After the Acquisition: Integrating Cultures and Cross-Selling

In this episode of PGA’s Breaking the ICE podcast, host Gordon Greene, PE sits down with Facilities Preservation Group Leader Kevin Schweikhart to discuss the acquisition of Kevin’s previously-owned firm, Protective Coating Solutions (PCS).

Kevin shares his perspective on transitioning from company owner to discipline group leader, introducing his team to PGA, and bringing two cultures together as one.

Tune in to hear from:

• Gordon Greene, PE – Co-Founder & Executive Vice President (Host): He’s the embodiment of a competitive spirit, and that motivation has fueled his work as an engineer, business owner, and civic volunteer for the past 25 years. He loves talking with people about where those passions overlap! Come join the conversation!
• Kevin Schweikhart – Facilities Preservation Group Leader (Guest): With more than 36 years of experience in the protective coatings industry, Kevin brings a depth of knowledge matched by only a select few professionals who hold the same combination of specialty certifications. His expertise spans all types of coating systems, and he applies real-world experience to solve complex challenges and improve process efficiency. Outside of work, Kevin enjoys playing the guitar and spending time on the lake behind his home, whether he's boating, canoeing, or paddleboarding.

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Transcript

Gordon: [00:00:00] Welcome to Breaking the Ice. We're Patel, Greene & Associates, and we're here to tell stories about our three favorite things: business, culture, and engineering. Let's get to it

Coming up. 

We've got this culture of growth and we've got a plan and, and we fit into that. 

Kevin: I've never even had a hint from any of my original guys to want to do anything else. There was an instant sort of professionalism upgrade. 

Gordon: We've got the blueprint for how we want future acquisitions to go, that's for sure.

All right, well, welcome back to PGA's Breaking the Ice podcast. Uh This episode, we're welcoming Kevin Schweikhart. He's our Facilities Preservation Group group leader. Um, and we have an interesting story to share with you all. We're gonna talk about acquisitions. Uh, Kevin came, uh, to be at PGA through an acquisition, so we're gonna step through the origin of that, uh, process that we walked through, uh, including the [00:01:00] integration, uh, that, uh, you know, we're pretty much through at this point, I think.

Um, and, and share a little bit about, uh, what Kevin's group does as well. So let's jump right into it. 

Okay. 

Kevin: Thanks for having me. 

Gordon: Um, so you had a company called Protective Coatings Solutions. 

Kevin: Yes. 

Gordon: Uh, you are a, uh, coatings expert am- among other things, and, uh, we came to work with you, um, on DOT bridge painting projects.

A lot of folks ask, uh, uh, how did we come to, uh, find out about you and, and have this acquisition come to pass, 'cause it does seem, um, unique. It's certainly fascinating. Uh, but the answer's actually quite simple. You work on bridge painting jobs. We work on bridge painting jobs. So why don't you, um, step back in- into time a little bit, talk a little bit about how you came to know PGA, uh, through, uh, the, the wonderful experience of Chris [00:02:00] Cromwell.

Um, and, uh, and, and we'll kinda take it from there and, uh, kinda step through how that went- Sure ... uh, getting there. 

Kevin: Well, uh, as you said, bridge painting is something that, uh, we do and we've been doing for, I guess, 15, 20 years prior to coming to PGA. And just so happened that, uh, we both were on the same contract with the same client, and we had previously done condition assessment reports for all...

It was a group of bridges, lots of probably 10 different structures in the, uh, Orlando area, and you guys happened to be the engineer of record, and our job was to provide the coating system design for all of these bridges. Uh, so got to collaborate with Chris, uh, actually during COVID, you know, so we were...

had a combination of in-person and, uh, and lots of phone calls, lots of emails. And we ultimately designed a, uh, [00:03:00] really nice package that, uh, uh, went out to, out to the industry and got bid and actually got built. We're real proud of it, but, uh, during that time, I just... I found an affiliation or a, a connection to Chris that, uh, led me to tell Chris that, you know, I was a little...

getting a little over the back of the house stuff and I really wanted to do more technical stuff and, uh, that I might- entertain an idea of a- acquisition, and that's when, uh, he says, "I- I'll make a call." You know, and then next thing I know, you and I are, are communicating. And, and I guess it took about a year after, after we realized that the, uh, that the dating should turn into a marriage.

