International and regional players win honors.

thyssenkrupp’s Sustainability Efforts Praised

thyssenkrupp Elevator was presented with the Top Products for 2018 award by BuildingGreen, Inc., at BuildingGreen’s “Top 10 Products for LEED v4 and Beyond” session in Boston on November 9, 2017. The award annually recognizes the “most exciting new innovations and biggest breakthroughs in health and environment performance across all major building product sectors and LEED categories.” Recognized for being the first elevator company to retrofit an elevator to achieve net-zero energy (ELEVATOR WORLD, September 2017), publish an Environmental Product Declaration and meet or exceed the most stringent industry standards, thyssenkrupp is the first elevator company to receive the honor. Brad Nemeth, vice president of Sustainability at thyssenkrupp Elevator Americas, said the company is proud to “lead the way in sustainable urban mobility.”

Michigan Elevator Company Recognized

Elevator Service Inc. (ESI), headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was recognized by the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce as the EPIC Veteran Owned Business of the Year in October 2017. ESI was also a winner in the Skilled Trades Company of the Year category for MichBusiness and is a contender for Michigan’s Top 50 Companies to Watch in 2018.  

Founded 30 years ago as strictly an elevator service provider, today, ESI provides custom, nonproprietary elevator systems for commercial, residential and government clients. It also offers maintenance, repair and testing. Twenty-five percent of its employees are veterans of the U.S. military.

Nate McFadden, ESI’s president and owner (and former U.S. Marines infantry officer), told EW a little about the evolution of the company, founded by third-generation elevator man Rick Kinney in 1987. Kinney ran the company for approximately 15 years, then sold it to Jeff DeVries. Under DeVries’ leadership, ESI’s new construction and modernization product lines “really took off,” said McFadden, who bought the company in early 2017. “This has been our best year yet,” he said of 2017, “and [this year] already looks like it may become another milestone year.”