In 1936, E.W. (Al) Bassett started Manufacturers Service Company in Appleton, Wis., to service home refrigerators and light commercial units. That same year, they installed the first large commercial air conditioner — two 5-horsepower compressors on a single base.

In 1940, Fred Zuehlke joined the company, which became Bassett Refrigeration Company, and helped design, sell and install air conditioning systems. Installing refrigeration systems on ships became their major business in 1942 during WWII, spurring a long-term relationship with the shipbuilding industry.

C.W. (Charlie) Bassett, Al’s brother, came on board in 1945 to run the service business and manage a Green Bay store. Products included ice cubers, store coolers and room air conditioners. The ammonia refrigeration business started in the late ‘40s on systems less than 15 horsepower.

In 1956, engineers were hired to provide design/build capabilities, and a sheet metal department was added in the ‘60s to support HVAC engineering and serve the industrial ventilation needs of the growing customer base.

The ‘70s and ‘80s marked steady growth, and the addition of a Service Division in Appleton led to the opening of Madison and Milwaukee offices. As a rising star in the design/build business, the company became known as Bassett Mechanical.

New business stemming from the Clean Air Act of the early ‘90s enabled Bassett to acquire specialized fabrication equipment to meet the demands of local industries required to filter dust and fumes. Bassett also purchased one of the Fox Valley’s first computer-controlled laser beam cutting tables, along with computer-controlled forming equipment.

The company grew to a record 180 employees in the late ‘90s. Even after an addition of 7,000 square feet of space, the building couldn’t support the demand for fabrication. Bassett’s capabilities were now defined as Service, Construction and Specialty Custom Fabrication, and clients were being served in a variety of markets through Bassett’s sister companies — Thermatech, New Ideas Engineering and Response Medical Gas.

So in 1997, Bassett acquired a 266,000-square-foot building in Kaukauna, which made way for more state-of-the-art equipment and jobs. Skilled craftsmen and engineers were hired, and the roster grew to 350 employees in 2000.

A passion for serving customers and providing quality, on-time work led Bassett to seek and receive its ISO 9001:2000 certification in 2002. Bassett is the first mechanical contractor in Wisconsin to become ISO certified for the shop and field and one of a handful of mechanical contractors in the United States to be certified. In 2006, Bassett began the implementation of a company-wide Lean initiative as another important step in delivering value to its customers.