Pro Services is technically a skilled trades mechanical contractor and industrial maintenance contracting company – but when you delve deeper, the company is a lot more than that. Founded in 1987, the company consistently provides dynamic solutions driven by their core values of safety, integrity, pride and teamwork. Pro Services originated with one truck and one man with a passion to provide value to the industrial manufacturing industry. That man, Mike VandeMaele, identified inefficiencies in the way contractors were operating. In the words of Executive VP Roy Lemke, “VandeMaele believed he could come up with a way to deliver better quality and value to the customer, so Pro Services was born.”
After founding the company, VandeMaele was faced with the realization that industrial manufacturers had to hire multiple contractors to get projects completed. This realization was also the key to Pro Services success. According to Lemke, VandeMaele recognized the need for change. “He knew that the best thing we could do to bring value to our customers was grow the company by adding multiple skilled trades groups.” Clearly, this change has led to massive success; the company now has multiple skilled trades including millwrights, ironworkers, pipe fitters, HVAC/plumbing service techs, FMT maintenance techs. Additionally, Pro Services developed a one-of-a-kind registered educational institution called Pro U.
Pro’s proven process, driven by their core values from the top down, sets the company apart from its competitors. This proven process supports shutdowns, capital projects and maintenance programs allowing clients to focus on their core competencies. “Our clients focus on manufacturing and producing their products. We focus on maximizing client uptime and their equipment lifecycle. We provide educated and certified skilled trades and maintenance technicians that give our customers peace of mind.”
According to Lemke, manufacturers face significant challenges in their facilities. The combination of a shortage of skilled maintenance workers and low equipment availability leads to increased costs and the dreaded machinery downtime. Pro Services uses technology, experience and proven processes to ensure its clients work smarter and more efficiently. Pro Services has several outsourced maintenance programs that include skilled trades, maintenance managers and industrial reliability technicians. Outsourcing maintenance to Pro Services has increased production, decreased unplanned downtime and reduced costs for our clients. Pro’s network of experienced employees across manufacturing industries nationwide enables them to work together to troubleshoot the most complex challenges.
“Pro Services has a long history of success, innovation and growth.”
Pro Services has a long history of success, innovation and growth. When asked what the key to its success and longevity is, Lemke points to Pro’s ability to learn, adapt, and progress at every stage of their development. “Pro Services is a progressive company. We are a learning organization and we focus on bringing value to our customer.” Lemke explains that Pro Services has always put the needs of its customers first and this dedication to completing a job, no matter how challenging, gives it the edge. “We have always been willing to do the hard work better than anybody else. We could be given the hottest, dirtiest, nastiest jobs, and our team will do them better, more effectively and more efficiently than anyone else. That’s just the mentality around here. Whatever the challenge, we get it done. We work.”
Pro Services also has a strong presence in the education sector. The Pro U apprenticeship program is the only all-encompassing DOL certified apprentice to journeyman program in the US and was born from a need to educate, certify and professionalize the field of industrial maintenance. Customers began asking Pro to provide skilled tradesman to support their internal maintenance teams on a temporary basis as they were shorthanded and struggling to find maintenance talent. Pro struggled to find skilled tradesman that wanted to work as maintenance technicians because they had gone through a multiple year apprenticeship program to develop their specific trade.
The FMT maintenance division and Pro U was born. Pro U collaborated with an online-accredited training institution that offered virtual training to create a maintenance curriculum and assessment. This hands-on training program combines a curriculum with essential fieldwork to create a holistic experience for workers. “We bring individuals in, and we pay them to go to school. The program starts with 90 days of training at the Pro U education facility. Classroom graduation is followed by an 18-month hands on mentorship program that includes continuing education through online training to earn the industrial reliability technician certification.
Pro Services is growing. Their mission is to have a presence in every industrial manufacturing facility in the country. Pro wants to provide the best skilled trades individuals in industrial manufacturing while educating and certifying tomorrow’s leaders in industrial maintenance. Pro’s customers will become the most cost effective and efficient manufacturers in the world.
