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the company and its employees has led to substantial growth.” Throughout its history, GAC has


helped build schools, but now the con- tractor is also involved in the construc- tion of stores, high-rise office buildings, hospitals, warehouses, and industrial plants of all sizes – “if a facility needs air conditioning, we can pretty well do it,” Machen says. “Our business mix has changed since


1959 and we’ve evolved very organically,” she says. “We’ve always been heavily involved in commercial construction, but out of that we then formed a residen- tial group to support customers in their homes. It’s still a pretty small segment of our business, and its mainly service, but we also do new installs and replacements.” While every project presents its own


challenges, during the pandemic the big- gest struggle across the board was get- ting the equipment – and never knowing what the lead time was actually going to be, Machen says. “For one project, we ordered some-


thing that was supposed to arrive in eight weeks, but it took almost 18 months,” she says. “We had to get creative on how we did things and how we priced things, to find a good solution. For that project, at some point we brought in temporary equipment to at least get things going. It was for a new school, so they wanted to make sure those kids were cool enough.” Then for an entire school district,


almost all of the schools had no air condi- tioning due to lack of maintenance and care in previous years, Machen says. Within 24 hours, GAC had most schools’ HVAC units running and by the end of the week the


company was able to get the units in all of the district’s schools up and running. “We’ve done a lot of work all over the


place – and everything in between,” she says. “It gets hot as Hades here in Texas and lots of people wouldn’t be able to do their jobs if we didn’t do our job. We make sure people are comfortable so they can do their best work.” Perhaps the company’s most well-


known project was at the Alamo, helping to renovate the historic facility’s chapel, as well as turn its long barracks into a museum, Machen says. “They’ve got a lot of artifacts in the long


barracks and so they needed the building to stay at a pretty consistent temperature, particularly with people coming in and out of it all of the time,” she says. GAC is committed to making safety a


priority – ensuring that its people have the knowledge, training and ability to continue that commitment, Machen says. The company hosts more than a dozen safety training sessions per year, and its employees collectively hold more than 250 safety certifications. “It’s important that our team under-


stand all the skills and reasons for the culture of safety in our company,” she says. “We partner with our contractors and vendors to facilitate training and understanding. From our president to our newest employee, safety is always at the forefront of our minds.” Safety should be – and is – everyone’s


responsibility at GAC, which is why the management team encourages any and all feedback to enable improvement on the company’s policies and procedures, Machen says.


JULY/AUGUST 2023 25


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