For Lexington-based Big Ass Fans, weathering COVID-19 meant recognizing what processes needed to change and acting on them quickly. It’s a tactic that allowed the company to grow during the pandemic and earn national recognition for its performance.
Like most companies in Kentucky, Big Ass Fans had to shut down for two weeks at the beginning of the pandemic. As a direct supplier to essential businesses like Amazon, however, the company was also deemed essential and picked up where it left o. once allowed to return to work, said marketing manager Alex Risen.
As companies sought to improve airflow within their facilities during the pandemic, Big Ass Fans’ product lineup provided solutions to help provide a comfortable work environment and protect employees, Risen said.
When supply chain issues threatened to slow production, Big Ass Fans brought some parts production in-house, Risen said.
“We saw that people were having trouble getting certain things, so we moved to have our printed circuit board assembly facility located here in Lexington, in the mezzanine of our HQ building,” he said. “We were already getting to the point where we were going to do that from a supplier standpoint. [During COVID] it made more sense for us to handle that in-house.”
Recognizing and proactively addressing issues that threaten the company’s production process and ensuring an adequate supply of products to meet customers’ needs is essential to the company’s success, Risen said.
“At that point in the pandemic, the question was ‘how do we continue to meet customer demand when everybody else seems to be having problems?’” he said. “That was the big focus over the past two years. We were already thinking about it, but the pandemic amplified the need for those processes that were already in motion.”
The company also benefited from having many of its primary suppliers located nearby. Nearly three-quarters of the company’s suppliers are within a day’s drive, Risen said, easing any supply chain issues.
Big Ass Fans was recognized as a 2022 Manufacturing Leadership Award winner for outstanding achievement in Operational Excellence.
The company’s innovation and resourcefulness led to official recognition. In March, the company was recognized by the Manufacturing Leadership Council as a 2022 Manufacturing Leadership Award winner for outstanding achievement in Operational Excellence for its optimization effort during the pandemic. “Our customers drive our business, and, as a manufacturer ourselves, we understand the needs and solutions our fellow makers and creators require,” Risen said. “The past few years have been strenuous on supply chains, the labor market and really the day-to-day of the business. Everything we’ve done, and continue to do, ensures we’re as resilient as possible for our customers.”
Since then, the company has grown by nearly 10 percent, he said. Prior to the pandemic, Big Ass Fans employed about 600 people. Its workforce has since grown to nearly 675 people, he said.
To keep employees, Big Ass Fans works to recruit and retain employees by making the company a place people want to work — whether by bringing in food trucks for lunch or using its products to improve the work environment.
Founded in 1999, Big Ass Fans started as HLVS Fans Co. Company. Founder Carey Smith wrote in Inc. magazine that it was customers who renamed it and gave the company its brand. HVLS stands for high volume, low speed,” which is exactly what the company makes, Smith said in Inc. But the name made no sense to customers. When company representatives answered the phones, customers would ask if they were the company that made those “big ass fans.”
The company incorporated “big ass” into its marketing and later into its name. The name presented the company’s brand to the world as “fearless, bold and innovative,” Carey wrote. Carey sold the company in 2017 for $500 million.
The company hasn’t been without controversy, however. During the pandemic, Big Ass Fans produced a fan it touted as having ion-generating technology that killed the coronavirus.
Academic indoor air quality experts criticized the claims as unproven. In response, the company brought on Dr. Robert Redfield, former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, to respond to the criticisms.
“Proper ventilation has a major role to play in mitigating the transmission of COVID-19 and other respiratory pathogens,” Redfield said in a Big Ass Fans news release. “Big Ass Fans is a leader in designing airflow systems and making places where we live, work, and play safer.”
Risen said Redfield’s tenure at the company was as a temporary consultant. The company now provides customers with an airflow analysis to help them determine their needs and how best to place the fans to ensure proper airflow, Risen said.
In August 2021, the company was purchased by Madison Industries, one of the largest privately held companies in the world, with a mission to make the world healthier, safer and more productive.
“It allows us to be able to play with things that could also be packaged together and allows us to work together with like-minded companies so that we can deliver broader solutions,” Risen said. “We still focus on fans and evaporative coolers and airflow solutions, but now for some of our customers, we can also o.er things like filters for HVAC equipment. We have access now to a wider portfolio so that we can be a one-stop-shop for a potential customer.”