Inside the Culture of a $50M+ Contractor
A strong culture is hard to prove. It shows up in the way people are led, trained, retained and connected to a purpose bigger than the work itself.
In this episode of Cracking The Code, Jason Walker joins Brad Barron onsite at Barron Heating AC Electrical & Plumbing in for a conversation inside their production studio. They talk about the people-first foundation behind Barron’s $50M operation, from community impact and employee retention to leadership development, technician training, and clear growth paths. Together, they unpack why real growth is not just about hitting a bigger revenue number. It is about building the systems and culture that make sustainable growth possible.
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00:00:00:00 – 00:00:12:05
We have to hire good managers and good leaders. So if you don’t have the right people that are leading underneath of you, you’re not going to see that level of retention. And it’s hard, right?
00:00:12:07 – 00:00:40:23
Welcome to cracking the code. This is your host, J. Deb moneymaker with this cohost Brad Baron. And we are out here at Behrens Heating and Air Electrical and Plumbing all the way out in Washington, Bellingham, Bellingham, Washington. And I got to tell you, we got the firecracker here. And I’m not in my normal studio. No we’re not. I am in your production studio.
00:00:40:23 – 00:01:08:16
And I got to say, man, the opportunity to be here this week to walk through the office, to see the culture, to actually walk the walk and talk the talk is something that I was able to experience. Sure. Yeah, absolutely. And I’m so excited because what I got to experience this week is something that a lot of people watching this podcast doesn’t get to go to a 60 million, $50 million operation, right?
00:01:08:17 – 00:01:39:15
Sure. And there’s so many things that you do different here. So first off, thanks for having me come out. It’s a blessing to have you, man. It’s been so fun out here in Washington. Right? Is Washington. So talking about some things that we saw. First off I want to talk about the nonprofit. Sure. Okay. One thing that I talk about all the time is when you are doing something good for the community, or sorry if you’re doing something good and building something amazing, what bigger impact can you make?
00:01:39:20 – 00:02:00:17
Right. And you guys are making a massive impact and impact in the community. Talk about that. Yeah. Well, I mean, it goes back to to the roots that Baron was established on. My grandma and grandpa believe that when you bless others, you in turn are blessed. I know I’ve talked about that before, but if you can rally people around a purpose that’s bigger than themselves, I think it matters.
00:02:00:17 – 00:02:23:06
And also customers engage differently with companies that do truly want to give back and want to be invested. If we do not invest in our community, we are not going to thrive as a company. And I know I’ve talked about the forces of caring, right? Coworkers, customers, community, company or yeah, company and company being the last. Not that we’re not taking care of it, but everything else takes care of it.
00:02:23:06 – 00:02:48:18
And so Baron Cares came out of a need, really, to be able to take the passions that our team members had to give back, to be able to be invested in the community and find a way to do that. It also gives us an opportunity to set goals and say, we want to give that much money. Like we want to bless our community in a way that other people, you know, hopefully will aspire to as a result of what we’re doing.
00:02:48:19 – 00:03:14:13
Right. So like, it’s like a firecracker, a fire in a good way of of, you know, motivation and encouragement to also have other companies bless the community to, if that makes sense. So be a beacon. One thing that you said as we were walking around that was really impressive, right? Was I believe it was 58,000, and 57,000 is what’s already been donated this year, the first date for year to date.
00:03:14:19 – 00:03:42:00
And over the last two years, it’s or three years it’s been over 300,000, right? Almost 300,000 for two and a half years. I mean, that right there is just amazing of just knowing the impact that you’re making in the community based off, again, a company that you guys been running, not just one generation, not just two, but you’re on the third generation, which is something that’s really hard because they say typically it doesn’t go past the first generation.
00:03:42:01 – 00:04:07:07
Yeah, well business is hard, you know, for those listening in and we’ve talked about this or hinted at it, this was a few years ago. HVAC, electrical, plumbing companies overtook restaurants as the number one failing business type. Right. I mean, that is within the first year where it’s that hard of an industry to be a part of. And so to be able to establish yourselves and build roots, excuse me, grow roots and then build from those roots is is imperative to success.
