RK Mechanical Selected As Colorado Specialty Contractor of the Year
While firms across the country are tightening their belts, Denver contractor RK Mechanical Inc. has re-invested in its employees and completed one of the largest construction projects in the company's history. For its ongoing pursuit of portfolio diversity and its steadfast attention to the health, safety and training of its employees, RK has been selected by ENR Mountain States as Colorado's Specialty Contractor of the Year for 2011.
From its modest start 48 years ago as a plumbing and heating company in northeast Nebraska, to its current world-class headquarters on a 16-acre site in Denver, RK has grown to become one of the region's leading full-service plumbing, mechanical and process piping contractors and fabricators. The mechanical powerhouse closed its 2011 books with $156.7 million in revenue, up from $124.2 million in 2010. While these figures are down from the company's high-water mark of $164 million in revenue in 2009, "we've actually grown despite the recession," says Rick Kinning, chairman and CEO. He has run the company with his brother Jon, president of RK's Performance Building Services division, since their father retired in 2007.
"We're passionate about our business," says Jon Kinning. "It goes deep—we're relentless about improving our delivery, to be better, faster, smarter. And we compete against ourselves, not the marketplace."
RK Mechanical is also passionate about its nearly 700 employees. Rick Kinning says their quality, loyalty and depth has helped the firm grow. "We look at downtimes as an opportunity to invest in our people," he says.
RK recently revamped its human resources department, creating what it calls the people services department. The department is largely responsible for launching RK's new wellness culture, which is aimed at improving the overall health of the firm's 450 field personnel, 100 office staff and 100 fabricators.
An in-house wellness coach provides consulting and support services to both office and field employees, visiting jobsites, helping staff adopt a healthy lifestyle and organizing weight-loss programs. RK also recently restructured its health benefits program, upgrading its employee options so that the firm maintains its role as an industry leader, Jon Kinning says.
The Denver Business Journal ranked the contractor third on its 2011 list of healthiest employers in the Denver metro area and has named RK Mechanical one of the best places to work in the large company category for the second year.
Diversification
"To hit our 2030 goals, 40% of our revenues will be established through diversification," says Marc Paolicelli, RK's vice president of corporate business development.
In addition to construction in the health-care, industrial, institutional, government and aviation industries—to name just a few—RK fabricates 90% of the firm's sheet metal, piping, plumbing and structural products in its 65,000-sq-ft Denver facility and a second 110,000-sq-ft facility in nearby Henderson, Colo.
"Shipping prefabricated assemblies allows us to install a higher-quality product because we're doing it in a controlled environment," explains Wayne Fee, RK operations manager.
A 10,000-sq-ft clean fabrication room in the Denver shop is used for receipt, fabrication, quality-control inspection and packaging for delivery of stainless-steel materials. RK Specialties—the contractor's $10-million steel-services group, housed at its Henderson facility—is expected to grow to $20 million by 2013.
"This all ties back into diversification," Jon Kinning says.
But RK's growth is not limited to diversification in traditional contracting. Paolicelli says RK is venturing into multiple manufacturing arenas such as working with a local architecturally based product design company to manufacture components for its Sustainable Solutions product line. The products aim to simplify customers' lives by providing functional and sustainable everyday goods.
And just last month, RK established its MCS Group, which will focus on a new market for the contractor in 2012—oil and gas. This wholly owned subsidiary will be a turnkey, single-source solutions provider to the global oil and gas industry, Paolicelli says.
Meanwhile, RK's service group provides warranty and maintenance on contracts for projects it builds and also has its own service customers. This group plans to double its 50 service personnel over the next three years.
Partnerships
Mike Harms, a vice president with Denver's GE Johnson Construction Co., and one of RK's general contractor clients, appreciates the firm's approach to business because it acts as a partner, not just a vendor.
"We focus on bringing value to a project," says Jon Kinning. "We take [the client's] priorities and make them our priorities."
Rick Kinning says repeat business, due in large part to this partnering attitude, has helped the company grow.
Earlier this year, RK wrapped up a two-and-a half-year, $58-million mechanical project for GE Johnson at the new St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, Colo. At the time it was bid, it was the single largest project in RK's history and helped the contractor break into the health-care market at a much more significant level.
"There are less than a handful of local contractors capable of doing a project like this," Harms says. "RK's use of technology and prefabrication sets them apart and allows them to be cost competitive, more schedule certain and bring a high level of quality to the project."
RK is currently working with GE Johnson on phase two of an $18-million mechanical project for the Castle Rock Adventist Health Campus. The $2.6-million phase one was completed in September.
RK is also constructing a 297,000-sq-ft, LEED-Gold project with Denver's Whiting-Turner Construction Co. for the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder. Two-thirds of the building comprises mechanical support for the clean rooms and instrumentation labs. The $37-million mechanical project will be completed in March.
RK recently completed a federal project for Parsons Brinkerhoff (now Balfour Beatty) in Taiwan and is pursuing work at the U.S. Embassy in London, as well as other international and federal projects. In 2008 RK completed construction of the U.S. Embassy in Berlin with Greeley-based Hensel Phelps Construction Co.
"If we're in, we're in," Rick Kinning says. "We aren't apathetic about anything."
Recent RK Mechanical Projects
St. Anthony Hospital, Lakewood, Colo.
Owner: Centura Health
Completion: May 2011
Castle Rock Adventist Hospital Phase I Castle Rock, Colo.
Owner: Centura Health
Completion: September 2011
DOS Denver Data Center, Denver
Owner: U.S. Dept. of State
Completion: December 2011
History Colorado Center, Denver
Owner: State of Colorado
Completion: December 2011
Fort Carson Commissary, Colorado Springs
Owner: USACE
To Be Completed: January 2012
Fort Carson Physical Fitness Facility Colorado Springs
Owner: USACE
To Be Completed: March 2012
Byron G. Rogers Federal Office Building Denver
Owner: GSA
To Be Completed: December 2012
Ralph L. Carr Judicial Center, Denver
Owner: GSA
To Be Completed: December 2012
GSA FBI Office Building, Denver
Owner: GSA
Completion: March 2010
Teatro Tower Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences, Denver
Owner: 1111 Tower LLC
Completion: September 2010
Vail Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Residences
Owner: Vail Resorts
Completion: August 2010
