our relationship, but we are hoping this continues to develop into a very strong long-term relationship. “
What’s new at your company?
“We recently promoted one of our top service technicians to a service operations supervisor. We wanted a dedicated leader who, every day, is only thinking about how to improve and manage our service field people. Our service business is very important to our overall business success, especially now that the construction business is down in Milwaukee. Our hope is this change can set the direction for growth and a high level of customer service for the future.”
Do you plan to hire any additional staff or make any significant capital investments in your company in the next year?
“Yes. We would like to establish a new position, project coordinator, and add a second service coordinator if we can grow our business. We are constantly on the lookout for good service technicians to supplement our service business and help increase value to our overall capabilities.”
What will be your company’s main challenges in the next year?
“Focusing more attention on service work, retrofit projects and increasing our overall hit ratio on small and medium sized projects. We also need to grow our specialty businesses such as plumbing, fire protection and temperature controls. During the past couple of years we have had to do more with less; now we need to align our organization to better fit what we are good at and what the market will support.”
What’s the hottest trend in your industry?
“I would have to say more projects going green or LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). You see project designs emphasizing green construction, energy efficient equipment, and energy savings systems like solar. Owners have a strong desire to build more efficient buildings or retrofit buildings using green technology. Systems that are more environmentally friendly and use less energy seem to be included in many projects today. Although mechanical systems in buildings may not get the attention that the building architecture gets, these systems consume a large portion of a building’s energy costs and building owners and developers have become more cost conscience on ways to reduce these costs.”
Do you have a business mantra?
“I am very passionate about business and winning and believe that nothing is ever given to you; you need to fight and work hard to be successful in whatever you do. I strongly feel you need to be proactive in business and not wait for things to happen. The contracting business is a relationship business and friends tend to work with friends.”
From a business standpoint, who do you look up to?
“Over the past 28 years I have worked for and with many strong managers and leaders. It would be hard to identify a single individual. I try to take little things from many different leaders, managers and peers I have worked for and worked with in my past career at Johnson Controls, Inc. and from business partners I work with now at Mared Mechanical. I also have an admiration for the leadership and management skills of some of the companies we compete with every day.”