Gordon: But, uh- 

You, uh, you kinda shared your perspective on, uh, how that got started. So here's what it looked like on, on the, on the PGA side. Uh, Chris Cromwell comes and says, "Hey, I've been working with this guy, Kevin Schweikhart, and I think he might wanna sell his company." And we all said, "Who?" "But tell us more."

So [00:04:00] it's, it's kind of an insight into the PGA mindset of we wanna grow. Um, we had our strategic plan, and part of that strategic plan was, uh, diversifying our client base. Um, so we talked about you working for DOT, and certainly you've got a lot of work and, and, um, you know, whatever portfolio resume for DOT projects.

But, you know, come to find out, or we did come to find out anyway in talking to you, that you've got a whole lot of private clients as well. So Chris brings that to us, and of course, you know, it goes a long way with who's bringing the information as well. So we knew Chris has, um, you know, a great judge of character.

He wouldn't be bringing this to us if he hadn't thought through it and, and decided, like, you know, if this were to come to pass, he would be happy to stand behind it, you know? So, uh, with Chris bringing it, we're like, "Okay, well, I'm, I'm not sure who this person is or what he does" at the point, uh, you know, at that point in time.

But, um, let's definitely have a discussion 'cause this definitely fits into our strategic [00:05:00] plan. So let's, yeah, man, let's set it up and, and go meet Kevin and, and see where this goes. And, um, yeah. So we, we went over, uh, to your neck of the woods over in Carrollwood, um, had lunch and, and got to know, uh, a little bit more about what you did.

Y- you wanna, uh, tell a little bit more about that meeting? Uh, I, I re- I've got my, uh, memories and recollection- Mm-hmm ... of, of, uh, of that meeting. Yes. But you, you first. 

Kevin: Yeah, I think you... Well, somebody set up the meeting, and the idea was to bring all of the different, you know, key players. I think you me- you brought Joe and, and, uh, Chris was there.

And, and, and of course this was just a little bit post-COVID, so we actually could go to a restaurant and sit outside.

Gordon: Yes, out- We went to, we went- We 

were definitely outside, yes ... 

Kevin: we 

went to Glory Days, which is one of my favorite watering holes. Mm-hmm. And, uh, it was a, it was an excellent meeting. I do remember you coming to the office that, uh, we, we had to clean up a little bit [00:06:00] because-

it was very construction office. Mm-hmm. And I think Dave, one of my key guys, had to sweep. I told him, I says, you 

know- 

Gordon: He, he certainly overestimated how much I care about that- 

Yeah ... 

sort of thing. But yes. 

Kevin: Good news. Yeah, good news that he didn't care. And, and then, uh, but it was a, it was a great lunch. You know, got to collaborate and, and meet Joe.

I mean, obviously the... What I realized is that there was a deeper bench than Chris. You know, there was- Sure ... way more Chris's at your company that, uh- And 

Gordon: the Joe you're res- referring to- Losaria ... is Joe one. Joe one. Joe one. Yes. This is Joe Losaria. 

Kevin: Yes. And, uh, structures, you know? Yeah. So you came at me with all of this, these powerful structures guys, which I, you know, I, I love bridge structures, you know, almost as much as I like buildings, but- Yeah

uh, and that was what I, I realized, that there was just an interest in our discipline and, uh, and then of course to be able to explain to you that we have other markets that we, that we do work in using the same guys, you know. You know, cross-training all my people and to do bridges to [00:07:00] buildings- Yeah ... or tanks or pipelines.

Gordon: Like, the, you know, tanks that hold liquid, not tanks that bl- Yeah ... you know, shoot missiles and rockets and stuff. 

Kevin: Exactly. You know, not the tanks that- 

Gordon: You, you could coat those though. 

That- Correct. Yeah ... that would be a cool project actually. 

Kevin: Or vessels, they call them- Yes, yes ... storage vessels. Yeah, instead of, instead of tanks.

