Storms' Silver Linings: Wickizer & Clutter Inc.

In 1974, Bill Rapp was freshly graduated from Mount St. Mary's University in Maryland and staring in the face of an uncertain economy.

Despite a degree in business and finance, he was having a hard time finding a job.

"I took a job in western Maryland," Rapp says. "I was going to do it one year before I went to law school. Guess what?"

And that's how his career as an insurance adjuster began. Rapp is now president and one of three owners of Wickizer & Clutter Inc.

Rapp joined the company in 1990, and in 1999, he joined forces with John Henderson and Mark Kershaw to buy it.

The independent insurance adjusters investigate a wide spectrum of claims, from homeowner and commercial claims to personal general liability and medical malpractice.

"Our business is determined by bad things happening," Rapp says pragmatically. When the 2007 ice storm hit, he was "ecstatic," he says.

"We do hail dances around here," Rapp adds.

While he makes it clear he wishes no harm to people, he points out there is a silver lining of natural disasters.

"These things are good for our local economy," he says. "They help the building trades."

He remembers a particularly heavy hailstorm in 1978 in Sioux City, Iowa. The damage was tremendous, but "it put people back to work," Rapp says.

His business' location couldn't be better: "Springfield has the most unpredictable weather in the United States," he says.

The business has grown during the years to include 25 employees in offices in West Plains, Lake of the Ozarks, Jefferson City, Joplin, Moberly, Columbia, St. Joseph, Warsaw, and Harrison and Fayetteville, Ark. All operations are supervised out of the Nixa headquarters.

Without disclosing revenues, Rapp says he plans to see continued growth.

"Over the two or three years, we'll have the entire northern half of Arkansas staffed," he says.

About five years ago, Wickizer & Clutter invested in a piece of equipment that led to the company's diversification.

A thermal imaging camera was purchased with the thought that it could be used to help with claims, but it also came with the idea the company could offer thermal imaging to the general public.

The camera led to the creation of a subsidiary, Moisture & Leak Detection. Rapp and Bob Rubino, both certified thermographers, use the infrared camera to pinpoint moisture infiltration in structures.

The camera works by detecting heat differences hidden within a building's structure. If, for example, rain is settling in between mortar and a roofline, it can help pinpoint the problem area.

"It locates leaks they cannot find. Without fail, it will locate them," Rapp says.

At $100-per-hour - and the $500 minimum job - the expense of having thermography performed on a structurecould be a cost savings compared to ripping into a building to figure out what's wrong and then patching it up.

Clint Tackitt, owner of Allied Roofing Systems in Springfield, says he's used the service a number of times.

"These guys are digital gold," Tackitt says. "(They're) excellent at finding the true source of the problem."

Tackitt says typically with commercial building water issues, the roofer is the first to get called even though the roof may not actually be the problem.

"When ... three or four subcontractors are pointing fingers, (Wickizer & Clutter) come in as a noninterested third party" and settle the issue, Tackitt says.

Rubino, who joined Moisture & Leak Detection about three months ago, says the imaging is accurate to one-tenth of a degree and also is useful in tracing electrical problems or leaks in radiant heat systems.

"If a tube breaks, you don't have to dig up the whole floor," Rubino says.

Rapp says insurance claims still account for about 95 percent of the company's revenues, but he expects Moisture & Leak Detection to grow to 10 percent of revenues in 2010.[[In-content Ad]]