Out of the great city of Boise, Idaho, Partner's Insulation is a family-run insulation contractor that provides thermal insulation contracting services in existing buildings and new residential, multifamily and light commercial buildings. The company currently services the southern Idaho and southern Utah markets.

Still in its infancy—so to speak—the company turns six this year.

However, its president, Elva Jimenez, has been around insulation contractors for 20 years. “I was hired by another insulation company in 2004 as a temporary secretary until they found someone permanent,” she says. “That was only supposed to last a couple of weeks. However, that role became permanent. From there, I worked my way up into a management position.

“In 2018, I took the opportunity to start my own company,” she continues. “In 2020, both my husband, Jose and my son Alex joined the company. As a three-person team, we were able to scale the company much faster. We genuinely enjoy what we do and enjoy doing it together.”

Michael Kwart, executive director of the Insulation Contractors Association of America, for whom Partner's Insulation is a proud member, brought the company to Walls & Ceilings’ attention. Locally, the company is also a member of the Snake River Valley Building Contractors Association and Southern Utah Home Builders Association. Partners Insulation regularly uses CertainTeed Insulation, Johns Manville and Knauf.

“ICAA has aided our growth as a company,” Jimenez says. “The connections we made at the yearly events have been crucial in getting our business to the next level.”

One of the company’s specialties is installing fiberglass, both batts and loose fill. Another specialty of the contractors is installing spray foam insulation, both open and closed cell. However, the company is fully capable of handling all insulation jobs. In just six years, Partners Insulation now has 62 employees among its three locations. This all conveys growth. 

Divide and Conquer

“We have been very blessed to have experienced tremendous growth,” Jimenez says. “Our quality, efficiency and service have allowed us to stand out from our competitors. We are a relationship-driven company, hence the name ‘Partners.’ We truly get involved in our partnerships with our customers to make sure we hit their goals. Because of this, our customers have been our biggest source of marketing through word of mouth. We are beyond grateful for all those who decide to partner with us as we continue our path to reach our goals.”

According to Jimenez, business is bustling. She is aware that there may be a stigma around working with family in a business, but she says they are having a blast. “There is a different level of trust that we have in one another to hold up our own end of the bargain,” she says. “This has allowed us to push through all the challenges thrown our way, like COVID, supply chain issues and market conditions.”

What does Jimenez make of the current construction climate in the Idaho/Utah markets?

The owners like to correlate the current construction climate in the region as a rollercoaster, she says. Boise has been at the top of many lists that intrigue people to move there. For a few consecutive years, Boise was among the top cities to live in the country, according to some polls. She says that all the attention brought a great deal of people.

“Combining that with low interest rates during that time, construction was insane,” Jimenez says. “Now that things have semi-normalized, we are seeing the current climate mellow. If interest rates trickle down this year as anticipated, we will see a big uptick in activity again.”

An Assessment

According to Jimenez, the most interesting aspect of the job is the opportunities the insulation contractor has to cultivate great relationships with its employees, customers, suppliers and community.

On the other hand, the most difficult part of the job is something else.

“The hardest aspect of the job for us is delegating,” Jimenez says. “Since the three of us started working together in 2020, we each had our hands on most of the day-to-day operations of the company. As we continued to grow, we were still attempting to keep our hands around everything. We had some challenges at first, but knew if we wanted to keep growing the company, we needed to delegate. In doing so, we now have much more time to work on the business rather than in it.”

She says that Partner's Insulation anticipates a very productive year, barring any major changes to market conditions. In addition, she has large long-term goals for the company.

“First and foremost, we want to continue to be a great place to work for our employees,” Jimenez says. “It is through their buy-in into our company’s goals that have allowed us to grow as quickly as we have. We want to continue to grow and cultivate new relationships with customers that we currently don’t partner with in the markets that we currently service. We also want to expand into new markets throughout the neighboring states.”

In her own words, Jimenez says what sets the company apart from the competition is the personal approach.

“What sets us apart from our competitors is the level of care, effort, quality and attention to detail our installers put into our jobs, coupled with the communication and dedication our sales representatives and office personnel put into our customers to make sure they are happy with our services and their targets for their projects are met,” she says. “Our greatest achievement as a company by far must be the culture we created here at Partners. It truly is special to see all our employees buy into what we are trying to do here.”