P1 News

The rugged terrain of Wyoming is where Derby, Kansas, native Eric Williams finds himself these days. Eric has now been a Wyoming resident for five years, and it all started when he joined P1 Group as an HVAC technician.

Join us in welcoming the P1 Group summer interns! They come from a variety of backgrounds with diverse educational interests and we look forward to having them around our offices and jobsites. This year's interns represent Ottowa University, Kansas State University, University of Kansas, University of Missouri, Washburn University, Tabor College and others.

We can't wait to see what they learn - and what they can teach us.

When teamwork happens the way it is supposed to, it can produce incredible things. This was demonstrated by the large team that pulled together for the multi-phase HVAC improvement project at Cleveland University. Not only did the customer get a top-notch product, the project illustrates the benefits of working with a single-source provider.

Through an innovative approach to this ammonia energy project, P1 Group’s Industrial Ammonia Refrigeration team beat rebate projections and ultimately earned Hunt Midwest rebates of more than $120,000 based on annual electrical savings of more than 920,000 kWh for the SubTropolis underground business complex in Kansas City.

SubTropolis is the largest underground business complex in the world, created through the mining of a 270-million-year-old limestone deposit. In the mining process, limestone is removed by the room and pillar method, leaving 25-foot square pillars that are on 65-foot centers and 40 feet apart.

Congratulations to Gloria Keating for earning the CFO of the Year honor from the Kansas City Business Journal. Only a select group of winners is chosen, representing the best and brightest in finance across the Kansas City Metro.

By the 8th grade, P1 Group CFO Gloria Keating knew exactly what she wanted to do. She even recalls writing an 8th grade graduation paper declaring she planned to be an accountant.

P1 Group is always looking for ways to support the communities in which we live and work, and the bi-annual Corporate Sponsorship competition allows us to do it for the charities nearest and dearest to our associates’ hearts.

Congratulations to Scheduler/Dispatcher Marvin Reese (pictured above, left) from our Lawrence office and Building Technologies Foreman Chad Andrew from our Lenexa office on winning the Spring Corporate Sponsorships.

May 1 is National Skilled Trades Day, so what better time to celebrate our own men and women in the trades.

Labor Shortage

There’s a lot of information out there regarding the serious shortage of skilled laborers. Between Baby Boomers retiring and far fewer young people pursuing skilled labor careers, the pipeline is thin.

Companies like Catalent Pharma Solutions hold consumer health in their hands – the development and delivery of the drugs they make are critical to saving lives. They face strenuous government regulations and strict operating procedures, so having facility equipment fail is serious and can lead to disastrous loss of product and profit.

Thanks to the above-and-beyond diligence of the P1 Group Facility Maintenance Operations (FMO) team at Catalent, there were no fails and it was “business as usual”, even throughout the brutal winter.

Pictured, above: Massive cooling towers and chillers getting ready for installation.

What you don’t usually see when you visit a hospital are the massive mechanical systems behind the scenes that keep the environment precisely regulated, operations running smoothly, and patients and personnel safe.

Every year, P1 Group hosts a March Madness bracket challenge designed to build a bit of competitive fun around the office and support great causes that are meaningful to our associates.

P1 Group is in full-swing with its 100-year celebration, and Senior Estimator Joe Camren has been around for more than half of it.

One of P1 Group’s longest-tenured employees, Joe started as a plumber apprentice in the field in 1966 (with founding company A.D. Jacobson) and is still going strong as a senior estimator at corporate headquarters today. In a recent Q&A, he shared his observations about his work, his company, and what really makes a person successful.

Working with industrial ammonia refrigeration is probably one of the most dangerous jobs. Safety and training are top priorities at P1 Group, particularly in this highly regulated segment of our industry.

Keeping with our commitment to ensure associates in the field are highly trained and prepared for the work ahead, P1 Group recently partnered with Wagner-Meinert LLC to develop a comprehensive set of maintenance procedures for our ammonia technicians and relevant personnel.

P1 Group Performance Solutions Team Goes to the Head of the Class

When a vendor working with Paola USD 368 discovered sludge and other performance issues with the high school’s 30-year-old hydronic piping system, he thought P1’s Performance Solutions group might be just the team for the job.

As a prestigious partner with the Kansas Association of School Boards (KASB), P1 Group already had a relationship with Paola superintendent Matt Meeks. P1 Group connected with Matt during KASB BOLD, an educational program for new superintendents for which P1 Group provided training in our Lenexa Training Facility.

Photos 1 and 3 courtesy of Park MGM Las Vegas

You can’t go to Vegas without an extensive array of specialty restaurants and bars at every turn and P1 Group’s Las Vegas office is a major player in their construction and remodel.

Pictured above (from left): Lorrie Belcher, Gloria Keating, Donna Belcher, Bruce Belcher, Meghan Scott, Todd Mihalchik, Sonja Raye, Mitch Campbell.

On February 28 at Maceli’s in Lawrence, Kan., the Lawrence Memorial Hospital (LMH) Health Foundation bestowed one of their highest awards upon P1 Group.

The P1 Group Lawrence office is a big part of our history and our future. But the office space at the 220,000 sq. ft. warehouse facility was due for an upgrade. 

When P1 Group’s Lawrence office relocated to the current building 13 years ago, it was spacious, but in need of a major remodel to be functional for our needs.Offices were built in what was once warehouse space, new carpet was installed and fresh paint went on the walls.

P1 Group Hosts Great Plains NEBB Technicians for TAB Training

We’re proud of the P1 Group Training Facility at our Lenexa headquarters for good reason. It is both unique to P1 Group and useful to our professional community.

Our Training Facility is a resource that goes beyond keeping our own service technicians relevant and knowledgeable. It also provides educational opportunities to industry colleagues and partners.

P1 Group’s Kindred Biosciences Production Expansion project was born from customer relationship building and a solid example of P1 teamwork across many trades and services.

KindredBio, a pet biopharmaceutical company based in San Francisco, took over an older pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Elmwood, KS, and will soon manufacture drugs there for companion animals like cats, dogs and horses.

Building Technologies Foreman Mike Griffith recently earned the Building Industry Consulting Service International Registered Communications Distribution Designer (BICSI RCDD) certification, adding even more technical expertise to P1 Group’s robust Technologies division.

In the world of gamers, there are many who prefer to play board games, with thousands gathering at tabletop game conventions where they can meet game creators and play role, strategy or card games (to name a few) and watch live demonstrations.    

P1 Accounting Clerk Julie Metzler has been demonstrating games for Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) at two large board game conventions each year for 18 years.