Gordon: Um, what I remember about that meeting is, you know, a, a lot of that stuff was very new to me. You know, Chris had been working with you on that stuff, so he had a, a, an understanding of it. I, I just really hadn't at the time. I've, I've learned a lot since then, but at the time, uh, it wasn't something I knew a lot about.

And, um, you gave us a lot of information that day. You know, you, you've got a lot of stories, and what came across, uh, to me loud and clear, uh, which made me very positive about moving forward on the deal is, Kevin really, really loves what he does. He really loves what he does. Uh, and we talked about how, you know, the same things [00:08:00] you shared with Chris about like, eh, maybe I'm tired of doing a lot of this back office stuff, and, you know, I'd like to grow, but not sure I wanna, you know, deal with what comes along with that kind of thing.

Um, and so you shared some of that with us as well, and we, and we, you know, talked through those things. And, um, uh, hopefully you r- recall that we were, you know, tried to be very transparent about it too. Like, you know, "Hey, Kevin, you know, you could just hire some admin folks, and you could do this." Like, the, our goal of being transparent and laying it on the table is, um, that, uh, you know, we want, uh, to understand fully what your goals would be in an acquisition, which I think...

Now again, we're, we're having this podcast about the acquisition proc- process and, um, integration, all those things, uh, like we're experts. We are not. We've done one. We've done one. You're it. Um, not that we haven't tried a few since then, but, um, uh, you were the, the first, uh, uh, [00:09:00] you, you were our first foray into that, and, uh, what I've come to learn is, uh, we were very fortunate to, to, for the first one to go.

So, you know, I, I will say it was meant to be, I think. Um, and so, but, you know, some of those things I think are just common sense. Uh, and- If you have respect for other people and it's not all about the business, it's more about making connection with people, um, those questions become obvious. You know, we d- we don't want, we didn't want you to get to the other end of it and feel, um, you know, duped, or we certainly didn't wanna get to the other end and feel like, "Wow, I wish I would've asked more questions about what his goals were in this acquisition."

So anyway, we, we, I think we both did a good job early on of laying everything out on the table and being honest with each other. Yeah. Um, you know, being willing to, you know, walk away from the deal if it didn't feel right. But, um, you know, we never got there. It kinda felt good the whole time. And, um, obviously there's some back and forth that goes with that sort of thing, but, um, when you do it in good faith [00:10:00] and- Yeah

transparently, then- There's- ... you can get there. 

Kevin: Exactly. There's no surprises. Well, that's, that was the other thing is that you were, you were open to, at the time, we didn't have a Carrollwood office, and, um, and the original plan was when my lease was up that, uh, we would come to Telecom. And, and when I asked, "Hey, can we stay over here?"

It became an option, which, you know, if you-- You know, there was no, no hard line of, "No, you have to bring all of your people over to this side of the town," you know- Right ... which, you know, was, was great. And, and that, that made it nice, too, to go from, you know... It was actually an upgrade, you know. I've never had an office that nice over the years, so it was...

And, and to me, the su-the success of the acquisition is that I've never even had a hint from any of my original guys to wanna do anything else. Um, we've, we've molded well. And I think, I think it had a lot to do with we-- [00:11:00] You and I both were concerned about the, the culture, making sure that our cultures overlapped, and I think when you guys invited us, said, "Hey, you know, we're-- we like the idea of this.

Let's, you know... We have these get-togethers at PGA. We have these happy hours. And why don't you bring everybody over?" And, and of course, you know, you say free food to, to my guys- ... and, and they, they generally will go. And, and, and that-- It actually turned into a lot of fun afternoon. I mean, we played ping pong at the-- It was a-- You know, so what I realized is that all the guys were, you know...

Of course, I was a little bit concerned initially 'cause they would think like, "You know, what's gonna happen when we enter this new relationship?" Right. You know, they knew that, that their job was secure with me. And, and once they realized that they're-- you know, we were gonna bolt on. I think that was the word you would tell me.

"This is a bolt on." And one of the things I was concerned about is are you going to want me to just pursue one discipline? Because what [00:12:00] we enjoy doing, and I enjoy personally, is pursuing lots of disciplines. I like to have, you know, diversity in, in our skill set is, is important because you, you don't wanna be pigeonholed into one particular discipline.

