A. Hattersley & Sons Inc.

As one of Fort Wayne, Indiana’s oldest and most reputable mechanical contractors, A. Hattersley & Sons Inc. (Hattersley) has been developing customer confidence through seasoned experience for over 157 years. The relatively small company is capable of performing large-scale, complex jobs, specializing in state-of-the-art design-build construction, engineering, project management, installation and maintenance of piping and HVAC systems for commercial, industrial and institutional structures.

“We were established in 1856 by Alfred Hattersley,” shares Jack Koehne, president of Hattersley. “After so many years in business, there isn’t much we haven’t been exposed to. We bring this experience to whatever a client needs accomplished, delivering projects earlier than expected and within budget. We’ve built customer confidence and peace of mind through our service.”

As a union contractor, Hattersley mainly serves northern Indiana with offices in Fort Wayne and LaPorte, Ind. “We’ve gone to jobs as far as Long Beach, Calif., and Boston for relationships private clients,” details Jack. “Occasionally we’re asked to provide our leadership outside of the primary area we serve.”

Hattersley employs a diverse team of individuals from project managers to plumbers, electricians to service technicians. “Our staff runs the gamut in skill and size, ranging from 50 to 100 employees based on the workload,” adds Jack. “We’re involved in a lot of seasonal work, especially in the K-12 sector. Typically, we’re much busier in the summer working on institutional projects.”

Longevity & Experience

Jack says what truly sets Hattersley apart from its competition are the company’s longevity and massive experience. “Our longevity -over 157 years- says a lot about the stability of this company,” he says. “You don’t find this kind of long-term success if you don’t have the ability to connect with clients and form relationships. We bring integrity to the forefront of this business.”

Although Hattersley is a smaller company, Jack ensures that doesn’t stop it from doing big things. “The unique thing about us is, with our size, you get the culture of a small company with the expertise to perform large projects,” he says. “We’re not too big -so our customers can actually connect and access us easily. Our clients don’t have to go through so many layers as with a big company.”

Supporting Varied Markets

Although Jack admits the market has changed with the onset of the economic downturn, Hattersley remains heavily involved in a number of large-scale institutional renovations and new builds throughout Indiana. “Last fall, we put in a brand-new expansion at Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne (IPFW),” notes Jack. “We updated their student services complex, adding 9,000 square feet to an existing facility that houses an indoor track, locker room and athletic department offices worth over $5 million.”

Jack goes on to explain another challenging expansion at Taylor University’s Euler Science Complex involving a hefty amount of coordination and caution in dealing with a laboratory setting. “Also last fall, we turned over a $3 million, 190,000-square-foot expansion and three-story addition,” he says. “This project required lots of coordination between the laboratory gas piping, plumbing and HVAC. Working on classroom labs is challenging because everyone is trying to get more and more high-tech and provide better equipment for students to utilize.”

Hattersley is currently in the process of completing another large-scale science building at Indiana Westland University. “We should be wrapping this $5 million job up by fall 2013,” adds Jack. On the commercial side, the company is in the midst of a downtown Fort Wayne project.

“We just started a job at Marshall Field which is a new minor league ballpark downtown,” explains Jack. “Next to the complex is a commercial area made of apartments, offices, retail and restaurant space. As you can see, our market is varied.”

Despite being in operation for over 157 years, Jack reveals that Hattersley has only been in the hands of two families. “After Alfred founded the company, Hattersley was turned over to the Hensley family around the 1950s,” he says. “The fact that our ownership hasn’t changed for so many years attributes to our stability as a company.”

Jack admits the business is all about developing people, from the next generation of valued employees to customer relationships. “Our biggest upcoming challenge is to develop the next generation,” he reveals. “Most of our employees have been her for a minimum of 15 years or more, some 25 to 30 years. We want to bring in the next round of quality people, whether its estimators or project managers, to provide leadership and continue this organization.”

For an impressive 157 years, Hattersley has served as an above average full service mechanical contractor, capable of extensive projects with a personal touch. A. Hattersley & Sons Inc. remains one of Indian’s leading companies in the mechanical industry, continuing to build on a century-and-a-half of success.

For more information about A. Hattersley & Sons Inc., please visit: (www.ahattersley.com)