FM Facility Maintenance is a company that grows with the times. Founded in 1993 as an HVAC equipment management company, it eventually evolved into a comprehensive facilities management firm.
It also underwent a couple of acquisitions and name changes, including from Enron Energy’s Integrated Process Technologies (IPT) to FM Facility Maintenance in 2008 as a way to better reflect its focus on total facility maintenance.
The company today provides 45 types of services under multiyear agreements through subcontractors to more than 130,000 client locations nationwide. These services range from electrical and plumbing service to HVAC maintenance, waste management, landscaping, and more, much more.
Through a strategic investment in BroadStar Wind Systems in Dallas, Texas, early this year, Jim Barnes, chairman of FM Facility, has positioned the company for growth in the “green” wind power alternative energy market. Now, in addition to its traditional lines of facility maintenance services, FM Facility provides businesses with the ability to generate their own electric energy at a significant savings from traditional utilities.
Barnes sees this venture as a natural offshoot of its traditional services because of the type of work they do. “Our technicians are already in the client’s electrical panel; we’re already on the client’s rooftop. We’re experts on their HVAC systems, and we’re constantly having conversations with them about how they can save more money and energy,” he said.
BroadStar, he explained, provides the 10-foot high by 16-foot wide wind turbines that FM Facility installs on the customers’ rooftops that are then connected to the clients’ electrical systems and meters. Customers agree to buy their kilowatts from them through a 20- year power purchase contract. In return, they achieve significant savings on their energy bill through lower charges and government-provided tax incentives. Customers also have the option of purchasing the wind turbines outright and installing it themselves, he said.
“The system is still very new,” Barnes said. “The world has changed and we’re making the significant capital investments that we think will benefit our customers and end their dependency on the grid.”
Among the customers already taking advantage of BroadStar’s wind turbines, Barnes said, are J.C. Penney, at one of its Nevada locations, T.J. Maxx’s headquarters in Natick, Mass., and AT&T, on one of its wireless cellular service towers.
Barnes said they are also offering customers a combined solar and wind power system. “There are synergies and additional savings to be had by tying the solar and wind inverter into the electrical panel, and it’s just as easy to write a purchase power agreement for both, together”
There’s not much of this technology being adopted in Connecticut, however, Barnes said. “New Jersey is probably leading the nation and Pennsylvania is following suit, primarily because of their aggressive approach to tax incentives,” he said. In addition to strong wind, he added, strong public policy is needed so that it makes good economic sense. â
FM Facility Maintenance
Senior Executive: Jim Barnes, chairman
Location: Hartford
Local Employees: 275
Winning Category: Innovation/Reinvention