And I'd use that philosophy to stay sort of recession-proof. You know, when, when one industry was down, I would pursue another discipline, you know, whether it be window testing or, or construction quality assurance, uh, you know, that we, we like to do a lot of things. Mm-hmm. And I like the idea of the ability to utilize the in-house admin skills that you guys had to be able to scale up, you know, in whatever direction the industry could take us.

Gordon: Yeah, I think, um, we talked about strategic planning. Uh, we've, we've talked about that on other podcast episodes, and it comes into play here because we, because we have the plan and we know that we wanna get outside, uh, and, you know, again, diversify our client [00:13:00] base, that played a big role in, uh, in driving our decision to, to push ahead and, and really work to make, to make it work, make the acquisition work.

Um, because once we met and talked, we learned, okay, uh, Kevin's not just about bridge painting, it is the window testing, it is the building envelope. And not only that, but he's got this vision for, you know, expanding that even further. Um, so you talked about culture. Like, so you had a culture of growth, um, you were just looking for some help to get there.

We've got this culture of growth, and we've, we got a plan, and, and you fit into it. I think we shared the strategic plan with you. Mm-hmm. Um, and so again, just that transparency and making sure that our, our visions are aligned. Um, get that out of the way early, then it's just, you know, the, the money part, and you figure the money part out.

Right. And, um, and then, um, you go and build something together, which is what we're doing. Yes. Um, [00:14:00] yeah, the happy hour was a good idea. Normally, uh, I think the way these things go, the, the employees don't find out until, like, the very, very end. Mm. It's kind of an unfortunate circumstance of, of acquisitions typically, especially if you've got, you know...

You've on- you only had, like, a handful of folks, and you'd, and you'd known them for a long time, so you felt comfortable bringing them in a little earlier than- 

Right ... 

like I said, these things normally happen, which was great. Um, it's better that way if you can do it. Right. Um, and I, I think Mark, your Mark McCarthy went to school with our Mark Dunn- Yeah

at Zephyrhills High School or whatever, so, uh, that was kind of a small world moment. Um, but familiar faces, I think that made it easier. Uh, but having you guys over for that barbecue and, and playing ping pong. Did you and I play ping pong together? 

Kevin: Yes. Yes. 

Gordon: Who... How did that go? 

Kevin: I didn't win. 

Gordon: Okay. 

Kevin: But, uh, I, I, I didn't have enough practice.

If I'd kn- had known that there was gonna be a ping pong table, I probably would've practiced. 

Gordon: [00:15:00] Next time. We need to get that 

ping pong table back out. 

I will 

Kevin: You know, I still want a rematch. 

Gordon: You're on. Okay So let's, uh, so February of 2022, closed the deal. Um, and like you said, we, uh, left you guys over in Carrollwood.

Y'all already had a lease going, and it was kind of a sweetheart deal. So that, that part was a no-brainer anyway, like leaving you guys over in Carrollwood in the office that you had. Um, I'm not sure we knew exactly what we did. I think when we talked, we thought, you know, maybe eventually we'll move, 'cause integration, we knew that was gonna be important to integrate you guys in the team and not leave you out there by yourselves all the time.

Right. And it was a, it was a small office. There really was no- Yeah ... room for anybody- Exactly ... like any of our folks to, to work in there. Um, so we just said, "Okay, that's fine. Um, but when that lease is up, m- maybe, maybe we'll bring you over to Telecom," I think was the thought at the time. But, uh, whatever you had left on that thing, like a year or two, I think.

Kevin: A [00:16:00] year. 

Yeah. 

Gordon: Just a year? 

Kevin: I think it was, yeah, a little over a 

year.

Gordon: Dang, we've been in the Carrollwood office that long, huh? 

Kevin: Yes. 

Gordon: That's cool. 

Kevin: Yeah. 

Gordon: Um, so I guess in just a year, uh, when it was time to figure out what we were gonna do, uh, again, our, our strategic plan for growth plays apart here because by the time we were, like, pretty full in our Temple Terrace office, and weren't as, weren't even sure we would have room for you guys to begin with.