00:04:07:07 – 00:04:22:21
So it’s a hard business. And so yeah, I feel very blessed I get a chance to work with my dad. Not a lot of people get a chance to do that. I get asked, by the way, all the time, like all the time. I bet you can’t wait for John, my dad, John to retire. They ask it all the time and I look at them like they’re crazy.
00:04:22:21 – 00:04:40:00
I’m like, what are you talking about? I get to work with my dad for a finite period of time, and when it’s done, it’s done right. I can’t get that time of those hours back. And so, you know, my pride and ego isn’t in it. We’re business partners together. He’s blessed me with the opportunity to to take the keys and run with it.
00:04:40:00 – 00:04:55:23
But at the end of the day, it’s really fun to work with people you love. One thing that I like that I see, I mean, I’m talking to you and I could see the passion that you have with working with your dad. I mean, I’m sure he’s your role model, your mentor. Right? One of them, for sure. Yeah, I’m blessed with a number of them.
00:04:55:23 – 00:05:12:17
But he is obviously as a kid, he’s, you know, he’s my dad. Yeah, but yeah, he’s absolutely one. I mean, he is there’s a reason I am who I am today, and it’s as a result of how I was brought up. I wish that he was here today. He’s out fishing right now. I wish he was doing salmon fishing up in Vancouver, BC.
00:05:12:18 – 00:05:34:15
Yeah, but I wonder how he feels about working with his son. You know, like I envision with royalty heat in an area. If I have royalty when my son is old enough to take over the range. Right. Like how prideful I would be, first off, that he would want to do it and that he would carry the legacy of the company of what we built from generation to generation.
00:05:34:15 – 00:05:57:14
I’d hope that he’s proud. I think that he is. It’s not about what we achieve. I think it’s about how we treat people. My dad’s a very people centric person. And and also being able to communicate why we do what we do. And I think that we do a good job of that. I mean, business is hard. You know, for those listening to the podcast, you know, you get a chance, you know, when it’s good and great, you know, it’s easy to make decisions.
00:05:57:14 – 00:06:19:00
And then when things are tighter or challenging economies, it’s harder. And so we’re strapped with the pressure and the requirement responsibility really to be able to make those really hard, hard calls good or bad. And so it’s nice having my dad as part of that to be as someone at least bear some of that load. So I can feel like right now it’s you, right?
00:06:19:01 – 00:06:38:10
Like so when whether it’s hiring decisions or firing decisions, like at royalty, you get to bear that cross. It sucks. Yeah. Yeah, it’s. I think the worst part of the job. It’s the we’re responsible for it, but it’s the worst part. Yeah, but you got to do it. Yeah you do. You got to protect culture. And hopefully the biggest thing is for sure.
00:06:38:10 – 00:07:02:05
That’s my hope you had a chance. And that’s what I was going to say is, you know, throughout the podcast that they’ve been listening to the last couple of weeks, you know, we’ve been preaching about culture, but being able to witness culture, one thing you say is, you know, you have hundreds of employees, right? And every employee that we walked by today, we communicated with, you knew their name, you knew their background story.
00:07:02:06 – 00:07:27:08
You knew the position that they worked or what job they did prior. Right. And what I noticed is majority of the the employees that you have here have been here for a while as well. I mean, we’re talking about ten years. 30 years. Yeah. Got a couple, nine years, five years, six years. I mean, to be able to retain your employees is just a proving that you’re doing something right.
00:07:27:08 – 00:07:45:04
I think it’s a testament to the team and the strength of our teammates. To John and I are just two people, right? We have to hire good managers and good leaders and shepherds of, you know, our people in the flock, if you will. And so if you don’t have the right people that are leading underneath of you, you’re not going to see that level of retention.
00:07:45:04 – 00:08:05:15
And it’s hard, right? It’s it’s like I said, the people part of things is the hardest part of business. But it’s also I think the best part of business. People are beautiful because they are messy, right? And we’re not perfect. But man, I don’t think I’d have it any other way. Even if at times I go home and I’m just like, man, I can’t believe the day I just went through.
