Covering the Industry’s News
Texas Style
PRSRT. STD. U.S. POSTAGE PAID DALLAS, TX PERMIT #1451
P.O. Box 791290 San Antonio, Texas 78279-1290 Change Service Requested
San Antonio H Austin
San Antonio
CONSTRUCTION NEWS The Industry’s Newspaper
ImagesFromTexas.com
www.constructionnews.net H (210) 308-5800 H Volume 24 H Number 4 H APRIL 2021
Celebrating 75
60 years, cooling transition
L-R: Mike and Brad Beldon, 2nd and 3rd generation owners of Beldon Roofing Company
Arnold Refrigeration owners L-R: Dean Lindstrom, Lee Livingston, Sheri Kitchen and Guy Kitchen. Ron Malek not pictured.
W
hile on General Patton’s staff, Morry Beldon came to San Antonio twice. During those trips to San Antonio, Beldon fell in love with the Alamo City and eventually moved his family to San Antonio. Not knowing anyone in San Antonio, Beldon asked around, looking for work when he met AA Shepherd. Shepherd told Beldon that San Antonio needed a good roofer and started a roofing business, AAA Roofing. That was 1946. In 1955, the company renamed as Beldon Roofing & Supply Co., steadily growing, making its mark on San Antonio. In 1960, Beldon’s son, Mike Beldon, joined the company, taking an active role in the continued growth of the company. As the company continues making its foot-
T
hirty years ago, three brothers set out to make a difference in not just the lives of their families but in the lives of San Antonians alike. In 1988, Jeff Beyer, who had once worked for RC Mechanical, was asked if he might be interested in purchasing RC Mechanical. It was a decision that took little consideration, and in 1990, the company was incorporated as Beyer Mechanical. Upon starting Beyer Mechanical, Jeff’s brother, Perry, was starting his own plumbing company, working out of his garage. “We were all working for different companies. I was in Houston, Perry and Jeff were living in San Antonio,” said Pat. With the purchase of RC Mechanical, The Beyer boys moved into the RC facilities, with Perry moving his operation as well. Jeff handled all commercial new construction on the air conditioning side. At the time of the purchase, Beyer Mechanical was doing 99 percent commercial new construction. Pat came in and
print, tragedy hits the company. Beldon Roofing & Supply burns to the ground on a Friday night in Feb. 1963. Fortunately, Guido Construction had just moved out of their building into their new facilities. Beldon Roofing & Supply was up and running by Monday morning, operating out of the old Guido Construction office building. By 1968, the Beldons moved into their current location. In the mid ‘70s, Beldon adds a remodeling division to the ever growing company. The company, still growing and changing with the times, rebrands the company name to Beldon Roofing Company in 1994. Two years later in 1996, the innovative company began their LeafGurad® Division and shuts down the remodeling division in 1997. continued on Page 18
I
n 1961, Joe Arnold and his wife, Virginia, started Arnold Refrigeration as a small air conditioning and refrigeration service contractor. With less than ten employees, the small company eventually picked up a distributorship with Friedrich Refrigeration, transforming the company into a new level of cooling and refrigeration. Five short years later, in 1966, Lee Livingston joined the company as the company began expanding into the supermarket side of the business. Ten years later, Ron Malek joined the Arnold Refrigeration family. That year, Livingston and Malek purchased Arnold Refrigeration. Sheri Kitchen, a receptionist for Joe and Virginia Arnold, worked summers for the company. In 1981, she came onboard full-time. Her husband, Guy Kitchen,
joined the company in 1987. “When Guy joined the company, he and Ron thought we should get involved in the industrial market and we started working with the insulated metal panels, doing cold storage warehouses. Ron had the vision and because of Guy’s construction background, Guy had the knowhow. They headed that up and it took off. For the longest time we were doing supermarkets, convenient stores and cold storage,” says Kitchen. In 2018, Sheri and Guy also became part owners of Arnold Refrigeration. Dean Lindstrom joined the Arnold family as part owner in 2020. Today, Arnold Refrigeration is owned by five partners – Lee Livingston, Ron Malek, Sheri Kitchen, continued on Page 18
A Beyer future awaits
Beyer Mechanical ribbon cutting Mar. 15. One of three cuttings for Beyer Mechanical, Beyer Heating & Air Conditioning, and Beyer Plumbing Co.
focused on growing the service side of the business. Perry, of course, was focused on plumbing. With two companies under one roof, the three brothers, all having their area of expertise, began working on growing the two companies. “We did that for 30 years. When our kids started coming into the business, we decided to split Beyer Mechanical into two companies as part of our succession plan,” says Jeff. “My family, Jared, Jordan, and I run the commercial side of Beyer Mechanical. Pat, Jonathan, and David run the residential company, now Beyer Air Conditioning & Heating, and Perry’s family – Cindy, James, and Liz run the Beyer Plumbing Co.” They are known throughout San Antonio as “The Beyer Boys.” Growing in all three areas, commercial HVAC, residential HVAC, and plumbing, the companies had outgrown their 30-year home. The decision was made to move to a new continued on Page 16