Midwest Mechanical: Focused on energy efficiency & maintenance programs

Midwest Mechanical was founded by the late Ken Beard, a former engineer for the Trane Company. In 1974 — shortly after moving to the Chicago area with his wife, Susan — he started Midwest Trane as a construction company. Through the years, the company’s focus shifted to HVAC service and design build, with an emphasis on energy efficiency.

Today, the company now known as Midwest Mechanical is led by President Sam Giampapa, who also spent his formative years at the Trane Company. Under his leadership, Midwest Mechanical has nearly doubled in recent years with substantial organic growth along with the acquisition of six HVAC service companies — the most recent of which was Murphy & Miller.

Paul Szymczak, Vice President of Sales, got his start in the industry at Midwest Mechanical as a cold call maintenance agreement salesperson. He returned to the company two years ago as part of the Climatemp Service Group acquisition.

“There are four brothers who owned the Climatemp family of companies, and they were the largest employer of sheet metal fabricators in Chicago,” Szymczak said. “HVAC mergers and acquisitions have been hot the last few years. With the Climatemp Service Group acquisition, I ended up back at Midwest after a long hiatus — sort of like a homecoming moment. I’m very happy to be back and very happy to see many of the associates I worked with 25 years ago are still here!”

Midwest Mechanical partners with clients to help control the cost of HVAC system operations through maintenance programs, operations and retrofit projects. Their work can be seen in a variety of markets, including commercial, industrial/manufacturing, mission critical facilities, research and development, healthcare and more. Currently, Midwest Mechanical is in the middle of a retrofit project for TerraCycle, an innovative waste management company.

“Our primary focus is to help customers take better care of the equipment they already own,” Szymczak said. “Maintenance is our core, and we help maintain upwards of 2,000 facilities. When their mechanical systems have outlived their useful life, we’re there to provide our customers with energy efficient options.”

Midwest Mechanical provides customized energy programs to improve building efficiency for clients throughout Chicago, along with a variety of indoor air quality devices. Additionally, the company is a trusted design build partner with a goal of helping clients control the costs of owning and operating their facilities and gain long-term ROI.

“There’s a trend toward electrification, and also heat recovery, which is taking heat from some part of your process and reengaging it elsewhere,” Szymczak said. “It’s friendlier to the planet and helps customers reduce their carbon footprint. Building automation systems (BAS) and controls are also becoming more prevalent for businesses. Rather than running equipment in the fully occupied mode from 5 in the morning until 8 at night, BAS help managers be more mindful of when the space is occupied utilizing sensors and software to do things like change temperature setpoints.”

Although Midwest Mechanical has experienced dramatic growth in recent years, Szymczak says they still feel the impact of the skilled labor shortage.

“We’re always looking to bring on more technicians and tradespeople, but there aren’t as many young people wanting to get into the trades as there were a few decades ago,” he said. “We have people who teach HVAC at the College of DuPage, others who have volunteered for industry learning days at various Chicago associations, and the company is also getting more involved in community activities. That seems to resonate more with the younger demographic, along with more technology and training.”

Midwest Mechanical is one of SMACNA Greater Chicago’s newest member companies, but they’re excited to continue developing relationships and lasting partnerships with other industry leaders.