How do companies grow to meet high demand when they’re working against supply chain constraints, labor shortages and inflation? They double down on their businesses, drawing in outside investment and unifying divisions to meet tomorrow’s challenges.

At the sheet metal and HVAC machinery level, NSI Industries recently acquired Duro Dyne, folding the company’s 69-year HVAC market footprint into NSI’s distribution model. And the sheet metal shops they serve are changing just the same. Take the newly minted Hooper in DeForest, Wisc., for example.

Hooper Corporation and General Heating and Air Conditioning (GHAC), a wholly-owned subsidiary since 1994, changed to one unified company and cohesive brand: Hooper. This happened in late 2021 in conjunction with a move to a new building for the Madison-area manufacturer.

With the opportunity to build on a blank slate, Hooper has dedicated more space to prefabrication for ductwork and other sheet metal projects.

“We don’t build things in the field piece by piece like we used to, that’s really what’s driving the industry and driving us all as contractors to think outside the box,” says Brad Werlein, Hooper’s vice president, Mechanical Division – HVAC.

Werlein sat down with me to discuss the move and why his company undertook it for SNIPS video.