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Simple solutions create success
Call Henry's basic business philosophy leads to explosive growth

By Anne Straub
Brevard Technical Journal

Some things, you just have to do yourself.

Take naming your company, for example. When Henry Foster and some colleagues decided to branch out on their own, they hired a firm to suggest names for their endeavor. They wanted to provide technical and management consulting, and eventually go after facilities management contracts.

None of the hired company's ideas seemed to fit the concept. It was in an informal bull session that someone on Foster's team piped up, "Why don't we just call it 'Call Henry'?" Foster remembers. "That captured the whole idea of what we were trying to do. One call does it all."

The name wasn't as sophisticated as clients in the company's customer base, the aerospace industry, might expect. But it grew on people. And the best part: "Everybody remembers it when they hear it," Foster said.

Since that start in 1990, Call Henry Inc. has grown from a dozen people doing consulting work to about 500 performing facilities maintenance services at government centers across the country. The Titusville company's explosive growth has landed it on the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing private companies twice, in 2000 and 2002.

The company touts its experience in plant engineering and facilities management, which dates back long before its inception. "I've been doing similar types of things for 40 years," said Foster.

After earning a bachelor's degree in engineering from Arkansas State University in 1957, Foster started his career at General Motors in Pontiac, Mich. GM was getting ready to produce the first V6 engine made in the United States, and Foster headed up activation of the plant. The undertaking involved reconfiguring facilities and building and installing automated equipment - tasks that mirror much of what Call Henry does today. He then went to work for Boeing Co., bringing new facilities online for the Minuteman and Saturn programs. When Boeing entered operations and maintenance services, Foster was transferred to Cocoa Beach to help with Boeing's contract at Kennedy Space Center.

In the late 1980s, Boeing left the base operations service business at about the same time United Airlines was getting interested in it. United recruited Foster to Denver to help start a division, which grew to 2,000 people in two years.

When United started taking steps to spin off its base operations and other subsidiary businesses, Foster and his co-managers saw little advantage to staying with the company. "They were fixing to tear it all up," Foster said of those planning the breakup. "They wanted the business base, not why it was successful."

Foster decided to head back to Florida to start a consulting business. A handful of managers joined him.

They focused on management consulting for aerospace companies like EG&G and Raytheon Co. until about five years ago. That's when Call Henry reduced its consulting business and started going after contracts performing the operations work.

Its first win was with the Glenn Research Center, a NASA facility in Cleveland. "They were kind of a dark horse because no one had ever heard of them," recalled Mark Manthey, the Glenn contracting officer in charge of the Call Henry contract. The center recently renewed the contract with Call Henry.

The company maintains the 80-plus buildings on the campus, including completing an extensive maintenance schedule for the electrical power distribution and high-pressure piping involved in the steam plant at the research center. The company also takes care of the roads and grounds.

"Henry does an excellent job of putting the right people in place," Manthey said, noting that even though the center operates on a fixed-price contract, Call Henry managers accommodate extra requests. "They're willing to be as flexible as they can."

The company registered revenues of $19 million last year. The figure is closer to $25 million, counting its share of joint ventures that aren't included in its revenues for accounting purposes.

Other sites where Call Henry holds contracts include NASA's Johnson Space Center, an Air Force satellite tracking station in Sunnyvale, Calif., and the federal Savannah River Nuclear Site. They're among the increasing number of organizations that look to outside providers for services instead of keeping a staff to do the jobs.

"It doesn't necessarily save money," said Don Young, vice president of communications for the International Facility Management Association in Houston. "One of the key things is it enables them to focus on the core tasks of the organization, whether it's making widgets or providing services."

Using such services allows organizations to avoid the headaches of staffing high-turnover departments, such as janitorial or housekeeping. It also gives them the advantage of another company's expertise in areas like security, and lets them benefit from another firm's investment in maintenance equipment, Young said.

"It's definitely a growth area," Young said of the industry. "Most organizations are asking all areas to do more with less. They can't hire staff, so they use outsourcing and reduce their retirement and benefits cost."

That's a trend that Call Henry is counting on. The company plans to expand from government business to commercial clients and even residences, possibly as soon as this year.

"Anything you want we would do for you - wash floors, windows, fix the air conditioner," Foster said. The company won't replace items because he doesn't want to get into sales. That's an area where service companies tend to lose customers' trust, he said.

"They seem like they want to get rich off of one service call," Foster said of companies that try to sell host of replacement systems to a customer.

He credits mega retailer Wal-Mart with his business philosophy: Deliver a good product at the lowest price, and you'll be successful.

Expanding into the commercial sector would require a large investment in equipment, vehicles, insurance, training and more. Foster pledges that the undertaking will not divert attention from its core government service business.

Also in his plans: eventually reducing his workload so Foster, 69, and his wife, Rosalie, can enjoy travel and other leisure activities. The couple has four children, including a son, Chris, who joined the business three years ago.

"We're bringing on new talent all the time," Foster said of his plans to grow the business, even if he decides to slow down. One thing is certain: "We're not going to change the name," he said. "I've got that in the secession plan."