‘At Your Service' in Ohio's Capital City

In Greek mythology, Atlas was the burly god who bore the world on his shoulders. His great strength was his hallmark.

A good butler is prized for his loyalty and service.

Put the two together, and you have the model for a heating and air conditioning company that has made "Strength through Service" its calling card: Atlas Butler, Columbus, OH, the Contracting Business 2007 Residential Contractor of the Year.

Atlas Butler's main territory lies in and around Central Ohio's Franklin County. In March, Atlas Butler opened an office in Cincinnati, so expect great things to happen in that market, if its Columbus success is any forecast of more good fortune.

Led by third-generation President/CEO Mark Swepston, the 85-year-old Atlas Butler is a classic HVAC survivor, one that has seen the industry evolve from coal furnaces, to forced air coal furnaces, to gas heating, to the air conditioning boom of the 1960s, to the full-service systems of today.

New Leadership, New Challenges
Despite working for the family enterprise over a succession of summers as a young man, it first appeared as if Mark was the only family member who was probably not going to enter the business. Like his father, who had earned a law degree, Mark was also drawn towards an altogether different profession.

"I was going to be a banker," Swepston says. "I went to grad school for banking, and worked in the Atlas Butler accounting department for income. However, there was never any pressure to be part of the family business."

It soon became clear, however, that Mark Swepston was destined to champion the Atlas Butler legacy, as its third generation leader.

"I had met John Pierce, a past president of ACCA, at a summer training session, and he basically talked me into staying in the industry. I went from training to be a banker, to being Atlas Butler's assistant service manager, and then service manager."

Swepston took over as president of the company in 1986.

Mark Swepston has a knack for solving problems, and soon into his presidency, a significant business challenge appeared, one that threatened the company's very existence.

Having taken the reins during a bleak time for the U.S. economy, Swepston experienced a major baptism under fire. The savings and loan debacle of the early 1980s was in full swing, and commercial construction came to a virtual standstill.

"Buildings were overvalued, and all kinds of problems developed," Swepston recalls.

"The prime interest rate had soared to about 22%, and base interest rates were out of sight."

"Of the key commercial contractors we dealt with, four of them either went out of business or stopped operating," Swepston says. "Basically, half of our livelihood disappeared, and we had to get creative almost to survive."

It was crunch time, and the Swepston team scrambled to reorganize and refocus the company business.

"We reevaluated the business, and determined what was most profitable, where the best cash flow was to be found," Swepston says. "We found it in the service and replacement business"

From that point on, the company's new game plan would be based on selling residential and commercial service agreements. Today, two-thirds of the company's service business is prepaid.

"I've taught business classes in cash flow management, and I'll tell you, until you live through those cycles, and see them, and understand them completely, it's quite a bit different than reading about it," Swepston says.

"We've learned that it's best to be in a place where you don't have to borrow any money. When we get a new service agreement customer, we want to keep them for life. It's a lot easier to get a customer to call you for a $39 or $79 service call than it is for them to buy a $6,000 or $10,000 system.

"Our strategy is to win their respect for $79, and keep their respect as their purchase decisions grow. We want them to call Atlas Butler because they know we can solve their problems."

Atlas Butler has approximately 10,000 maintenance agreements in place, and strives to increase that number by 15-20% per year.