Business Spotlight: Architectural Materials Co. Inc.

Owners: Todd and Timm Smith

Founded: 1969

Address: 2014 E. McDaniel St., Springfield, MO 65802

Phone: (417) 866-2366

Fax: (417) 866-0512

E-mail: architechturalatco@sbcglobal.net

Services/Products: Commercial installation of windows, operable partitions and skylights

Employees: 18

The Smith brothers of Architectural Materials Co. Inc. really know how to split a room. Not in the social sense, but in the physical sense.

Case in point: Branson Convention Center’s exhibit hall, where the company recently installed a $500,000 35-foot-tall partition that the brothers call a mammoth undertaking.

“It’s a once-in-a-career job,” Timm says. “I will never have the opportunity again to have a job that size.”

After eight weeks of installing the track alone, during which the Architectural Materials crew used 55,000 nuts, they spent another four weeks hanging the massive panels. Timm says that just getting them into the room was 80 percent of the effort.

This unique job represents a growing line of business for the company started in 1969 by the Smiths’ father, Bill.

“Our father was a sales manager for EFCO here in southwest Missouri,” Todd recalls. “When Timm was born, our father started looking for a way to get off the road. He founded the company as a representative for EFCO and slowly started picking up other lines.”

The founder suddenly died in 2000, and it’s been all on the brothers’ shoulders since.

“It was a baptism by fire pretty much,” Todd recalls of learning the subcontractor business that focuses on specialty construction needs including windows, doors and the moveable partitions. “(Dad) went into the hospital on Sunday with extreme stomach pain, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died a week later. There was no time for a gradual handover.”

“We both kind of split the duties between window replacement and operable walls,” Timm adds. “We knew how to write an order and get it built. We just didn’t realize all of the things he was doing in the business.”

The brothers grew up around the business and say they learned by doing and by watching.

“I was always kind of enamored of the role he played as a piece of the big puzzle that is new construction,” Timm says. “There were always samples in the car, and I started working outside when I was 14.”

“It was a great motivation to stay in school,” adds Todd. “He always put us on the nastiest jobs when we were young.”

Shifting business

Today, clients include area churches, colleges, civic centers and Springfield Public Schools.

Jim Dow, director of facilities for Springfield Schools, says Architectural Materials is a frequent contractor for the school system.

“They are competitive and they do good work,” Dow says. “That means they do a lot of work for us.”

The brothers have continued to divide duties and responsibilities as they grow the business. Timm handles the operable wall side, which is about 40 percent of the business, and Todd does windows and aluminum doors, the other 60 percent.

“Timm picks up a large percentage of what I can’t handle,” Todd says, declining to disclose revenues. “He’s grown the door side of the business exponentially the last few years.”

One area of business that has dropped off is in window replacement at schools, especially rural and smaller schools. Todd places the blame for this squarely on prevailing wage restrictions, which drive up the cost of labor.

A growth area for the company has been in operable walls, particularly Modernfold Inc. operable and accordion partitions like the one in Branson. According to Calvin Hobbs, project manager for the Branson Convention Center, Architectural Materials was very responsive and easy to work with.

“With a job like that, delivery and lead time is the key issue,” Hobbs says. “Experience is also an issue. You want a team that really knows what they are doing.”

Good matches

The move into partitions and operable walls has meant an expansion of the Architectural Materials work force. The crew is recognized for its expertise to the point that Indiana-based Modernfold has sent out a rep to learn from them in the field.

“When you multiply the size of those walls times 14 to 15 pounds per square foot, you have to have an exceptionally savvy and fit crew of installers to be successful,” Todd says.

One of the other areas that has seen growth in the last few years is historic window replacement. The company has the ability to match the look of traditional windows with modern materials.

“Our years of helping architects do window replacement right have paid off in helping developers save a ton of money on historic recreation,” Todd says. “When you go before a national historic sites board, you have to be very prepared to make your case. It is easy to go with wood if it was wood or steel if it was steel, but in many cases, we can go with aluminum that looks exactly like the original and save them money.”

The brothers are always on the lookout for new products and new possibilities.

“I represent a very high quality and very translucent product called Kalwall,” Todd says. “It is very respected nationwide, but I don’t tend to see it in specs here in southwest Missouri. I intend to change that over the next few years.”

Architectural Materials has worked regionally, including Arkansas and Oklahoma, but now, the brothers are planning to focus on the Springfield area.

“We are looking to find more work closer to home,” Timm says.[[In-content Ad]]