THE STARBUCKS LESSON

Fast Company’s list of the world’s 50 most innovative companies includes Starbucks.  Why is a company that makes a pretty unimaginative product like a cup of coffee consistently rank among the most creative companies worldwide?

One big reason is the way the company rebounded from some miserable years. According to Fast Company, as Starbucks struggled to mount a turnaround between 2007 and 2010, there was a belief that the company’s best days were behind it. CEO Howard Schultz was publicly advised that to save the company, Starbucks should lower prices and cut health benefits to employees. He did neither. While he did shutter branches and trim his management ranks, the company continued to invest in new ideas and products.

It’s that innovative drive that attracted new customers to Starbucks and is recognized year after year.  And while we’re not in the coffee business, Barnhart Crane’s innovative solutions are one of the reasons our customers come back to us year after year.

Seldom are jobs without challenges.  When we were hired to move a 19,000 pound MRI machine into a Tennessee hospital the machine and other equipment had to be lifted through a large opening work crews cut into the second floor.

Replacing a nuclear reactor head at a California nuclear power plant involved exact science, creative rigging, custom design work and more than two years of planning. Tight clearance, seismic design requirements and a critical path schedule all added to the demands of the job.

Barnhart has moved everything from 100 year-old live oaks to 82 ton pedestrian bridges and our team of engineers and contractors often encounter obstacles both manmade and natural.  But, like Starbucks, we thrive on the challenge of creating innovative solutions to get around any obstacle.