New ownership continues legacy of family-owned company

In 1951, as F. Harold Gillespie lay on his back in the hospital recuperating after a serious car accident, little did he dream that years later, he would buy the company owned by the man recovering nearby.

Victims of broken backs suffered in the same car accident, Gillespie and his friend and colleague Francis W. Freeman spent 18 days together in the hospital recovering their health. Fifty years later in 2001, four years after Freeman’s death, Gillespie bought Freeman Mechanical, Inc.

“Francis was very competent, a good engineer. We worked together for several years before we became competitors,” says Gillespie, who owned Davis Mechanical Contractors in Greenville until 1995. “I knew Freeman Mechanical was a good company.”

Freeman Mechanical, Inc., provides mechanical contracting for industrial, institutional and commercial installations, process piping, metal fabrication, service and repair of major mechanical systems to the Southeast.

Francis Freeman founded the company in 1954, targeting primarily residential and small commercial projects aided by a service department. By the early 1960s, the company had established itself as a major player in the mechanical market in the Greenville area and has performed work on projects such as the Bi-Lo Center, the renovation of the Westin Poinsett Hotel an the new Greenville Water Treatment System in Travelers Rest.

After Freeman’s death in 1997, the company was acquired by Integrated Energy Services, Inc., (IES) in 1999. When IES went bankrupt in 2001, due to problems unrelated to Freeman Mechanical, Gillespie and his daughter, Jean Roth, bought the company.

The father-and-daughter team, now working at Freeman as president/CEO and vice president respectively, have a long history of working together. Roth grew up working for her father’s company every summer during college, and joined the company when she graduated. She filled many slots during her career there, from receptionist and secretary to positions in estimating, accounting, advertising and personnel.

The pair brings the same ethic to Freeman Mechanical that made Davis Mechanical Contractors a respected and successful firm, the third largest non-union mechanical contractor in the country with 1,500 employees.

“Our goal is to provide reliable service in harmony with our customers and to be the best mechanical contractor in the Southeast – bar none,” Gillespie says.

To that end, Freeman Mechanical has undergone a number of upgrades and changes. Its new 32,000-sq-ft. facility on Whitmire Drive in Greenville, SC, houses the offices, warehouse, and service department. The metal fabrication shop has been expanded to more than 15,000 square feet and a new building has been built to house truck maintenance.

The IT systems have been upgraded or replaced, including upgraded accounting software with proprietary mechanical construction software. New Quick-Pen estimating software has been installed, as well as a job cost tracking system and AutoCad for engineering drawings.

Freeman Mechanical also has updated its image, with a new logo, website and public relations campaign.

But the most important changes are related to the company’s most vital assets – its customers and its employees.

“Our goal is to provide superb service. We care about the people here, and we care about our customers,” Gillespie says. “We believe in treating people fairly. We pay more than average compensation in order to keep the best people.”

“It’s about having pride in what you do,” Roth adds. “We build things that people can see – for example, an operating room that saves people’s lives.”

Freeman Mechanical takes pride in its strong position in the medical field. Freeman is fully certified in medical gas applications, clean room application, contagious disease control (HVAC side) and operating and ICU applications. The company has worked on a number of large hospital projects and commercial and industrial installations.