Philip Bernadotte
Case Western Reserve University - Weatherhead School of Management
Chris Laszlo
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Melink's four primary lines of business along with a corporate culture dedicated to improving the environment and providing for a high level of employee satisfaction are truly unique in their field. Their innovations serve as a model for other businesses to follow when implementing efficient and renewable energy initiatives and have allowed them to serve as an exemplar of full-spectrum flourishing.
The Melink Corporation’s innovation is two-fold and relates to both the products and services they provide, as well as their overarching corporate culture. Their innovative products and services include the Intelli-Hood® kitchen ventilation control system, their solar energy offerings, and their more recent foray into geothermal HVAC systems. The Intelli-Hood® system, for example, modulates exhaust fan speeds for commercial kitchen hoods based on cooking activity. When the stovetop is not in use, there is no need for the vents to be running at full capacity and so the Intelli-Hood® system constantly monitors and adjusts the fans in order to optimize energy use without the need for regular monitoring and adjustment. The benefits of utilizing a product like Intelli-Hood® are the cost savings and decreased resources associated with providing energy to power such equipment. Conversely, Melink’s photovoltaic (solar) and geothermal HVAC offerings have presented an opportunity for the company to move into renewable energy. Melink provides development, financing, design, project management, and monitoring services for commercial solar arrays. Their solar installations provide a renewable and cost-effective energy source for organizations seeking to reduce reliance on traditional sources of energy.
Their geothermal HVAC line of business concentrates on pumping equipment for commercial facilities that often require customized design and implementation. Though the program is still in its relative infancy at Melink, President Craig Davis indicates that there is an opportunity to innovate and mainstream the technology which has largely been hampered due to the high initial cost of development and lack of integration for such systems. Through developing a pre-engineered pumping station, known as Manifest™, the Melink Corporation seeks to be on the leading edge of this technology and increase the efficiency of the ground wells required for geothermal HVAC systems while also driving costs out of the process. Despite high up-front investment, geothermal systems for commercial applications have the capacity to decrease operational costs over time for companies seeking to go off-grid.
Beyond these three innovative lines of business, Melink has explored and implemented internal policies as a part of their business strategy to promote their overarching dedication to sustainability. These include their implementation of electric vehicles, profit-sharing and employee stock option programs, community outreach, and more. Their primary innovation is their business model and the disparate elements that combine to create a vibrant corporate culture.
In 1990 the company’s founder, Steve Melink, and his team sought to eliminate inefficiency and waste in kitchen ventilation systems by developing the Intelli-Hood® demand control kitchen ventilation system, the first of its kind. The inspiration for this particular product came to Steve in the 80's while performing balance work on the HVAC equipment at a Chili's restaurant in Dallas, Texas. He noticed the exhaust fan expelling cool air while the kitchen was not in use on a hundred-degree day. This experience led to the development of their first ancillary business line and since then, sustainability and energy efficiency have been built into their corporate identity. The burgeoning solar industry and Melink's subsequent foray into the field served as an appropriate extension of that mentality in 2008. This in turn drove them to launch their geothermal business after noting the benefits of such a system at their new corporate headquarters, the first LEED Gold building in Ohio circa 2006. After undertaking further sustainability-driven initiatives, such as issuing hybrid cars to traveling employees, the Melink Corporation’s headquarters earned the coveted LEED Platinum certification upon going net-zero in energy use and being Energy Star 99 rated.
The impact from Melink’s energy efficient and renewable lines of business serve to reduce their customers’ reliance on fossil-fuel based energy sources, reducing emissions, and thereby improving the well-being of the global community. In addition to their kitchen ventilation control system, geothermal HVAC, and solar applications, the company has developed internal strategies for improving employee benefits and engages in community outreach programs that fall in line with their values. Aside from being scalable, the innovations related to their geothermal HVAC pumping systems serve as a potential benchmark for a sector that has not seen much cutting-edge development in recent years. These geothermal systems exchange heat through the ground throughout the winter and summer and serve as a more efficient, cost effective (in the long-term), and sustainable means of heating and cooling commercial facilities. According to their 2016 sustainability report, these geothermal installations have even helped their customers to save 61% on their HVAC operating costs.