So then the decision was, okay, well, what do we do? So it worked out between you guys already kind of have been over there for a long time and living over there- Right ... at least you lived over there, um, and other folks that were making the, I think it's 45 minutes to get the 10 miles from West Tampa over to- Right

Temple Terrace. Um, we just said we'll just open up an office over in Carrollwood. So that went over really well, uh, internally, and it allowed us to achieve the goal of, you know, having your folks work in the same office as, as our PGA folks, and that, that's worked out [00:17:00] great. Yes. And that is a great office.

Kevin: It's a great location. 

Gordon: Yeah. 

Kevin: It really is. 

Gordon: Uh, so let's talk a little bit more about integration. Uh, maybe share some of your reflections on, uh, kind of the early part of that, you know, getting used to, um, this isn't PCS anymore. Um, we're, we're calling it PCS, a PGA. Yeah ... that, that whole deal that, you know, you kind of see folks- Yes

go through systems with that. Yeah, 'cause ... 

Kevin: Well, we had the, uh, the brand crossover, uh, initially with all of our letterheads said PGA, PCS, 'cause people, you know, they get used to that- Sure ... that, uh, initialism. And, um, and that went well because they started to recognize PGA, and then you slowly eliminate. It sort of reminds me of when we decided to change my dog's name after a year, you know?

Gordon: Yeah. 

Kevin: My wife decided she didn't like that particular dog's name, so we had to change the dog's name. But slowly, when we found the new dog's name, we would have to [00:18:00] say both of them. 

Gordon: You changed the dog's name from PCS to PGA? 

Kevin: No, no, we- 

Gordon: Oh. 

Kevin: That would've been- ... crazy stuff. That would've been cool. But my point is, when you change the name, you sort of give them both, and then you slowly make the old name a little smaller- Yeah, yeah

and less prominent, and then next thing you know, they, they don't remember the old name, which that's, that's ... It was good, 'cause even though I had a brand recognition, I didn't have the brand recognition that PGA has. And, and clearly we have some excellent branding that, uh, uh, you know. So the clients They really, they, they were used to that.

Actually, my business model prior to that, I had... I would sub to a lot of people. So many times people would knew of us as niche folks that were working for somebody else, and we really didn't have any permanent home, which that was the, the selling point. We, we have a permanent home. We have actually more stability now.

Gordon: Yeah. 

Kevin: We, uh, we have company trucks with the logos on [00:19:00] them, you know, versus my guys driving their personal vehicles on the job sites, you know. So there was an instant sort of professionalism upgrade that I was able to, you know, parlay into the additional fee that they had to pay, you know? 

Gordon: Okay. So integration, good experience, but, you know, it's, um It-- there's things to work through, right?

That's, that's a transition for you. So, uh, maybe share a little bit, uh, and, you know, be as open as you'd like. Um, transition from, "Hey, the buck stops here. I make all the decisions," to, "Okay, I'm not, I'm not-- I don't own the company anymore. I'm the group leader, so- Right ... still have authority over my guys and my groups and my clients, but, you know, I'm part of a bigger team now."

Kevin: Well, I, I mean, from my perspective, I don't feel like I've lost a lot of technical authority. 

Gordon: Sure. 

Kevin: Um, I, I liked the, the internal process of the [00:20:00] QC because really you wanna produce a quality product that, you know, doesn't have any technical flaws. And with, with the overlap of what PGA does internally, it actually made me more comfortable, you know, to have that.

So in essence, I wasn't having to give up, you know, technical authority or answer to somebody else that, say, wanted to see a different perspective. Mm. It, it, it really has n-never been that. You've actually ... The transparent aspect of it is a bolt-on. We, we don't have anybody with your discipline or your technical knowledge, but what, what you have is you have the ability to frame the things that we do in a more, you know, PGA technical package, which improved our work product, you know?

Uh, and now it's, it's, it's enabled us to have this foundation to scale. And, uh, as we keep growing disciplines, um, meaning my people are, are, are getting more certifications in different [00:21:00] disciplines, um, it's gonna be easier to, to scale from that foundation now that we, you know, we're, we're, we're old hat with what we need to do at PGA now.

