News
The Schebler Company is more than an HVAC company. In their state-of-the-art 200,000 square foot facility in Bettendorf, they specialize in industrial chimney systems, specialty fabrication services and HVAC for a wide array of industries.
They thoroughly enjoy helping customers with outlandish, seemingly impossible ideas. How? A team of project managers in the specialty fabrication division, BIM in the HVAC division and the engineering team in the industrial chimney division alongside a dedicated team of other employee owners. They have yet to find a request that their talented team cannot bring to fruition. Not to mention, Schebler is now 100% employee owned by both its union and non-union employees, which only accelerated their customer service mentality. The culture at Schebler can be described as highly customer centric.
“We needed U.S. Internal Revenue Service’s approval for our concept to include union and non-union employees in our Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) and, as far as we know, we are the first and only one in North America to do it the way we did it,” said Lance McDanel, President. “Being fully employee-owned brings a new meaning to company pride and having pride in ownership. It also means providing certainty to each and every one of our stakeholders.”
When asked which projects they wanted to discuss, it was hard for them to choose. There are many local schools and hospitals that Schebler works with, but their clients span the entire gamut. Customer attrition is rare thanks to their white glove customer service mindset.
“Our folks are absolutely wired for outstanding customer service, which also makes it a joy to work here. Our employees will break their ankles on the accelerator to get you what you need,” McDanel said.
In speaking on their unique value proposition and what sets them apart from their competition, their combination of pride and humility came through.
“It’s not any one thing, it’s everything. It’s our relentless pursuit of customer satisfaction. It’s our exceptional turnaround time. It’s consistency. We wouldn’t be here without our customers,” McDanel said. “With three major divisions, it’s all very symbiotic in how we work with one another and maneuver our workforce into different areas as needed. Our unique setup really works for us!”
Started by two German immigrant brothers in 1895, Schebler was first a small HVAC and metal fabricator, they are now known for being particularly proficient at producing complex fabrications made of stainless steel, aluminum and other high-alloy materials.
“If it’s made of metal, we can fabricate it,” said Matt Anderson, Marketing Manager.
As one of the Quad Cities’ unintentionally kept secrets, plant visitors are often surprised at how much Schebler offers beyond their well-known HVAC work. The latest addition being the most state-of-the-art laser systems, stamping capabilities and expansion of their tool and die design/build offerings.
“We’ll continue to invest dollars into assets in pursuit of never-ceasing growth so that we can provide new capabilities for our customers. We want to be their one stop shop,” McDanel said.
