Courtesy Adirondack Mechanical Services
By Rod Bacon
A company that has provided high-quality industrial maintenance services to clients in the Capital Region and beyond for 30 years has expanded and relocated to Pruyns Island in Glens Falls.
Business partners Nicholas Waite and Davis Turner purchased Wilton-based Adirondack Mechanical Services in 2023 and operated at its Commerce Park Drive site until last May.
“We were growing rapidly,” said Turner. “We had seen growth of twenty percent to thirty percent year over year since we acquired the business and the building we were operating in was pretty much at maximum capacity.”
Turner explained that they wanted to add a fabrication shop, but their 7,500-square-foot building could not accommodate it. The Pruyns Island building has 33,000 square feet, and the fabrication shop has been operating for several months.
The shop is not running at full capacity because they are waiting for major equipment to arrive, which they anticipate will be within a month or two. Then they will be able to manufacture a variety of custom products for clients.
“With industrial maintenance you go to a lot of places and they need catwalks or ladders made, as well as structural steel or custom fabrication of pressure vessels. And we’re a subcontractor for a company that manufacturers large lifting beams,” Turner said.
Turner noted that the owners of the Pruyns Island building were extremely cooperative and credited listing agent Mark Levack of Levack Real Estate with making the transition go smoothly.
As a union shop, the company generally employs about 20 skilled craftspeople. Its welders are certified by the American Welding Society (AWS) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), focusing on structural steel, pressure pipe and vessel welding.
“There are busy seasons when we ramp up to double or triple our usual number of employees,” said Waite.
Improvements to the fabrication shop are ongoing. Concrete work is underway in preparation for installation of a 10-ton crane.
The owners did all the work themselves except the electrical work, which they contracted to Cohoes-based Mackey Electric.
According to Waite, a significant benefit of the move is faster project turnaround because the additional space has allowed the company to be more organized and efficient. He noted that they have maintained established project costs.
“We have not increased our rates,” he said. “As far as costs to our customers are concerned, nothing has changed.”
The new facility has allowed the company to serve existing clients more efficiently and explore other revenue streams.
Turner said cement and aggregate work, along with grinding processes for lime, zinc and graphite mines, represents approximately 60% of revenue. The company also works in the paper industry, with Finch Paper a longtime client.
The hydroelectric industry is another significant source of income. Recently, one of the gates at a local hydroelectric facility opened, causing the river level to fall rapidly. Adirondack Mechanical technicians responded and resolved the issue.
“It was a problem with the hydraulics and we got it under control quickly,” said Waite.
Since the move to Glens Falls, Turner has been working with representatives of Great Escape Theme Park and exploring other similar venues.
“We’re getting a significant amount of work from theme parks,” said Waite.
Waite and Turner plan to continue exploring additional business opportunities.
“Nick and I are young and ambitious, and wherever the path leads neither one of us is ready to take our foot off the gas,” said Turner. “We’re always asking each other, ‘What’s the next big thing? What are we going after?’”
For more information about Adirondack Mechanical Services, visit adirondackmechanical.com.