2016 Economic Impact Awards 16-29 Years in Operation Finalist: Gold Mechanical Inc.

Gold Mechanical Inc. may not be the best-known name in town, but many people have walked through its work.

“There aren’t a lot of buildings around Springfield that Gold hasn’t touched in the past 30 years,” says company President Ron Bogart. “We haven’t really been on the radar. We’ve kind of kept to ourselves over the years. That’s because of our founder. That’s how he is.”

Dwain Gold founded the mechanical contracting company in 1987. He and Bogart have known each other for 20 years, dating back to when Bogart ran his own heating and air-conditioning company. The two business owners each had their niche and sometimes traded work.

Bogart closed his business in 2002 and earned a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Evangel University. When Gold wanted to retire and explore implementing an employee stock ownership plan, he approached Bogart for help finding the person to lead the charge. That individual proved elusive, but Gold had a solution: have Bogart come on board.

With an ESOP, owners sell their stock back to the business, and stock ownership is transferred to the employees. Gold Mechanical’s ESOP dates to 2014 and was the founder’s way of giving back to the people who helped make his company a success, Bogart says.

“It was very self-sacrificing,” Bogart says. “Dwain could have sold the business on the market, and somebody could have bought a growing company with ridiculously talented people. He wanted to benefit his people who made it become what it was.”

Gold Mechanical continues to operate in the four-state area of Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma. Familiar buildings on which the company has worked include Glass Hall at Missouri State University, O’Reilly Family Event Center and Hickory Hills School.

Gold Mechanical also worked on the rebuild in Joplin following the 2011 tornado, including Irving Elementary School, East Middle School and Joplin High School — projects worth about $22 million.

Employees volunteered in Joplin, so helping that community rebuild was especially rewarding, Bogart says.

“It was kind of a continuation of the clean-up for us,” he says. “It was just neat to put a ribbon on top of the reconstruction package to what Joplin is now to what it was.”

Gold Mechanical seeks talent and participates in high school career days and with Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s GO CAPS, designed to expose students to local career paths. College students wanting real-world experience also are welcome, such as the MSU students who have visited Gold Mechanical. They might just find a job.

“Everybody is constantly looking upstream,” Bogart says. “Who is going to be better than what we are? Instead of being afraid of someone taking your job, it’s what you’re looking for.”

He is quick to direct focus on employees.

“Every inch of success that has happened at Gold Mechanical is because of the team,” he says. “We have so many dynamic, gifted, talented people in this building.”