By: Michael Mascari, Public Affairs Officer
MCS Environmental was awarded a Recovery Act contract to build a disabled-friendly, energy-efficient residential duplex at Red Rock Lakes NWR.
Some people consider 13 unlucky, but that number is just fine for one Missoula, Montana-based company.
MCS Environmental, a small construction company, recently won its 13th competitive Recovery Act bid—an energy project at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Lima, Montana. The Recovery Act enabled the company to develop its desired niche—more energy efficiency projects.
“The Recovery Act has definitely helped a lot,” MCS Project Manager Forrest Senterfeit said. “There are more projects out there. Wind, solar and ground source projects were considered luxury in the past—real high dollar projects that only larger companies were able to do. The stimulus allows us to be able to keep people busy while diversifying our company. Hopefully these projects will put in a better position in the future when the economy recovers to do more to grow as a company.”
Wade K. Johnston founded the company in 1989 as an asbestos abatement company, and it has grown into a general construction and environmental remediation company. Today MCS puts 12-20 employees to work at any given time. MCS in a typical year does under $5 million per year and they are growing.
MCS Environmental also won an ARRA contract to construct a visitor center at Lee Metcalf NWR.
Workers from MCS will build a disabled-friendly, energy-efficient residential duplex at Red Rock Lakes. The house will incorporate a geothermal heating and cooling system. A geothermal system is a closed loop system that pumps liquid over several feet underground. It is warmed by the earth and drawn up to the facility where it is stripped of its heat. During the summer months, the system exchanges the heat from the building with the now cooler temperatures underground.
The company has a record of accomplishment with Recovery Act projects for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. MCS built a new bridge with ARRA funds at the refuge late last year. MCS also installed wind turbines at Benton Lake NWR in Great Falls, Montana and worked on a stimulus project at Lee Metcalf as well.
These photovoltaic panels at Benton Lake NWR were installed by MCS Environmental.
Keeping the company afloat is important to its employees, but the economy has made it a bigger challenge. Montana’s economy typically seems to lag behind much of the rest of nation, according to Senterfeit, but the community experienced hardship right away. Stimulus projects helped keep the ship from sinking.
“We felt it immediately. When the first crash hit, everyone put a freeze in their spending. We didn’t have much on the horizon. This year, it is better. The economy is driven by the second-and-third-home industry. Not many are looking to build them lately. In the past couple of years, I have gotten more calls from people looking for work. I am able to find more subcontractors looking for work.”
Construction projects often have a ripple effect on the economy. MCS is always looking to team with subcontracting firms, especially local ones. The subcontractors’ home area benefits because of the money coming in. The economy also benefits from mobilized employees. When MCS does a job in a remote location, they board their workers at local motels. The workers frequent shops and restaurants in the area.
Projects like these should help MCS transform from a small business to a major player in the region.
“It’s a great project for us. We are really good at going into remote locations and doing construction work. We’ve worked down there for years. Our crew really enjoys working there. It is hard to get materials in and out, but it is a great work. It’s a nice chunk of money to get us through the lean times.”
Originally posted 07/22/2010
