Raymond Biehslich, a senior portable generator technician, works with Shane Young, president of Service Ninjas.
Shane Young of North Little Rock has recently launched Service Ninjas Inc., a general contractor service that maintains telecommunications equipment in Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee.
Service Ninjas’ operations revolve around cell tower shelters: small concrete rooms that contain electronics and climate control equipment at the base of towers. Since the company launched Feb. 1, it has serviced shelters belonging to Verizon and a number of private operators in the four-state area.
Service Ninjas performs preventive maintenance and repairs on shelters, stationary and portable generators and heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment that regulates shelter temperatures.
Young said “acts of God” in the form of lightning and other violent weather keep his company busy with shelter repairs. For example, if a lightning strike damages cooling equipment, a technician must respond quickly before heat from the electronics essentially turns the shelter into an oven, melting its contents. “You know how hot your computer gets. Imagine 20 of them in a concrete room,” Young said.
Young said overall response time and customer satisfaction are good. He hopes Service Ninjas will grow to be the first national provider of cell tower maintenance services. The company is working on expanding to Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana.
Young said the company is projected to make $2 million in revenue this year, adding that “profit margins are minimal and competition is fierce.”
There are currently 13 employees on the Service Ninjas roster. Young said each has more than 20 years of experience in the industry, and some even came out of retirement to work for the company. He acknowledged that it is expensive to maintain such an experienced team but said its members reflect a commitment to quality. “If you don’t have the best, how can you build the best?” Young said.
Service Ninjas technicians use a fleet of nine fully equipped service trucks to traverse the difficult terrain where many cell towers are located. Young calls the $80,000 vehicles “rolling mechanic shops” because they allow technicians to perform complicated repairs in the middle of nowhere. “Each truck is designed to get us there. That’s the key in this industry,” Young said.
Each truck is retrofitted with maintenance equipment at the Service Ninjas headquarters. The company occupies 1,000 SF of a 75,000-SF warehouse at 6300 Highway 161 in North Little Rock. A number of service trucks are stationed in Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee.
For more information on Service Ninjas and its services, call (501) 801-5890 or email Dojo@ServiceNinjas.com.
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