Business Spotlight: WMC Mechanical

by Dee Dee Nilsen

SBJ Intern

sbj@sbj.net

Jim Waneka, president of WMC Mechanical in Springfield, watches as his workers step gingerly across high beams 55 feet in the air. They are rebuilding a precipitator at James River Power Plant, which acts as a large electronic air filter for the system.

WMC provides industrial piping to local plants, where the internal pipes can be as large as 36 inches in diameter. The company also specializes in commercial, heating, ventilation, air conditioning and boiler code work and repairs.

Waneka said working so closely with power plants can be dangerous because industrial piping can carry toxic chemicals, high-pressure steam or other hazardous substances.

"Most plants are considered like a bomb, and you have to maintain these plants or they have the potential of causing harm," he said.

Waneka said the precipitator project, among others, reminds him of the importance of safety in construction work.

"We were real proud of the fact that no one was injured, and it taught us how important it is to preach safety every day," Waneka said. "You have to remind the men every day of the hazards that they face."

After having four recordable accidents on the job in 2002, Waneka said he made safety his top priority.

"That alarmed us because we really have always prided ourselves in maintaining a high safety standard," he said. "So, in 2003, we really invested a lot in keeping up our safety program. We did some tremendously difficult work that could be deemed hazardous, but because of the safety implementations our company made, we had zero accidents."

To improve the safety program, Waneka said the company enlisted a local safety company, Brittney Inc., to train employees in areas such as fall protection and confined spaces.

Now, as the company has reached a high standard of safety, Waneka said he and employees are considering marketing their own safety training to other companies.

"One of our staff members helps qualify us to do work according to the code, and we're thinking about marketing this service to some local plants," he said.

Extra safety precautions are needed because the company handles a number of dangerous projects, Waneka said.

Most recently, WMC completed a project at a power plant where field workers injected pure oxygen into a burner flame to see if it might burn at higher temperatures.

"Oxygen is one of the most flammable substances, and when you've got oxygen and a combustible, you've got a real problem," he said. "We had to get the line super clean because just a small piece of dust would ignite."

Field workers cleaned the line by blowing nitrogen through it and monitoring the substances that were blown out.

WMC was founded in April 2000 after Waneka's former mechanical construction employer, Murphy Mechanical Co. in St. Louis, closed its operations, and Springfield companies still wanted his services.

"I got a call from one of the clients we had done work for to come back and do their work, and they offered us office space and shop space," he said.

Waneka co-owns WMC with Jack Wood, vice president, and Mark Shields, director of technical services. They employ 35 to 40 people, including field workers and office staff.

"All of our staff has been with us for at least the last 3 1/2 years, and we have a pretty cohesive group," Waneka said. "We're pretty flexible with our staff and try to maintain a very positive attitude with our field forces."

The company spent its first couple of years getting on its feet, but Waneka said now the company is blossoming.

"In the beginning, we really struggled to make ends meet, and the cash flow is always a problem, especially in construction," he said. "But as of the last year, we've settled out and we're doing much better that way.

"We feel like we offer a lot of technical experience for a small company and a lot of value to our industrial clients, but we still maintain a smaller overhead, which makes us more competitive."

Waneka said he has found Springfield to be a tough area to compete in the construction market. But, he feels he helps the community by keeping money inside the local economy.

"One of our big selling points is that we keep the income in Springfield, and most of our employees are from Springfield, too," he said. "It helps make our local economy stronger, and we're big believers in that."

WMC has a handful of projects in the works, but its largest current project is a multimillion-dollar renovation of the General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital at Fort Leonard Wood.

"We're also renovating their central plant at that site, which is where they generate their air conditioning and heating for the hospital," Waneka said.

Project manager at the site, Jeff Begins of John J. Kirlin Inc., said: "We're really impressed with the work WMC does. I can't complain."

Begins said Waneka's dedication to safety on the job is obvious. He said Waneka has even brought out a safety officer to the site to brief the crew on a safety update.

"People get hurt all the time in construction, but no one's been hurt here," he said. "WMC does an outstanding job with safety."

Waneka said he and the company strive to establish personal and long-term relationships with clients.

"Every job you do, you have to perform well, because the client only remembers the job you fail on. You can do 10 jobs successfully, but if you do one project they're dissatisfied with, you're now the worst contractor they've had," he said. "It's imperative that every time we step onto a construction site that we perform up to a level that is what we would consider above our competition."

Waneka said he anticipates growth in WMC's future, and he said the company is looking at expanding its market radius to 300 miles.

"It's real good for us right now," he said. "We've had a big growth spurt in the last year, and we're managing to grow the company."