Founded in 1946, Southern Air, based in Lynchburg, went from a local residential heating company to one of the main mechanical, plumbing and electric contractors in the region, which serve a wide range of market sectors. On the eve of its 80th anniversary, the company has achieved another milestone: recognition as a specialized firm Enr Midatlantic of the year for the second time in seven years.
Southern Air occupied the 10th place on the list of most important contractors in the Eastern region with $ 185.8 million by 2024 revenue, an 18% increase over the previous year, with all work in Western Virginia and Virginia.
In addition to providing design and construction experience to maintain the rhythm with the growing complexity and sophistication of construction systems, Southern Air has invested a lot in the development and training of qualified artisans in all their specialized shops, with more than 100 learners licensed in Virginia.
The firm also supports many charitable organizations throughout its service area, with a strong approach to non -profit organizations dedicated to professional technical education. One of its main partners has been the Central Virginia Community College Educational Foundation, which Southern Air says has supported significant levels.
Paul Denham, who has been President of the South Air since 2016, shared his reflections on the recent success of the company and his emerging challenges in the next Q&A AMB that has been edited and condensed.
The main Southern Air projects include:
Lifepoint Hospitals, Lynchburg, Va.
The project of two dollars of $ 24.7 million adds a total of 121,000 square meters to extend the health and mental rehabilitation services in the region. The prefabrication of underground plumbing and electrical services helped manage quality and productivity.
Liberty University Champions Center, Lynchburg.
The $ 12 million complement, 34,000 square meters at the existing Hancock Visitor Center, will use state -of -the -art audio/visual technology to transmit the University’s message to future students and their families. The building includes a new theater with a curved screen of 1,800 square meters, an interactive champions room and a large multipurpose room with a 360 ° screen screen.
Electric penalty on James Madison University Campus, Harrisonburg, Va.
Located in the site of a now demolished power plant, the combined plant of $ 21 million and refrigerator includes two boilers capable of producing 80,000 LB per hour of steam at 250 PSIGs each. The project will guarantee the capacity of heating and cooling of the campus for the next decades.
What is the state of the markets of your services?
South air by the numbers:
79 – Years in the business
827 – Number of employees
$ 12.5 million – Virginia Income from West 2024
$ 36.7 million – electric income 2024
$ 149.1 million – MECH./plumbing Income 2024
173.3 million dollars: Virginia Reveenue 2024
$ 185.8 million: Midatlantic 2024 income
$ 194.1 million – National Income 2024
Apart from the Richmond area, we work mainly in the rural parts of Virginia and North Carolina, which means that we must be a jack-off-all-trads and work on what is available at a particular time. In terms of sectors, office construction is not robust, but there are mainly projects by larger businessmen who needed to expand or update. Health care is especially strong, such as industrial, with a lot of capital investment for line changes and team updates.
When we outlined South Air in 2018, you said that design design capabilities pushed for income growth. Does design design still distinguish your company?
We consider ourselves more an engineering company than a construction company. The more challenging the project, the more likely the people are looking for our experience.
For the last two years, as costs for materials and labor have increased significantly, it is more difficult for owners to obtain budget projects. This is where we can help. Normally, there are three or four projects a year that initially offer plans and specifications, and then we offer a design design alternative, where we became the engineer of the engineer and the promoting value of the owners. We do not have many competitors capable of doing it.
Has your design creation projects changed or evolved in recent years?
The projects have become more difficult and complex, largely driven by changes in construction codes that require more energy efficiency. As a result, we have brought more home operations in recent years, such as data wiring, access control and fire alarm and farmer systems. It is a way to control the risk.
Have you increased out of place prefabrication?
We couldn’t survive without prefabrication. Complement what we are doing with BIM and design modeling. In addition to expanding our manufacturing store to 60,000 square feet, we make more use of the total stations to establish hanger and underground points. Thus, when the crew presents to install pipes and ducts, the hangers are already in place.
What are the key elements that attract participants to your learning program?
“We need to be a jack-off-all-transing and work on what is available at a particular time.”
—Paul Denham, President, Southern Air
For the past five years, we have created a strong collaboration with the state community university system to develop a more standardized and predictable learning curriculum that allows employees to fulfill all technical instruction requirements in two or two and a half years. When done with work in the classroom, they are halfway up to fulfill their four-year work requirement to become a licensed trip in trade. Mapping to Creary Camí, [we] You can attract young people to the company. We also help them get financial help and provide internal classes taught by our field leaders.
We have also gained a lot of high school traction with a dedicated human resources department team that builds relationships with schools in our region. We are actively talking to students about how they can navigate a professional career in a technical trade and hire some as inmates. If they come to work for us in the summer before their first year, they have two years of work experience when they graduate. We help you to go through the balance of your classroom training.
You have been to South Air for more than 36 years; What has had the most significant influence on the engineering and construction business?
Digital technology has permeated all parts of the business, from the way we communicate to establishing our work. And this is from top to bottom, from our executive team to our field technicians. For example, we have almost left paperless. Our field equipment must know how to use their phones or tablets to communicate with the systems to configure and adjust it. To do their job, they have to become a network and Bluetooth experts.
How do you feel about the region’s construction economy in the coming months and beyond?
In our business, it is difficult to look accurately a year or two. We currently have more than a year on a contract, so we focus on it. But Virginia and North Carolina are great states for business. Unless it changes significantly, they will continue to be so and we will continue to see growth.
And what are Southern Air’s plans for a near future?
I think the AI may be a bit exceeded, but it reproduces to automate the type of systems we work with. And the more automation, the more you need a company like ours. We feel good about our future and our ability to continue to grow with the leadership team we have brought together. But I always remember our employees that we are not in the business of electrical or mechanical systems; We are in the talent business. We sell the talent of the people we have here to help our customers make the most of the systems that meet their needs.
