History
Continental Fire Sprinkler Company was founded by brothers John and William McVey in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1971.
John and William had already established careers in the fire sprinkler industry, working their way from installation to sales and management positions with different fire sprinkler contractors in the Midwest. When an existing fire sprinkler contractor failed, leaving its projects incomplete, the McVey brothers seized the opportunity and created Continental Fire Sprinkler Company to complete the bonded work of the other contractor. John McVey became Continental's President and Bill McVey, Executive Vice President.
The company's name was chosen to express the founders' vision of Continental branching out from its Midwestern birthplace and expanding across the continental United States through hard work, honesty and superior customer service.
Throughout the 1970s, Continental's work was concentrated in the Midwestern states of Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. Periodically, customers familiar with the company's work ethic and standards would request that Continental go beyond its target markets to perform fire sprinkler work on projects in other geographical locations.
Continental performed jobs in Texas, Arizona, Illinois, Colorado and Maine in the 1980s. During that decade, the company also secured its first major distribution center installation, which was its largest project to date. Wal-Mart's distribution center in Laurens, South Carolina, required more than 45,000 sprinkler heads throughout its 1.5-million-square-foot facility. The quality and efficiency of Continental's work would lead to more than 30 such installations for Wal-Mart alone in the following years.
In the 1990s, Continental added Kentucky, Louisiana, Illinois, Arkansas and California to the list of states in which the company worked. Continental was developing into the Midwest's premier fire installation contractor and was making serious inroads into specialty niches of freezer, warehouse and special hazard installations. In 1993, John McVey became CEO, and John's son Kerry became President. Kerry had been working in all aspects of the company since 1977.
By the 21st century, Kerry had led the company to substantial growth. In 2001, Continental added an office in the Quad Cities area of Davenport, Iowa. With project installations in more than 40 states, John and Bill's vision had become a reality. From an original staff of one designer and a handful of fitters, Continental's workforce grew to more than 350 employees and the company became one of the top 20 fire sprinkler contractors in the nation.
In 2005, Kiewit bought the business, including the Continental name. Kerry McVey continues to serve as President.
Kiewit, one of North America's largest and most respected construction and mining companies, brings many opportunities to expand Continental's potential. Continental continues to prosper, most recently adding offices in Las Vegas and Denver.
While excited about future projects, Continental values its long-term relationships with the customers who have helped make the business what it is today. Continental's goals continue to reflect a core value established by John and Bill McVey in 1971: providing a valuable service to customers with safety, ethics and honesty as guidelines.