00:08:05:15 – 00:08:30:14
And we’ve all been there, you know, as we went through. One thing that that I love to see is that you’re training within your company. When I talk about training, I’m not talking about your Monday training. Your Thursday training. What I’m talking about is building people in your organization. You have a university here. We do. We talked about the university on cracking the code to be able to witness your students today.
00:08:30:15 – 00:08:54:09
Right. And how proud they are to be in the industry or the trades. Talk a little bit about the university and the impact that it’s making in your business and the community. Yeah, I think when we were doing the original tour, you had made a comment that I think is really apropos. You had said that it’s better to train your own people than it is to hire bad habits, right?
00:08:54:11 – 00:09:15:16
And I think that that was part of it. But the genesis of the Baron technician school, that’s what we call it. Or now it’s transitioned to Whole Home Academy because we actually help contractors all across the US build their own technician schools. We have curriculum that they can use and deploy on their own because it’s hard. It took us 18 months to build it, but that was after recognizing that we’ve got a five out, right?
00:09:15:17 – 00:09:36:08
Five baby boomers out for every two millennial or Gen Zers in. And I still remember this. I was at E.J. back in 2017. Crazy statistics say that statistic again. Yeah, I think it’s important. Five out, five baby boomers out for every two millennial or Gen Zers in so. And by the way, I’m an engineer by trade does not take an engineer.
00:09:36:10 – 00:09:56:17
That’s bad math right there. That is called a chasm. That is a problem. But one of the keynotes at the conference back, and this was down in San Diego 2017, said, it’s your problem. Like he looked at all the contractors, said that gap is your problem. And I remember it was like my third day at bear. And I’m like, what did I do?
00:09:56:19 – 00:10:16:14
What? I went from engineering to this. Like this. What did I do? But I’m an engineer. So how do you solve that problem? Going back to your question, do you build the school right and you make the investment because if you don’t, you don’t have the people. We scaled 30% year over year during Covid, right? Without PE infusion, without outside investment.
00:10:16:14 – 00:10:34:05
And we did that because we were able to grow around people quickly through a 15 week program that not only trained technical skills, but you got to train customer service skills. You have to train sales skills, right? You have to give them the tools needed to be able to actually be a good employee, right? Yeah. It can’t just be how to turn a wrench.
00:10:34:05 – 00:10:57:03
If that’s your end goal, your school is going to fail because that’s like less than half the job, right? Most of it is communicating and we fall short when we don’t communicate well. Talk about your fabricating shop because, you know, as I get the experience to go to all these shops across the nation, yeah, you by far have one of the best fab shops and the biggest shop that I have seen.
00:10:57:03 – 00:11:22:07
Well, they say go big or go home, go big or go home. And it’s not Texas y’all know. Yeah we so we used to do it’s actually really neat. We used to do a whole bunch of new construction and residential and commercial. And we made the shift back in 2012 to being more residential, retrofit focused, and then really doubled down on that about 2022, 2023.
00:11:22:07 – 00:11:44:18
So we took the extra space and we converted it to we do welding now for some metal work, but also it’s become part of our training for our install tax. Right. They actually have this radiant floor heated facility they get to go out and train in, which is really great. So fabrication is a part of what we do, and it’s a bedrock of how our installers learn.
00:11:44:19 – 00:12:04:06
Every installer goes through the fabrication shop first before they ultimately become an apprentice. They have to do anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks of fabrication. So it’s part of what we call a development path that. Barron. We talked a little bit about that in early episodes, but every employee is on a development path and everyone has a development plan, right?
00:12:04:07 – 00:12:24:06
How often are they meeting to talk about the development plan and path? Yeah, ideally it’d be every quarter. It likely happens about two times a year, but we do more informal check ins quarterly. So it’s formal, informal, formal, informal throughout the year, with the first of the year being our goal setting meetings. So and we do the best we can.
00:12:24:08 – 00:12:40:16
Obviously as we are growing sometimes things can get crazy and busy. But you really do have to carve out time for that and it takes time. Don’t blow through it. If you’re going to sit down with employ, think about what it means to actually give them really good feedback. It’s also a great way to learn if they should be on your team or not.
