Press Releases

Bishop Air Service and Rebuilding Together with Christmas In April Help Those in Need

Bishop Air Service teamed up with Rebuilding Together - Christmas in April in 2004 to provide low or no cost repairs to the valley's senior and low income families. Over 30 homeowners found relief from the summer's heat with repaired or replaced heating and cooling equipment from Bishop Air Service.

On April 11, 2006 Senator John Ensign designated Ron Bishop as Vendor of the Year for Bishop Air Service's efforts in helping the community. \

Ron Bishop named Nevada Small Business Person of the Year 2002

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has named Ron Bishop, President of Bishop Air Service, Small Business Person of the Year for the State of Nevada for 2002. He was chosen by an independent panel of small business leaders according to a variety of criteria including: staying power, innovation, growth in number of employees, increase in sales, response to adversity, and contributions to community projects. The SBA's winners "exemplify an excellence in entrepreneurship that is to be respected and emulated," said John Scott, Director of the SBA's Nevada district office.

Ron Bishop incorporated Bishop Air Service in the state of Nevada in 1992, just four years after beginning his career in the HVAC field. The 26-year-old Air Force veteran started his company with $2,000 in personal savings and a dream to become a successful business owner. His company has grown from an in-home office, one man and one used service truck to a firm now employing over 30 people, with 25 trucks on the road and 2001 sales of over $6 million. Bishop Air Service now provides building automation systems as well as air conditioning, heating and refrigeration service to commercial and residential customers throughout Southern Nevada. Along the way, Bishop received recognition in 2001 as one of Nevada Business Journal's Top 40 Nevada Business Leaders Under the Age of 40.

Bishop Air Service has secured and completed many large-scale projects for clients, including some of the largest companies in Southern Nevada. Its client list includes the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Stardust Casino and Resort, the Las Vegas Review Journal newspaper, the Clark County School District, Faith Lutheran School, Pahrump Library, Caesar's Palace data center, Cascata's clubhouse (MGM golf coupe clubhouse), The Palms Casino, Flamingo Nursing Care/Hospital Deluca Liquor Company and many others.

Through the firm's involvement with mechanical contractors, building managers and building owners, Bishop saw that many customers were not getting the service they wanted from their building controls company. He felt there was an opportunity for a company like Bishop Air Service, which was already well known for providing quality service, to fill this void.

Building control systems, first developed in the 1970's as a means of controlling energy costs, can be programmed to monitor air conditioning, lighting, sprinklers, alarm systems and an almost endless variety of other functions. They are an important means of reducing energy expenses for commercial buildings. Bishop began searching for a building control product to offer his customers, and decided on a system manufactured by Automated Logic Corporation, which had been designing and producing building automation systems for more that two decades. Theirs was also one of the first building control software designed to operate via the Internet, allowing users the ability to access building information from anywhere, using a variety of devices, from desktop PCs to Web-enabled cell phones. Bishop Air Service became the exclusive distributor in the state of Nevada for Automated Logic systems. It succeeded so well that it was chosen from 130 firms worldwide as Automated Logic's 2000 Dealer of the Year.

The high demand for the company's products and services caused it to outgrow its1,750-square-foot location and Bishop Air broke ground in February 2001 for a 15,000 square-foot facility on Sunpac Court in Henderson. The recently-completed building will not only serve as headquarters, but also as a demonstration model for building control system. Its climate control and fire alarm equipment, lighting and key-card entry system will all be controlled by an Automated Logic system. When the system is complete, a visitor to the company's Web site will be able to select a link and view the building's control system as it works. The program will operate in real time, allowing viewers to get a good feel for what they could do with a building control system, as well as giving them a self guided tour of the user-friendly software.

Ron Bishop has allowed space in the new building for classrooms, and is excited about the possibility of creating a trade school. Once he develops a curriculum and the school becomes accredited, it will be able to address the needs of everyone from the high school student who wants to learn a trade to the service technician or engineer needing to update his skills. A student will be able to buy one class at a time, as his schedule and budget allow, instead of having to register for a long-term, expensive program. Bishop pointed out that a service technician who takes a class to broaden his skills, for example, to learn how to work on pumps or chillers - becomes a more valuable employee.

Bishop Air Service received a Key Community Services award from the State of Nevada Division of Aging Services in both 1999 and 2000 for its contributions to seniors in Southern Nevada. The company works with the state agency to provide repairs and/or new heating/air conditioning units at no cost to low-income seniors. Together with Fitzgerald's Casino, his company sponsors Christmas gifts for needy children. Bishop Air Service also sponsors several youth sports teams and a Boy Scout troop. Bishop is a family man with a wife and two small sons. He helps support the grandparents who raised him and is a role model for all business owners struggling to achieve a happy family life while building their companies. (Nevada Maintenance Journal - May/June 2002)

 

Bishop Air celebrates groundbreaking for new building

Feb. 20 was a big day for Ron Bishop. It was the groundbreaking ceremony for the new building for his 9-year old business, Bishop Air Service.

