Texas 2010 rank: No. 2

Market, rank: Mechanical No. 1 and Plumbing No. 1

Photo Courtesy Tdindustries

TDIndusties

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Experienced in select markets less affected by the recession, mechanical contractor TDIndustries of Dallas found opportunities during the last year, leading to additional jobs.

“We have a lot to be thankful for,” says Harold MacDowell, chief executive officer of TDIndustries. “We were fortunate to have a diverse amount of work in health care, federal government and higher education, mixed in with a few data centers.”

The company finished a project at Texas Children’s Hospital and worked on The Methodist Hospital Outpatient Center, both in Houston, on Austin Community College’s Round Rock campus and on a corporate training facility at Deloitte and Touche’s Southlake corporate training center.

Founded in 1946, the firm began as an air-conditioning equipment distributor. It grew into service and then construction, and has evolved into a diverse mechanical construction and facilities service company that aims to engineer, build, operate and maintain the projects it helps construct. Employee-owned TDIndustries employs about 1,400 people in Texas. TDIndustries invests in leadership and apprenticeship training and has delved into building information modeling, with more than 25 BIM professionals on staff. The company has accelerated training during the recession.

“Now is the time to do more, so when we come out the other side, we’ll be stronger,” MacDowell says. “There are some interesting, large projects on the horizon, which should help everyone. But the market will be difficult for a couple of years.”