Under Jerry Fannon’s guidance, BioRemedies of El Paso, Texas, has leveraged improving technology to evolve into a regional powerhouse. Despite a market riddled with unlicensed competition, the company has evolved from a waste line treatment retailer into a full-blown line rehabilitator since Fannon joined the firm 14 years ago. He has taken an active role in business development since his first day, and he continues to assume a larger role in management each year.

Owners Pam and Lloyd Fannon have trusted their sons with moving their company in the right direction, and it has paid off. “My parents have been good about letting me learn by taking risks,” says Jerry Fannon, general manager of the firm. “If I said I could do something, they let me do it. That’s why we’re where we are today – out there with major contracting companies for big customers – because we moved the business forward and diversified into new technology.

“But we’ve approached it with a balanced head,” Fannon says. “There have been jobs we’ve walked away from because they were too big or complex, or simply couldn’t be completed correctly with what we do. My brothers and I have had leeway to grow, but we’ve done it responsibly.

“Our youngest brother, Steve, runs our operations in Tucson, Ariz. His focus is mainly on providing our services to larger plumbing contractors and commercial entities such as supermarkets, restaurants, property management companies and hospitals. While the majority of his work is in and around Tucson, he does spend a lot of time in Phoenix. His diagnostic and problem-solving skills are among our greatest assets.”

Technology matters

As the name implies, the company started out in packaged bacteria system sales, under one of the Fannons’ other sons, Ken. The company installed pumps on restaurant walls with timers that released bacteria into the drain system to keep grease trap lines clean. The system was sold via maintenance contracts, and BioRemedies warranted the operability of the lines.

Jerry Fannon joined the business in 1993 and noticed a climbing rate of profit-busting warranty service calls. “We used a snake and a little bitty jetter to clear them,” he recalls. He took a look at how the systems were working to see if he could improve results, for customers and for the company.

“I realized the bacteria wasn’t eliminating the grease fast enough, so I suggested that we also shock treat each individual drain to distribute the bacteria more evenly through the system,” he says. “It worked, allowing the company to replace the pumps with manual monthly treatments.”

In the mid-1990s, the company was considering building a grease-processing plant. A colleague asked Fannon to go with him to the Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo, and it was there that he saw inspection cameras. He dropped the processing plant idea and decided simply to expand the services the company already offered. “We got a bigger snake, then a bigger jetter, and a camera. Each year, we’d add something new,” Fannon says.

Mini to mighty

Slowly, the company’s foundation evolved toward regular cleaning contracts, though bacteria has remained part of the mix. The firm still uses it on monthly programs, cleaning and direct shocking lines in larger restaurants.

The evolution has led to a running debate between Fannon and his father about whether to change the business name. “It doesn’t really reflect what we do anymore,” argues Lloyd Fannon.

“But it’s still part of what we do,” his son counters, “and we have a lot of commercial currency with that name now.” The decision: “We’re sticking with the name as it is,” Jerry Fannon says. “People know it and we don’t want to scare anyone off.”

BioRemedies now tackles bigger jobs with larger equipment, concentrating on pipeline inspection, diagnostics and rehabilitation. “The things we’ve added are pipe lining and pipe bursting, and a crawler camera,” Fannon says. “It’s really taken us into a different realm, where we’re a lot more reputable when we walk onto a jobsite.”

The camera outfit includes two Plumber’s Elite cameras from Ratech Electronics Ltd., one with 200 feet of cable and the other with 400 feet. The company also has a SeeSnake self-leveling camera and two SeeSnake Micro models from RIDGID, and a Saturn III crawler from Aries Industries, Inc.

The vehicle fleet includes nine Ford vehicles, including three Econoline vans, an E350 service body van, a Ford F350 truck, four full-size pickups, and one compact pickup. Waterjetting equipment includes a 2006 Ford cab-over truck with a built-in US Jetting 4018 jetter, a US Jetting 4018 trailer-mounted jetter, a 1998 Sniper 4018 jetter from Sewer Equipment Co. of America, and a Spartan 758 trailer jetter.

Skills and training

All that equipment helps the company tackle a wide range of cleaning jobs in a competitive market. In May 2004, Texas legislation was revised to define a drain cleaner as “an individual who has completed at least 4,000 hours working under the supervision of a master plumber.” BioRemedies signed on a master plumber to cover the new requirement.

