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Hooper Corporation and General Heating and Air Conditioning Join Together on New Campus
Brand-new headquarters and fabrication facility centralizes operations, improves collaboration, and positions the newly unified company for growth.
Hooper Corporation, the specialty electric power and mechanical contractor headquartered in Madison since 1913, recently announced it is moving to a brand-new campus located on 50 acres in DeForest, Wisc. As part of the move, the strategic decision was also made to combine Hooper Corporation and General Heating and Air Conditioning (GHAC), a wholly-owned subsidiary since 1994, as one unified company and cohesive brand: HOOPER. Effective November 1, teams that previously worked in separate offices and various warehouses will now join together as one company on the centralized campus that includes a new corporate office, a state-of-the-art fabrication facility and room to grow.
Both built on a long local history and strong reputation of excellence, combining Hooper Corporation and GHAC under one unified brand and location will foster a more efficient and collaborative work environment across all disciplines. The new campus will be home to approximately 200 employees working together from one centralized location to help deliver high-quality utility and mechanical solutions that connect people to the resources they need.
“It’s an exciting time as we lay the foundation for the next 100 years with this beautiful new campus that will provide an exceptional work environment for our people,” says Hooper President Steve Lindley. “We’ve experienced strong growth over the past decade and are in a great position to reinvest in the business by bringing all disciplines under one roof with the right tools to better support our people, clients, partners, and community. GHAC has been an integral part of that growth and we’re excited to unite our teams in a more creative, inspiring environment that is essential to facilitate innovation and collaboration.”
Under construction since October 2020, the project was constructed by Hooper’s colleagues at JH Findorff & Son Inc. and Vogel Bros. Building Co. The new campus includes a 68,860 square foot office building with 43,730 square feet of underground parking, zones for private offices, open workstations, and collaboration spaces over two floors. The 207,226 square foot fabrication facility was designed from the inside-out to maximize efficient operations and to manage the flow of raw materials and finished goods. The facility is equipped with enhanced technology capabilities and serves as a unified location for plumbing, fire protection, process piping, custom metals and HVAC sheet metal production.
Both buildings are designed to be a showcase of the expertise and professional capabilities of Hooper and GHAC’s tradespeople, featuring solar hot water and storm reclaim systems, a 60-well geothermal bore field, water-cooled modular chiller, in-floor radiant heat, and an in-ground snowmelt system.
“Since the groundbreaking and as the construction evolved, there’s been widespread interest about the new campus and the more efficient and collaborative work environment it will provide,” says GHAC President Brad Werlein. “We’ve worked alongside Hooper for 27 years, and are looking forward to joining forces inside our new location -- united to better serve our clients and community.”
The DeForest Hooper campus will also serve as home base for the company’s electric power and mechanical service divisions. Hooper’s electric power transmission and distribution, substation, line clearance and storm response services are Midwest grown but nationally known. Meanwhile, Hooper’s service division is more centrally located, serving the state of Wisconsin with plumbing, heating, cooling and fire protection services for homeowners and businesses.
Elements of the new corporate office are designed to support employee productivity and wellness, fostering team collaboration amidst an array of amenities. In each building, the company’s legacy, values, and commitment to safety will be on display in both details and larger installations. More than a place to work from, the new headquarters will also be a meeting place, where Hooper can welcome customers, partners, and the community.
The new location and unified brand, Hooper, comes with a new look. “Hooper” and its visual elements and logo will be slightly changed to reflect a more modern representation of the company today. Both the name change and the new headquarters are effective November 1, though the plan is to slowly shift toward use of the new Hooper name and new logo by January 1, 2022.
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