Children were running and laughing, while their parents, employees of Bishop Air Service, talked excitedly about the new 15,000-square-foot building soon to be under construction. Adding to the day's festivities, Mayor James Gibson came for the ceremony. "We're pretty excited," Bishop said regarding the mayor's appearance at the ceremony.

Bishop came to Nevada as an Air Force medic stationed at Nellis Air Force Base. After the air force, Bishop said he enrolled in a trade school and learned about air conditioning.

He started the air conditioning, heating, refrigeration, and building automation company after working as a hotel engineer. "I felt I could do a better job providing customers (with service)," said Bishop.

In fact, one of the reasons he wants to construct the new company headquarters, located at 201 Sunpac Court, is to provide a high-tech training center for his customers and area trade workers.

Bishop Air Service's product base includes computerized environmental control systems. The owner hopes to help customers better use his product with on-site training in the new building.

Bishop's goals for the company are broad and he said one day he would like to offer a trade school to area residents which would operate at the facility.

"I went to a trade school. I think there's a void (of schools in the area)," Bishop said.

The 17-year Henderson resident also tries to give back to the community with his business. A frequent donor to the Nevada Division of Aging, Bishop said he thinks elderly people need air conditioning services more than anyone.

"I try to give more to the elderly community because when you're old you have to have air conditioning. It's not an option to not have it," he said. His company has worked with projects to help repair existing air conditioning systems for people over the past few years.

Posing for a picture with family and the mayor, it was easy to see the excitement in Ron Bishop's face as he ushered in a new chapter in his company's development.

BishopShell's wife of two years, ey. said, "I'm very proud." It was definitely a big day for the Bishop family.

SBA winner finds success in Nevada

Nearly two decades ago, Ron Bishop was a bored 18 year old stuck in the desert.

From that beginning, he took an unusual path to owning the highly successful Bishop Air Services, and for his efforts, he has been named the U.S. Small Business Administration's Nevada Small Business Person of the Year.

"I moved to Las Vegas in 1983, because I was stationed at Nellis (Air Force Base). I grew to like the place during the four years I was stationed here," Bishop said.

He was far from the typical 18 year-old airman. Trained as a medic, Bishop excelled in the field of allergies and immunology to the point where he was one of only two students in his class to be sent on for more training at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. After a couple of his superiors in the medical field at Nellis left the air force unexpectedly, by default the young recruit found himself suddenly with a lot of responsibility. "I was an 18-year-old kid and I didn't even have a stripe yet, and I was running this clinic," Bishop explained. "You had to be a sergeant to run the clinic, so they gave me the title of non-commissioned officer."

Bishop soon found there were some perks to his new-found position: "I never had to take out the trash," he joked.

Realizing that he would need a lot more training in the civilian world to pursue a similar career, Bishop started planning for the future while still in the Air Force, taking classes in air conditioning service at night.

After leaving the Air Force, Bishop decided to stick around the Las Vegas Valley and apply his trade working for a hotel. At the urging of a friend, he got a contractor's license at the age of 26. "I was just looking to make some money on the side, a few hundred dollars," he recalled. "But it just took off. I had to quit my job and pursue it." Bishop pursued it all the way to a current annual income of $500,000 a year, and he started with a $2,000 investment. He credits an SBA loan with helping the Henderson business expand into a bigger facility, and Bishop said he is still trying to adjust to the recognition that comes with being named the SBA's Small Business Person of the Year for the state. "Things like this award are just beyond my imagination," Bishop said. "I'm just a kid who started an air conditioning company." (Las Vegas Business Press - May 13, 2002)

 

Ron Bishop named Nevada Business Journal one of "Top 40 Under 40" for the year 2001

At the age of 26, Ron Bishop founded Bishop Air Service, which has grown into a multi-million dollar contracting firm, specializing in building control systems and large-scale air conditioning projects. His company was recently chosen from 130 firms as the 2000 dealer of the year by the Automated Logic Corporation, an international manufacturer of building automation systems. He is currently completing construction of a new headquarters building in Henderson for Bishop Air, which contains classroom space where he hopes to establish an accredited trade school.

Bishop enjoys spending time with his wife and two sons. Aaron Bishop, Ron Bishop's oldest son, is featured on the cover of the magazine. (Nevada Business Journal - September 2001)