Pat Beyer glances out the window of his office every so often on a sunny afternoon, well aware that the forecast calls for 95degrees of pure Texas heat and humidity.
“We’re going to have a busy day,” says Beyer, vice president of Beyer Mechanical, a local leader in heating, ventilation and airconditioning services for residential and commercial customers.
Beyer, however, isn’t too worried. The company’s fleet of about 50 service trucks – easily recognized by the Beyer Boys logo –are ready to be dispatched to handle the more than 200 calls per day that have the phones ringing off the hook during the warmspring and summer months.
The Beyer Boys are a trio of brothers, Pat, 45; Jeff, 44, president ofBeyer Mechanical; and Perry, 46, president of Beyer Plumbing.“We’ve joined forces even though we’re two separate companies,”Pat explains. “The plumbing aspect is all commercial construction andservice work, and we do the same thing on the mechanical side. Wework and advertise together under the Beyer Boys name.”
After graduating from the University of Texas at San Antonio in1986 with a marketing degree, Pat moved to Houston, where for fiveyears he worked in the consumer products division of Unilever, a majormanufacturer of food, home care and personal products.
Jeff, meanwhile, worked for Carrier San Antonio as a sales engineerand always had a passion for the heating and cooling business. “Iliked working on things and with my hands and grew up working withmy dad on heaters as a kid,” he says. “I enjoy the challenge of this businessand just happened to be trained by the right people.”
Upon returning to the Alamo City in 1990, Pat and Jeff boughtRC Mechanical, a heating andcooling company, which consistedof only eight employees.
While Pat ran the serviceside of the business, Jeff operatedthe construction andengineering aspect of thecompany. “We evolved thename (from RC Mechanical)to Beyer Mechanical and thenbranded the name the BeyerBoys because people alwayscalled us the Beyer Boys growingup as kids,” Pat says.
As president, Jeff overseesthe construction and designbuild department for newinstallations on commercialbuildings. He also shares administrativeresponsibilities with Pat.
Perry, on the other hand, started working in the plumbing businesswhile in high school. “Later, I worked out of my garage and built mybusiness from there,” he says, adding that he founded Beyer Plumbingin 1988. Today, his company consists of about 85 employees.To gain and retain new business, Beyer Mechanical focuses onbuilding long–term relationships.
“Our philosophy is once you become a customer of ours we reallytake care of you, so that you want to stay with us for a long time,” Patsays. “On the construction side, we want to put something new intoyour business and take care of you in the construction phase, so youbecome a service customer.”
“And with new commercial construction, if you want to constructa building, we can do the heating and air conditioning, as well as theplumbing. The merger of the two companies allows us to do that, andit is what sets us apart.”
What has been successful in terms of attracting new business forBeyer Mechanical and Beyer Plumbing are the television and radioadvertisements, especially the catchy and playful commercials thatfeature many of Pat, Jeff and Perry’s children, who encourage viewersto pick up the phone and call the Beyer Boys. The TV spots have“definitely influenced people in our image and who we are,” Pat says.Like any other business, Beyer Mechanical, which employs about95 people, is not without its challenges. They include dealing with anew state tax imposed this year and a 14 percent increase in healthinsurance costs each year.
“Worker’s comp and general liability is going up in huge amounts,and our gas bill has almost doubled,” Pat says. “We’re finding that theexpenses to run a business are growing at a rate just to maintain thesame amount of money at the end of the year. If you’re not growing,you won’t be able to afford to run a company.”
To help trim overhead costs, Beyer Mechanical recently developeda software program called Beyer Automated Service Systems,which is a paperless system for all service vehicles.
“We don’t do paper transactions anymore,” he says. “All that usedto be done with overhead, people and filing cabinets. Fifty to 60 percentof our business is nowstrictly electronic. It’s been abig savings for us, which allowsus to grow.”
Beyer Mechanical hasgone “green” these days andis actively doing its part toencourage its customers tosave energy. Last year, CPSEnergy awarded the companythe 2007 CommercialHVAC Rebate Vendor of theYear Award for its outstandingdedication to promotingenergy efficiency and workingwith the utility to makethe rebate program runsmoothly for customers.
“Because ‘going green’ is soimportant these days, we want to do whateverwe can to help preserve the environment and assist our customersto do the same by installing energy–saving HVAC equipment,” Patsays.
Growing up, the Beyer boys played football for MacArthur HighSchool and enjoyed hunting, fishing and camping with their dad,Perry Sr. The 68–year–old patriarch has worked at Beyer Mechanicalfor the past 16 years as the purchasing manager. The three hired himafter he retired from City Public Service in the Meter and RegulatoryDepartment after 32 years of service.
As they have matured from adolescents to men, the band ofbrothers is as close as ever. Youngest brother Jeff sums up their relationshipperfectly.
“We have a great time working together as brothers, and I wouldnever do this business or be a partner with anyone but my brothers,”Jeff says. “We’re family and have, as any other brothers, our moments.But always after any situation, we make up quickly and move on. Weare Christians and love the Lord, which makes this business easier.We always try to make sure God is glorified in all we do.”