“That’s how we got into pipe lining and bursting,” Jerry Fannon explains. “It was no longer cost-effective to give that repair work away. So we can legally do that now, too. All of our guys are progressing toward their licenses. I received my master license in 2007.”

Poor regulation has been a constant source of irritation to the Fannons and other plumbers who operate inside the law. A border town, El Paso receives a steady cross-border influx of laborers willing to work cheaply and under less-than-ideal conditions.

“In general, everybody around here has a cousin who knows how to install a water heater or unclog a drain,” Fannon says. “This illegal competition – the guy who drops off his kids at school, then loads up his van with a drain snake or monkey wrench – makes customers think legitimate companies like ours are ripping them off. If the economy goes south, these illegal operators will become more of a problem.”

This provides an added challenge on top of the age-old labor problem. “Finding anybody qualified or experienced is impossible,” says Jerry Fannon, “which is what led me to do my own training. I never hire plumbers. I hire guys who don’t have any bad habits, and train them my way. My guys are all registered as plumber’s apprentices, and after two years, they can be registered as drain cleaners.

“I’ve moved almost exclusively into sales myself, bidding and marketing – running the business – and I only have three guys I could send on certain diagnostic jobs without supervision,” he says. “That makes growth a limited venture, because of the time it takes to train the guys and just expose them to all the possible situations.”

Trenchless pioneer

Jerry Fannon says it’s difficult to offer trenchless pipe repair and rehabilitation as a competitive service because so much cheap manual labor is available. Though BioRemedies has been a pioneer in trenchless in its region, until now Fannon has only used it for jobs where digging was impossible. Still, he foresees growth in that area coming from a different approach to selling the work.

“We’re trying to make our trenchless work rate competitive by marketing in areas where people have some money and want to keep their neighborhoods nice,” Fannon says. “It’s a challenge because we’re in the desert, so municipalities are encouraging xeriscaping, which means using native plants that grow well in dry areas. Residentially, there aren’t a whole lot of manicured lawns, so no one is trying to protect their yards. If there are buried pipes, it’s no problem to just dig a trench.

“Residential customers find the cost of pipe bursting and relining prohibitive, so we’re getting most of that work from commercial companies and municipalities,” he says. “Still, we try to use it on select jobs for another reason: The maintenance contracts are covered work, but sometimes it’s more of a public relations issue. It helps keep the customer happy, while still allowing us to solve the problem.”

Jerry Fannon believes the more his company can demonstrate the positive applications of trenchless, the more demand will grow. He’s also confident that such work is helping cement BioRemedies’ position as a leader. “We only have one franchise operator that has the same equipment we do, and no one else here offers any kind of maintenance contract like ours,” he says.

Another thing that sets BioRemedies apart is that “We’re not second- or third-generation plumbers, so we still think about things from the customer’s point of view. We don’t just tell them, ‘This is the way it is.’ I try to explain the problem, what the options are, and make recommendations,” Fannon says.

“I want them to feel comfortable and that they’re being treated with respect. A lot of companies talk about image, but we take it one step further. We’ve left money on the table before, and offered to tear up invoices to prove that we’ve done only the work that needed to be done. The upshot is we end up not usually having to compete on our bids. Our reputation precedes us.”

Getting the work

That reputation is the main springboard to new jobs. “We don’t do marketing, other than having our trucks lettered and having our crews wear branded shirts and caps,” Fannon says. “Mostly, I just drive over to restaurants, introduce myself to the managers, and let them know what we do.”

He explains the value of regular maintenance and tries to get the customer on a contract customized to the location’s needs and budget. “I make it a short introduction, leave them with food for thought and make a scheduled appointment to come back later, when they’re not busy,” he says. “They appreciate that.

“The key is this face-to-face contact. I don’t like faxing bids or proposals. It’s harder for a person to tell me no to my face. Unless we’re dealing with larger contractors that require certain types of bid formats, we almost always deliver our bids in person.”

In a rapidly evolving industry dominated by technology, Bio-Remedies offers a hopeful story that proves slow and steady with a personal touch can still win the race.