So it's, um ... And it n-never really was a, a lot of difficult, you know, we're ... It's, uh, I'm surprised you haven't acquired more people like me. 

Gordon: Hasn't been for lack of trying, I assure you. Um, okay. Well, I'm, I'm glad to hear that, and I agree. I mean, at this point, um, I mean, we're just one, one try to be as well-oiled as we can machine.

Um, I mean, it, it's been nice to see, like we've got Mark into our leadership and training program, um, uh, 'cause obviously we see a lot of, um, a lot of potential and, and leadership, um, you know, potential, uh, for him, uh, in the future as well. Uh, I mean, I, I take, I don't take a lot of pride in it, but it makes me happy certainly to see that, uh, the integration [00:22:00] has been so successful that, you know, that Mark, Mark sees, you know- Right

a career future here and not- Yes ... like, you know. So that's, that's great. And, um- We, we can consider it a success- a successful integration, for sure ... 

Kevin: because of how you promote and the culture is to have a lot of time with each other. You know, you, you get to know the people very well and, and it, it doesn't just feel like a, a job.

You know, you actually have, you know, people that have become your friends. And- Right ... and it's easy to collaborate or, uh, tell people about your discipline, which is what we always do constantly because, you know, it's sometimes hard to describe the things that we actually do. And, uh, but the... Once they, once they learn, that's why I've always enjoyed working for technical engineers, is that once you explain the, the reason for what we do, uh, it's, it's, it's easy for them to, you know, cross-sell that as well.

And [00:23:00] then that's what I love about having different disciplines that we overlap with is, is you can cross-sell to them and then they become more advocates for what you do and, and introduce you to various different people that they do business with, and then you realize how small the industry actually is- Mm-hmm

you know? 

Gordon: Exactly. 

Kevin: Yeah, the... And, and even, even when my portion of work for DOT work was probably maybe 30%, uh, there's, there's a tremendous amount of, of, of industry folks that stay in the same industry in the same state of Florida. Mm-hmm. And, and it's, uh, and it's nice. It was always nice for me to, to tell people where I'm at and they'd say, "Oh, you're at PGA."

And then to have that instant recognition that we like PGA. Mm-hmm. You know? It would be more difficult if they would, you know, give me a different, you know, reaction. But- 

Gordon: Yeah, 

we don't want you to overcome 

that 

Kevin: ... you know, it was, it was, uh... It's always been a good reaction. 

Gordon: Yeah. 

Kevin: Um, you know, because you guys were sort of like the folks that people are trying to figure out, "Well, [00:24:00] why do you keep winning these big contracts?"

It's, it's, it's been good. My, my guys, th- they never wavered, and like you said, when, when it was even considered, this acquisition, they a- they wanted to know why, and I explained to them. I says, "The reality is I can only do so much, and I'm, I'm just being worn out by keeping up with regulation," because we actually had full benefits.

We ... I- it's, it's a lot to run back of the house, and I n- and I didn't have an admin staff, so it was basically me. Uh, so they, they knew that. They knew how many hours I was working. I was showing up less in the field, and, uh, and now I'm able to do, you know, more of that work that I really like doing, which is, you know, staying more involved in technical stuff and the business development.

Gordon: Yeah. Which is what we talked about. 

Kevin: Yeah. 

Gordon: Four, 

four years ago at this point. That was the plan. Four years ago. Uh, yeah, you, so you talked some about kind of where we're at today, uh, getting more into this cross-selling. Uh, we started a [00:25:00] CEI group after we brought you guys on, right? It was about the same time, I guess.

Kevin: Just before. 

Gordon: I guess just ... It was kind of the same time, but, um, you obviously brought backlog with you and, you know, momentum, and we were just getting going on the CEI group. Um, that, that turned into cross-selling, as we were able to win, uh, a CEI, a prime CEI 

project. 

Kevin: First year, yeah. 

Gordon: Um, and then most recently, uh, you actually approached me and said, "Hey, I don't wanna, I don't wanna report to you anymore.

