Bonded Lightning Protection Systems Ltd.

Bonded Lightning Protection Systems Ltd. (Bonded) has been serving the entire southern United States since 1950. Headquartered in Argyle, Texas, Bonded is a lightning protection subcontractor working in the residential, industrial, commercial and institutional sectors.

Operations director Renee Landers worked in management before joining Bonded 15 years ago. She says the family atmosphere and core values of the company are what convinced her that this was the right company for her. “Faith in God is our number one core value,” says Landers. “Our second is family. Those two core values combined with quality and customer service are what make this company great.”

In an industry such as lightning protection, no two jobs are the same. “For our residential projects, we have one or two people who remain in contact and work with the homeowner and builder,” says Landers. “That type of job will be different from working on a high-rise commercial building where we’re the second or third-tier subcontractor.”

Lightning Protection Industry

As a member of the Lightning Safety Alliance (LSA), Bonded is proud to promote the education of lightning protection. The company employs more Lightning Protection Institute (LPI) Certified Master Installers, Designers and Journeymen of lightning protection systems than any other lightning protection company. “We also educate engineers and architects,” says Landers. “We perform ‘accredited lunch-and-learns’ to provide information on lightning protection. It is such a specialty industry and these types of functions can help the engineers and architects determine when they need lightning protection included in the design of a building.”

Landers has found that the education, information and networking opportunities have been the most beneficial aspects of partnering with the industry associations. “The industry as a whole puts on many functions that we attend,” she says. “We’re able to talk with other contractors to discuss challenges and opportunities. We’re also able to receive information about standards and regulations within the industry.”

Bonded is on the board of many associations such as the United Lightning Protection Association (ULPA) Underwriters Laboratories Standards Panel (UL-STP), Lightning Protection Institute (LPI) and the Lightning Protection Institute – Inspection Program (LPI-IP). This presents a situation where Bonded could work alongside the company’s competitors. Landers says that this actually benefits all parties. “It creates an opportunity for us to work together,” Landers explains. “There are times we’ll find ourselves collaborating on a large job where we’re performing half of the project and one of our competitors is performing the other half, so it works out in everybody’s favor.”

An example of where this strategy came into play has been a job for Exxon Mobile. Bonded worked alongside a local competitor to provide lightning protection and grounding systems for the company’s headquarters in Houston.

A diversified portfolio

Bonded performs a fair amount of work for the health care and educational industries in the southern United States. The company is currently providing lightning protection to several additions at Cook Children’s Hospital in Dallas. In New Orleans, Bonded has worked on the Louisiana State University Medical Center. “That project just came to completion,” says Landers. “Healthcare and educational facilities are prime subjects for lightning protection due to the reliability of computers and electronics in those buildings.”

Landers recalls the largest job that Bonded has performed, which took place in Dallas for Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). Completed in 2012, the project took five years to complete.
“We not only performed lightning protection on that job, but we also installed the grounding system as well,” says Landers. “We self-perform 100 percent of the work on most jobs.

The fact that Bonded is diversified in multiple sectors of the industry has proven to be a factor in the company’s ability to thrive through tough economic times. “We saw a big drop in private work when the recession hit in 2008,” Landers explains. “From then until 2012 we did a lot of government work and therefore didn’t really see any decrease in business. Now we’re seeing an increase in the private work while the government jobs are decreasing.”

Looking ahead

Sustained growth is in the future for Bonded. The company is looking to open another division and continues to expand the business. Employee retention has been a factor in the company’s steady progress. “We have an employee training program that we have built over the past years which has really helped with our low turnover ratio,” Landers explains. “We are always looking at employee growth, as internal promotion is one of our core values.”

In the coming years, the core values maintained by Bonded Lightning Protection Systems, Ltd. will continue to drive the company into the future.