You know you’re successful when your company is featured in a video clip with then presidential candidate Barack Obama promoting your operation as the type of sustainable, innovative business that will define our nation’s industrial paradigm shift – a defining moment for McKinstry during the 2008 campaign. But McKinstry didn’t just jump into that spotlight overnight; there is over a half century of hard work and technological evolution behind their achievements. Established in Bellevue, Washington in 1960 as a plumbing and piping company, McKinstry is now a full-service “design, build, operate and maintain” firm with over 1,600 employees and annual revenues in the $400 million ballpark.
The company provides every type of service their clients need to make their new or existing buildings as energy and cost-efficient as possible from all the way from consulting to construction and facility services. McKinstry’s custom active energy management services give clients a detailed analysis of their current energy usage and how conservation focused solutions could eliminate waste. After installing on-going utility monitors the company can track energy usage inefficiencies in a client’s building and provide immediate corrective action from their operations center – ultimately improving a company’s bottom line and reducing their carbon footprint: McKinstry projects in the West and across the nation have eliminated 247,025 metric tons of CO2 emissions since 2001, which is equivalent to removing 45,243 cars from US highways or offsetting the energy use of 21, 803 homes.
In 2009 McKinstry announced their entry into the Montana market with the opening of their headquarters in Missoula, directed by Business Development Manager Tim Tolman. The company made the move after identifying the incredible potential for efficiency improvements in the state’s school district facilities and other public buildings. Almost immediately the Missoula office and a strong partnership with the State of Montana proved to be fruitful. In May 2009 the Montana Department of Commerce agreed to distribute nearly $15 million in Quick Start funds specifically targeted to improve energy efficiency in schools to McKinstry’s projects as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act specific, and as of July 2009, McKinstry was established as the general contractor on nine projects in seven school districts across the state. The company was also demonstrating a commitment to re-investing in their new communities by subcontracting work to local contractors, electricians, controls and commissioning agents – creating approximately 10-15 new jobs for every million dollars spent in the state.
Today McKinstry employs a team of 19 experienced technology industry professionals with offices in Missoula, Bozeman, Great Falls, and Billings, and the market for energy efficiency improvements in Montana only continues to grow. That’s great news for a team that loves living in a state where they can spend their free time out in the mountains or on the golf course instead of sitting in traffic. Tim Tolman will be the first to admit that it’s been a busy few years since the opening of the Missoula office, but even in the midst of incredible growth he finds time to enjoy his community and outdoor recreation opportunities – it would be hard not to when they’re waiting just outside his office door.
