Burns Mechanical
Burns Mechanical is a premier mechanical services company providing solutions for the most prominent construction projects in the greater Philadelphia region. The National Center for the Middle Market had the pleasure of speaking with Burns Mechanical’s President, Dan Kerr, about the company’s rich history, recent structural changes, and re-focused vision.
How It Started
Burns Mechanical was founded by a steamfitter by trade in 1998, who had established a solid reputation from years of management experience in the local market. His goal was to do large-scale construction projects in the Philadelphia region and the company saw early success. Within five years, Burns Mechanical played a significant role in major expansions of Philadelphia’s Children’s Hospital and the building of the first Comcast tower, the tallest building in the city at the time.
It was remarkable for a new company to get involved in such significant projects. Burns was able to accomplish these feats because, shortly after its founding, the firm was bought by PPL, a regional utility company. Burns was able to leverage the financial depth of a Fortune 500 company out of the gate. Within the first year, Burns also bought and fully integrated a well-established mechanical service company (DVY), diversifying the organization’s offerings to include maintenance work and repairs. As Burns grew more successful, PPL tapped the company president and founder to lead its entire fleet of contractors.
Downturn
Burns Mechanical’s initial differentiation strategy was to deliver the highest quality installations through leading edge coordination software and extensive advance planning. These processes eventually became the expected entry point for the strongest Philadelphia area mechanical contractors. Additionally, the company failed to compensate for its lack of full time chief executive. The 2008 recession hit the company hard. Amid intense competition and eroding finances, Burns’ founder resigned in October of 2012.
Pivoting Strategy
Dan Kerr joined Burns Mechanical as president in July of 2013. Dan is a Professional Engineer by trade and, until 2013, spent most of his career at McClure Company, a sister company of Burns. Dan saw an opportunity in providing more comprehensive solutions to clients. These revamped solutions required investing in engineering talent to de-commoditize their offerings and provide building life cycle services. These include self-performing or assisting with systems engineering, energy services contracts, guaranteed return-on-investment contracting models, advanced trouble-shooting services, and various other building operation consulting roles.
Comprehensive solutions underlie Burns Mechanical’s new vision: seeking to earn a seat of influence at the “strategy table” and being a partner, not just a downstream contractor. The company wants to be involved early and often on projects, driving cost-effective decisions from the beginning.
Workforce Challenges
Burns realized it needed to change its workforce development practices in order to earn those seats of influence. They require comprehensive expertise in engineering, construction, commissioning and mechanical service. As a result, the company has a significant focus on attracting engineers out of college rather than solely on a traditional construction workforce.
Development is a constant struggle for middle market companies and Burns is no exception. Middle market firms compete against huge organizations with mature and dedicated human resource departments. The available time for training and development is much more limited in smaller firms. Burns has 35 office employees and even the president spends time directly on projects.
While Dan described an envy of companies with significant training programs, he also sees risk in “corporatizing” the company. There is beauty and value in agility, so Burns strives to tailor training and development to each individual.