00:12:40:16 – 00:13:01:17
Because if they can’t receive feedback well and you don’t do it within the first three months, then all of a sudden you’ve got someone that can’t take feedback, they can’t grow, they can’t learn, and then you’re stuck with them. So it goes both ways. As I’ve been out here the last couple of days, I could only imagine what the next 3 to 5 years looks like for you all.
00:13:01:22 – 00:13:20:05
What’s that plan in your head? Yeah, I mean, I think at the end of the day, we want to make sure that we’re first and foremost taking care of the people. Right. Growth for the sake of growth. I’ve said this before, is vanity, right? If you’re just like, I want to go from, you know, 45, 50 million to 75, whatever it is, that’s just a vanity number.
00:13:20:05 – 00:13:35:09
If you say, I want to create three more managers or I want to do, you know, two more divisions to be able to employ 12 more people in high paying jobs, whatever it is, then it’s about people. It’s not about money. And so every decision that we’re going to make over the next 3 to 5 years is going to be built around that.
00:13:35:09 – 00:13:53:23
I will say, right now, I like where we’re at in regards to our division build out. I think we got good trades more in. We’re in HVAC, electrical, plumbing. I think those are great trades. We got some trades like solar fireplace Iirc. We do duck ceiling duct cleaning. I like where we’re at. We’ve got sort of that hedgehog where we want it to be.
00:13:53:23 – 00:14:12:15
Now it is continuing to refine processes, find the right people and grow those people and see where see where it takes us. We’ll have goals every single year, right? We’re going to make sure we do that. We follow attractions, iOS entrepreneur operating system. And so we have quarterly rocks and annual goals and a three year plan and a ten year vision.
00:14:12:15 – 00:14:30:21
We’ve got all that built out, and our goal is to get after it and hit it. But it’s all centered around people. Yeah. And and at the end of the day, I think we’re going to crush it as a result of her people. Well, I just got to say, first off, thank you for allowing me to come out here so I could tour the shop.
00:14:30:21 – 00:14:50:07
And as a business owner. Right. It’s really good to see what’s possible. So what I’m trying to get at is everyone that’s listening to this episode right now, it’s okay to reach out to maybe people in your market that are the bigger fish, or people in different states or or different markets and say, what is it that you’re doing?
00:14:50:08 – 00:15:12:15
Yeah, I’m luckily I get the opportunity to go to different companies all across the nation. You do being able to sacrifice. Right? A lot of business owners don’t think they could leave for a couple days, right? Well, that’s the problem. If you don’t think you could leave for a couple of days, that means you might be a little bit too integral in the operation.
00:15:12:18 – 00:15:29:20
Yeah, exactly. And there’s different phases too, right? I mean, if you’re the guy at the beginning of a company and you’re doing sales and service and install and it’s you and one other person, yeah, it might take a little bit of time, but also you’re going to have to grind and put in the time and effort to be able to do that because you don’t learn from looking down.
00:15:29:20 – 00:15:47:10
You learn from looking up, right? You do. Right? And so when I was, you know, first starting at Barron and we were a 12 to $13 million company, I wasn’t looking at the 10 to $15 million companies. I was going, what is the $25 million company doing? And then when we hit that threshold, it’s, what’s the $50 million company doing?
00:15:47:10 – 00:16:23:11
And now I’m talking with 100 to $200 million. Not because we’re going to be there tomorrow, but what systems are they implementing? Absolutely. What are the things that they’re doing strategically to better themselves? Again, not out of vanity for a number, but out of sanity for people. Well, for everyone that’s listening to e.g. cracking the code. I am super excited because I’m going to take this knowledge that I’ve got in the last couple of days, and the key thing is going back and implementing and that’s going to happen is I’m going to bring back what I got, gather the information, go back and implement, and I’m going to change the projector of where we’re going.
00:16:23:11 – 00:16:36:06
So absolutely, I got to tell you all, it’s an absolute honor to be next to Brad Barron the firecracker. Right. Until next time of cracking the code late.
