INTEC
Address: 321 N 25th St., Milwaukee
Year founded: 1985
Product or service offered: We analyze residential and commercial structures for their overall functional integrity and make the upgrades needed for optimal operation – beyond just the energy efficiency measures that often save from 30 to 60 percent in utility costs. We are a small general contractor that works in the “building science” sector, which is relatively new. Our approach is to view a building as a single entity and integrate all the building trades, as needed, to achieve desired results.
Projected 2014 revenue: $8 million
President: Jaime Hurtado
Other key members of the leadership team: Juan Hurtado, operations vice president; Patrina Fernandez-Hurtado, vice president; James Wolfgram, comptroller; Sergio Rodriguez, operations manager; Elvis Alvarado, residential sales manager; Mary Kanyuh, commercial sales estimator; Tim Tamsen, chief project manager
Target clientele: In the residential market, people with high energy bills, sweaty windows, ice damming, mildew formation, or those interested in having the home tested for safety issues. In the commercial market, companies that are looking for DBE, MBE, SBE and RPP designations with a bondable, insurable, high-performing company.
Business organization memberships: Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin, Better Business Bureau of Wisconsin, National Association of the Remodeling Industry, Metropolitan Builders Association, Building Performance Institute, Focus on Energy, Energy Star RESNET-BPI
What has fueled your company’s growth? “INTEC has remained focused on and committed to excellence in a specific industry, the building science sector. In the process, we gained a reputation for superior service. Customers spread the word, and our business grew. Failure in our early years propelled us to learn everything we could about this industry, probing deeply and asking questions. This led to a practice of always looking for better ways of providing top-notch service in a cost-effective manner that would ensure profitability.”
What is the biggest obstacle to your company’s growth? “The biggest obstacle to the growth of our company is the market size. We need to expand to other markets and increase the bandwidth of our services. The real big obstacle to our growth is the one(s) that we can not see—the ones we do not know we do not know—those, we cannot do anything about. In other words, our biggest obstacles are the mind frames or attitudes that may engender complacency, over-confidence or other qualities that could block our commitment to service and excellence.”
Do you plan to make any changes in your company in the coming months? “The biggest change in our company in the next few months is the one that will require going from 3.5 years of noise mitigation at Mitchell International to other commercial work. This work will end for us by November of this year. We are starting several new service lines for the commercial sector.”
Who are the business people, locally or nationally, whom you admire? And what traits do those people exhibit that make you admire them? “Locally, I admire Gary Jorgenson from VJS Construction and Clarence and Dorothea J. Bundy from Bundy Construction. They had a strong sense of family, creativity, integrity, a fierce commitment to excellence, and all were examples of contribution and service to all. Walter Sava, the former executive director of La Casa de Esperanza who saw me as an entrepreneur and gave me a shot at starting La Casa Development Corp. and the Waukesha franchise of the Energy Experts in 1982. I admire his energy, vision, creativity, and indisputable stand for ‘anything is possible.’”
What is the outlook for the business conditions of your industry over the next several months? “There is a shrinking of budgets for our traditional weatherization customers. Also, Focus on Energy is lowering the rebates for residential customers and the Milwaukee Energy Efficiency Program known as ME2 has ended.”
What is your company’s most important growth strategy right now? “Our most important growth strategy is diversification of services and expansion into other markets. We are developing new product lines, increasing our bidding capacity in the commercial market, and forming strategic alliances with General Contractors committed to excellence, performance, integrity , and service.”
