Established in 1989, Walton & Company has grown steadily in size and depth of services during the last thirty-plus years. Walton offers mechanical engineering for design-build projects, plumbing and HVAC installation, metal fabrication, and mechanical building service solutions to its customers. Walton can be part of a project for its entire lifespan from start to finish.
As a mechanical contractor with its own metal fabrication department, Walton & Company can make the ductwork and custom metal fabrication for its own projects. Walton & Company’s 36,600 sq shop also allows the company to service stand-alone customers as well as its competitors. From constructing a broad range of customized platforms and curbs to stainless steel HVAC and source capture systems for food processing clients, the company always ensures that customers get quality fabrication with the parts that best fit the task at hand.
Another demonstration of Walton’s flexibility is the 24/7 building services that it offers to its clients. The reason for this is simple; problems rarely happen eight to five. Many of Walton’s customers operate 24/7 themselves, especially within the pharmaceutical industry. Walton’s nighttime answering service is specifically designed to cater to these types of clients and can dispatch an employee to assist a client within an hour or two. Walton offers a 4-hour guarantee, however, it’s rare that a call takes that long. This option serves not only to keep Walton & Company diverse, but it demonstrates to its clients that they are Walton’s number one priority.
On Walton & Company’s website, the saying ‘Safety at Walton & Company is the responsibility of each and every Walton & Company employee every day’ is displayed proudly. Andy Volovar, President of Walton & Company, says the company shortens that down to ‘Stop, Think, Work Safe,’ a slogan to remind employees that safety comes before anything else, and that to work safely is to work efficiently. Employees are not only encouraged to look out for themselves but for their co-workers as well. With a work environment that at times prioritizes speed over accuracy, it is refreshing to hear that Walton’s employees are given reassurances that safety comes before anything else. “It is safer to stop and reassess, rather than power through at any given moment and run any kind of safety risk,” says Andy Volovar, this serves to protect Walton’s employees as well as foster a sense of concern and well-being within the company.
“Walton & Company’s competitive edge is its ability to return to a project and maintain the high standard to which it was originally completed, from maintenance to replacements, to updates.”
In addition to promoting the safety of its workers, Walton & Company also ensures that opportunities for growth and development are built into the company ethos. To this end, Walton & Company is part of the Associated Builders and Contractors Keystone Chapter, a local chapter of a national association. The association itself advocates for Walton and other contractors as a group for legislative issues in D.C as well as Pennsylvania, in addition to providing training opportunities to its members. This support gives Walton & Company employees the option to continue learning and upgrading skills such as estimation, management, foreman training, and journeyman training.
Links to ABC Keystone Chapter assist the company in many ways but, challenges still remain. One of these is the omnipresent labor shortage. Walton & Company has adapted to technological advances over the years and is using these skills to encourage younger generations to consider a career in the trades. On its website, there is a link to Walton’s social media channels which is in place to reach the new generation raised in the social media world. Since Walton’s burgeoning future workforce will come from that generation it’s important for the company to have visibility on the social platforms that young people frequent.
With an ever-changing market and unprecedented market conditions in a post-pandemic world, Walton’s endeavors to stay thriving go beyond its social media presence. Walton’s ability to offer ‘a little bit of everything’ is what Mr. Volovar owes Walton’s success to. From mechanical fit-out of warehouses, office buildings, food processing, and custom stainless-steel work; the list is endless. Volovar also stated that a big part of our ability to ride out the ups and downs of the economy is because forty percent of the company’s revenue comes from its service and preventative maintenance department. Walton & Company’s competitive edge is its ability to return to a project and maintain the high standard to which it was originally completed, from maintenance to replacements, to updates.
A recent Walton project that speaks to this competitive edge was a large distribution hub for a national parcel delivery company in Middletown, Pennsylvania. It began for Walton & Company as a design-build project, and then became a total design-build and construction project including the HVAC system and plumbing. The complete design for the 775,000 square foot facility was no minor undertaking for Walton, becoming its largest single contract at eight million dollars. Similarly, Walton worked on another local project, just fifteen miles away, for a food processor that needed its processing equipment moved from New Jersey to Lancaster, near Walton’s base of operations. For Walton, this project entailed nine months of disconnecting the equipment for transit, then setting it back in the new location, all the while configuring it and making the new set-up in Lancaster County as efficient as possible for the food processor.
For Walton employees, education is both encouraged and supplied. For those on board, there is an option to pursue the apprenticeship programs offered, company-paid, which affords its staff opportunities to upskill in the likes of plumbing or HVAC. It entails classroom training as well as field experience, all while remaining at Walton & Company. It greatly benefits Walton’s employees to be able to work, learn and earn money simultaneously, which fosters a growing opportunity for its employees and the company.
In the next few years, Walton & Company’s goals are to continue expanding. The company identifies its automation and digital control business as a market with huge potential for growth. With a growing list of products, services, and skills that it can offer its clients, it is of no surprise that the company is seeking to develop its range further. With a growing history of excellence and diversity, you wouldn’t bet against Walton & Company making a success of anything it puts its hand to.