I wanna report to, to Austin under the civil site group," um, uh, which is a great idea, uh, because the site group, certainly Austin joined after you joined, so that's a, a fairly new group for us, uh- For focusing primarily on private clients, um, you know, more vertical, which th- that was the, the crossing that you saw as, "Hey, I bet he has a lot of the same clients that I have."

Kevin: Right. 

Gordon: Um, we should just be working together more often. Um, and I think I got like 14 reports, so [00:26:00] I was more than happy to, um, if... Well, even though it took me forever to do it. But, um, th- that- that's where we're at now, and it makes a lot of sense, and I know you guys are already, uh, enjoying- 

Kevin: Yes 

Gordon: ... some synergy and, and getting a lot of that accomplished.

Kevin: Yes. 

Gordon: So maybe talk a little bit more about that if you got anything else to say, and then, um, tell us- All right ... a little bit more what's next. 

Kevin: Well, you know, the, the, the civil group, sort of us merging, or even though we were still a separate group, but the idea of having a, a engineer like Austin with his experience and his...

and, and the work that they do, it, it actually did overlay a little bit even though he's more sub-grade or, or site work. Yeah, yeah. Uh, but in our business, you know, even below grade requires waterproofing, so, you know, he immediately understood some of the technical dynamics that we deal with. But also having that, uh, having more of an intimate contact with the work we do with a professional engineer [00:27:00] like Austin, it's gonna benefit us, and it's gonna benefit my young engineers that want to ultimately become a professional engineer.

So they're actually working below, you know, a professional engineer, which, uh, you know, we have, we have Russ, and Russ is, uh, hi- his technical strength is strong, but he's mostly a DOT, so he's not- The engineers that we want to have their PE can't really say that they work directly below or under the supervision of an engineer, so this made sense to me to, to merge that, uh, the, the two groups.

And, and to cross-sell, you know, we could have probably done the same thing with CEI. You know, it just happened to be Austin in the Carrollwood office right there, so it made- Yeah ... a lot of sense.

Gordon: Yep. 

Kevin: And, but, uh, I, I do really enjoy the, the, the CEI guys that we've got going on in, in, in, uh, Sarasota. I think Sarasota's a, a, a great spot.

We've already won a couple of jobs in Sarasota in the private sector, and I'm hoping that we're gonna [00:28:00] to, to win a CEI job that's, you know, that we've put in for, you know, in Sarasota. Yeah. So that's, that's a, that's an exciting market, you know? 

Gordon: All right. Well, as we close, uh, maybe, maybe cast a vision of, uh, growth of facilities preservation.

So we got coatings and stuff, but we also have building envelope and, um, yeah, yeah, cast that five to 10 year vision out, uh, and then we'll look back in five to 10 years and we'll see how you did. 

Kevin: All right. Well, the, the vision is to, uh, to grow uniformly on both building envelope and, or building sciences- Hmm

and DOT. Uh, the problem with that is that they both tend to... One's more active than the other, so- Sure ... I'm still gonna have to do what I always... My philosophy was to c- cross-train everybody. You know, I can't-- I've never had the luxury of having a, a person only do bridge painting or, uh, tank linings. Uh, you have to be able [00:29:00] to, to understand construction and vertical construction.

You have to understand roofing and building envelope and window testing. So w- I think, uh, the ultimate goal would be that all of these people that can do both of these roles, you know, we would bring in even more work where we actually might be able to specialize and have a guy that- 

Gordon: Mm-hmm ... 

Kevin: you know, doesn't know about a building, he only knows about a bridge or a- 

Gordon: Right

Kevin: a water storage tank. Uh, so our, our goal is to, is to double our staff in the, in the next one to two years and, uh, you can hold me to it.

Gordon: All right, well, I really appreciated, appreciated you being here and talking through some of these things. Um, you're our one and only acquisition. I think it's been a huge success. Uh, we've got the blueprint for how we want future acquisitions to go, that's for sure. Um, and for those of you listening, wanna know more about, uh, what Kevin's group does, go check out our website, [00:30:00] give him a call.

He'll tell you all about it. Um, and, uh, we appreciate you checking out PGA's Breaking the ICE podcast, and we'll see you next time. 

On the count of three. Ready? All right. One, two- One, two, three. 

Three. 

Kevin: Go PGA.