Born in a garage, now a force in HVAC
Robert A. Armistead probably could not have imagined his plumbing service, which he ran out of his New Jersey garage after World War I, would eventually span four generations and take the heating, ventilating and air conditioning trade to a whole new level.
Robert Armistead, now president of the company his grandfather founded, has known his way around the industry since he was a youngster ”“ and he has made sure it keeps up with current technology while striving to create an ever-better fit when it comes to all things mechanical.
Armistead Mechanical, with locations in Newburgh and Waldwick, N.J., is a $50 million a year HVAC contractor. Despite the high-profile jobs on which they”™ve worked, the family company remains down-to-earth and anchored, you might say, by the expectation of quality its work garners.
“We maintain our New Jersey office, but our whole family eventually relocated to New York,” said Armistead, who goes by Bob, showing his nearly new headquarters on Route 300 in the town of Newburgh, built adjacent to its fabrication factory. The new building offers a “clean room,” where mechanical parts for the biotech and semiconductor industries can be worked on without being exposed to dust, particulates or chemicals. “As the industry has grown, it is imperative for any contractor worth its salt to incorporate these best practices into its organization if it fabricates materials for these specialized industries,” Armistead said.
Since piping, plumbing and venting are continuously upgraded, contractors, laborers, welders and support staff are always on a learning curve, said Armistead. “We have a safety manager, and we”™re firm believers in keeping our workers and staff up to snuff.”
Part of the ongoing training and education takes place through the Mechanical Contractors Association of America”™s education association, which has 50 student chapters at colleges across the country and the National Architectural Construction Engineers mentoring program for high school students, introducing them to the industry and teaching them new technology to introduce them into the next generation of HVAC work.
Armistead, a member of the Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA) for eight years, is now serving a one-year term as its president, which started in April. It”™s an opportunity to share best practices with other HVAC contractors from around the country ”“ from those who small businesses to employers as large as Kinetics, dedicated to biopharmaceutical and stainless steel piping. “There are exciting projects going on right here in New York,” said Armistead, pointing to Luther Forest in upstate Malta and Global Foundries, its first tenant. “These are the kind of clean, high-tech industries that need our expertise and which we welcome to New York to grow our economy.”
Although Armistead hobnobs with politicians, Fortune 500 company executives and high-profile developers, his down-to-earth nature is contagious. “We”™re a family company,” said Armistead, whose brother, Kevin, is company secretary and treasurer. “And my own three sons are now the fourth generation to be in the business. Some of our employees are multigenerational, just as we are. We truly feel we are family. We spend time together both in and out of work.”
The company has expanded to offer 24/7 service through company-owned AMI Inc. for its commercial customers and through Acorn, also company-owned, serving small commercial and residential customers.
Armistead feels just as comfortable enjoying a concert at Bethel Woods as he does addressing 250 of his peers at an MCAA function.
Like most hit by the crash of 2008, Armistead said business is off approximately 20 percent, and the MTA tax, which the company”™s New York employees are subject to, rankles. “There isn”™t one person who works for us either in New York or down in New Jersey who takes any kind of public transportation to get to work, nor do I see it happening in the foreseeable future,” said Armistead. “I understand the MTA needs money, but perhaps it should look to its ridership and into its own spending practices to see where cost cuts can be made without putting this on the backs of small business.”
Some of the Armistead Mechanical”™s projects and clients in four states and Canada include: Hudson Valley Hospital”™s new $12 million expansion; Middletown wastewater treatment plant; IBM; Wyeth; Akzo Nobel; Mount St. Mary; Novartis; and Conoco Refineries.