Craig indicates that the financial payback is an intelligible way of illustrating how lucrative the Intelli-Hood®, solar, and Geothermal HVAC systems can be. The payback on investment for Intelli-Hood® is anywhere between 1 to 3 years while solar can be anywhere from 4 to 7 years. Their solar applications thus far have saved their clients enough energy to power 918 homes and helped to offset the CO2 emissions of approximately 1,836 cars annually. Intelli-Hood®, on the other hand, has helped to save about 15.1 million kilowatt hours of energy for their customers. Their products are currently in use at major institutions and facilities such as Marriott and Hilton hotels, Cedarville and Urbana Universities, Rexnord Industries, The Cincinnatti Zoo & Botanical Gardens, and The Cheesecake Factory. Their footprint is national and as a result, the impact of both their products and services is far reaching. Melink’s technicians across the nation also utilize Toyota Priuses and their corporate fleet of 28 vehicles is entirely electric, further echoing their dedication to renewable and efficient energy use. Many of their products have been implemented at their corporate headquarters, in addition to the use of a wind turbine, proving that they truly back the products and services they provide.
A notable benefit attributable to the Melink Corporation’s core lines of business is profitability. Their past success in HVAC balance and testing along with the Intelli-Hood® system has allowed them to branch out into renewable energy projects. The overarching goal of creating positive impact on both the community and the environment directly ties into these products; the energy savings and cost reductions associated with their offerings have benefitted both Melink and its customers. They strive for 30% growth year over year and currently average between 15% to 20%. In order to sustain these innovative products and services, Melink requires the requisite capital and to that end, they maintain a healthy balance sheet.
Over the past thirty years, Melink has been on an upward trajectory and has gained substantive recognition for their work. Furthermore, management seeks to create a healthy and enjoyable workplace by providing numerous benefits to their employees. These benefits include a dedication to healthy living, reflected in the construction of a gym at their corporate headquarters, but extend even further as they provide a tuition assistance program, career training, and are working to develop an employee stock ownership program in addition to their profit-sharing program. A unique “volunteering time off” policy also permits employees to take a break from work to engage in volunteer efforts in the community. To complement their corporate electric car fleet, Melink also provides vehicle charging stations and offers a $5,000 incentive to employees who purchase electric vehicles for personal use.
Craig Davis believes that from a macro perspective, energy efficient and renewable energy technologies will dwarf the information age in their far-reaching effects. Our current infrastructure is aging and conventional methods of energy are sourced from finite resources, requiring alternate means of sustaining our communities at their current capacity. There has been a commitment from small and large businesses, institutions, and even governments to promote sustainable energy but individual leaders have emerged as the primary ambassadors for this movement, a mantle which the Melink Corporation has taken up with distinction. Through strategic partnerships with non-profit organizations such as Sunlight Power, helping to install solar arrays in developing countries and an effort to endorse the benefits of such efforts at the highest levels of government, including the white house, Steve Melink and his team have steered the way toward a bright future.
These innovations are technology driven not fuel driven and their adoption has been significant in recent years, the opportunity is unprecedented. Federal and state tax incentives for renewable energy projects such as those offered in Massachusetts and Hawaii show that there is a desire to implement this technology in government while the financial prospects for first movers like Melink are significant. Craig firmly believes that there is an overall trajectory toward renewable energy at the global level but the question is whether it will happen fast enough to limit the negative effects of fossil fuel emissions. The world is changing for the better and major institutions are all transitioning toward sustainable practices. Change is inevitable and products such as those provided by the Melink Corporation will become more ubiquitous down the line as investment increases.
The Melink Corporation directly fulfills four UN Sustainable Development Goals:
4. Quality Education: Melink offers training programs to its employees with a focus on job skills, advanced education, and leadership development through what is loosely termed “Melink University”. They also provide a scholarship program to cover their employee’s tuition. Furthermore, Melink serves as an advocate for sustainable business enterprises by promoting their work and renewable energy resources to students at universities and high schools, and even the federal government.
7. Affordable and Clean Energy: There is an inherent financial and environmental benefit derived from providing renewable, efficient energy through their Intelli-Hood®, solar, and geothermal offerings. These products and services benefit the end-user by providing cost savings but also help the community at large by reducing wasted energy and at a more significant level by diminishing our reliance on traditional sources of energy such as fossil fuels.
8. Decent Work and Economic Growth: Melink provides a competitive benefit package to its employees and seeks a passionate workforce. Their profit-sharing program, where if certain objectives are met employees share in the profits, health and wellness initiatives, the employee stock ownership program, and their volunteering time off policy presents employees with good work that pays dividends beyond the altruistic nature of the products and services they provide to their customers. At a micro-economic level, Melink is growing due to the innovation of their offerings but their work also serves as a viable template for other organizations to emulate in order to create economic growth at the macro level.
9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure: Working to develop renewable and energy efficient systems for commercial buildings that are both innovative and have potential to be mainstreamed. The Intelli-Hood® system as well as the geothermal HVAC pre-engineered pumping packages serve as cutting-edge products in their respective sectors and provide innumerable benefits. Furthermore, geothermal HVAC has the potential to replace aging infrastructure at the national level to provide sustainable heating and cooling from an efficient and renewable energy source.
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Craig Davis, President
