Driven by People

Myco Mechanical
Written by Ryan Cartner

Mechanical contractor Myco Mechanical, Inc. offers heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), plumbing, and prefabrication services in eastern and central Pennsylvania and Maryland. The company has seen significant success in its region and continues to grow, serving a wide range of markets, including education, healthcare, government, and military.

The company was incorporated in 1996 by Brian Myers, working as a subcontractor for several larger mechanical contractors in the area. “We were doing a lot of sheet metal subcontract work, and I realized that I could do a whole package deal,” says Myers, company founder and President. “We started offering the full mechanical package, installing HVAC, doing ductwork and piping ourselves in around 2006.” The company grew, and by 2010, it employed thirty-one people and had a 65,000-square-foot shop.

Vice President Mark Haley came on board in 2011. Together, they worked to expand the business, and in 2014, the company introduced plumbing to its services. By the next year, the company had eighty employees, and steady growth of more than twenty percent each year since around 2012, doubling roughly every three to five years.

This unceasing upward trend is an impressive feat and one that the company leadership attributes to the quality of the workforce. This is an employee-driven company that operates under the premise of achieving success by building up its people.

“The belief that Brian and I both have is that people are everything,” says Mark Haley. “We strive to be on the cutting-edge of technology and to have the best processes in place, but really it is the people that are able to utilize that technology and those processes. That’s everything. You can have all the technology in the world, but if you don’t have the right people, it doesn’t do anything. We have a lot of great people, and they do a lot of great things. That is truly what differentiates us from others.”

By putting these people where they can best use their abilities, Myco Mechanical has built an effective team of workers who provide the best value to the customer on every job. This begins with hiring. Myco works to find employees who are qualified and technically skilled enough to do the work, but also those who are a good fit for the company’s culture.

“We do what we can to hire the right people. You can’t always do that, but we do the best we can,” says Haley, “There are people who we didn’t hire even though they had the chops because they just wouldn’t fit the culture and what we are trying to create here. With that there’s a bit of turnover but not too much. We’re pretty selective on the front end.” Prospective employees have to be able to meet the technical expectations and are expected to take pride in the work they do.

But finding people is only the first part of a two-part effort. Once the company has decided that a prospective employee is a good fit, it does everything it can to help them improve and grow over the course of their careers. Myco Mechanical provides its people with the resources to attain additional apprenticeship training, technical training, and the relevant certifications. It also offers competitive wages, medical benefits – including a dental plan – disability insurance, life insurance, and a 401(k).

“There are challenges everywhere,” says Haley. “Having the right people focused on the outcomes that we truly want is key. We want quality work. We don’t want to cut corners. We want to do right by the owners, so that we can be proud of the work we’ve done. All of our people know that’s what we want, and that truly helps them make the right decisions.”

Myco Mechanical offers a full range of HVAC, plumbing, and prefabrication services. Within its shop, the company has a plasma pipe cutter, welding equipment, ironworking machines, and large cranes. This allows it to prefabricate components and minimize the time and workforce needed on site. The company brings the most responsible and trained group of qualified workers to do the job at the lowest reasonable price.

The company also uses portable three-dimensional (3D) scanning equipment on-site so that its 3D modeling team can have accurate specifications with which to work. The resulting models are accessible to employees in the field via tablets and laptops. This capacity for real-time collaboration allows for improved accuracy, quality, and efficiency at every step as the latest technology improves quality while reducing costs.

Maintaining a high standard of safety is central to the company’s employee-focused approach. Myco Mechanical makes sure that all employees are well-versed on the latest safety standards and equipped with top-notch personal protective gear at all times.

All Myco Mechanical employees are required to complete a thirty-hour Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) construction safety training course where they will be trained in the operation of various vehicles and pieces of heavy machinery, working within confined spaces, first aid skills, ladder safety, and more.

As a result of the ongoing staff safety training, the company has earned industry certifications to work in some safety-critical areas. The ANSI/ASSE 6010 medical gas installer’s certification permits the company to install gas systems in healthcare facilities. It is a certified installer for Aquatherm’s pressurized plumbing systems. The company has experience working on federal government and military facilities, pharmaceutical and chemical laboratories, and more. It also has an Environmental Protection Agency refrigerant technician certification allowing it to work on HVAC systems and a welding certification from the Welders Testing and Training Institute.

Safety is the most essential aspect of the job, and the company won an Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) Safety Training Evaluation Process (STEP) award recognizing its commitment to providing a safe working environment for its employees, its customers, other contractors working at the job sites, and the public.

“We are trying to create the right culture and nurture it,” says Haley. “That’s a daily effort from Brian and I down to all of our people. We have to keep focusing on being safe, having the right product when we’re done, and being proud of our work. We want to find the right people and then help them be better. Truly nurturing them to the point that they’re achieving things that they never thought they could. That is when everything falls into place.” And Myco Mechanical plans to continue on that course going forward.

AUTHOR

CURRENT EDITION

Hands-On Learning for Future Success

Read Our Current Issue

PAST EDITIONS

Cladding and Exteriors

February 2024

A Concrete Foundation

December 2023

Elegant and Eco-Friendly

November 2023

From Beautiful Bridges to Breathtaking Buildings

October 2023

More Past Editions

Featured Articles