Smitty Belcher didn't ascend to the top office of his industry's largest trade organization without some help.
Belcher, a Lawrence resident and co-owner of Huxtable & Associates Inc., next month will end his year-long term as president of the Mechanical Contractors Association of America. During the organization's annual meeting, he'll rub shoulders and share a stage with retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, political writer George Will and leadership guru Tom Peters.
Smitty Belcher, center, president of Huxtable & Associates Inc., reviews progress on a contract job with employees Bob Payne, left, and Jim Thompson, right.
And to hear Belcher tell it, he wouldn't be anywhere near such an event without the likes of detailer Bob Payne, shop foreman Jim Thompson or any of the other 620 employees who work for Huxtable and its sister companies.
It's all part of the team-building, or "project-selling" approach Belcher takes to every project, whether it's replacing a small rooftop air conditioner in Lawrence or handling an $8 million retooling job for two Tyson Foods chicken plants in Tennessee and North Carolina.
"We have been very fortunate to attract a number of talented people into this organization," said Belcher, who is chief executive officer of P1 Group. P1 is the Lenexa-based holding company for Huxtable operations in Lawrence, Topeka and Lenexa and for A.D. Jacobson and U.S. Electrical in Lenexa.
"One of the keys is to provide the right working culture and the right benefits package.
"Pay is important, but more important is employees need to feel like they are part of a team, and that their input makes a difference whether it's filing or billings or out on the job site. We can't make it without them."
The theme of the contractor association's annual meeting to be conducted Feb. 3-7 in Boca Raton, Fla. is "Taking Leadership to the Next Level," and at least one longtime Huxtable employee says his boss knows what he's talking about.
Payne, after 15 years with Huxtable, values the ability to deliver meaningful input into projects. And welcomes the responsibility of handling projects that come out of the Lawrence shop, which generated up to $5 million in work last year.
"He treats you like you're part of a team, not just an employee to put in eight hours and go home," Payne said. "He puts the challenge out there and it's up to us to make it happen."
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