In celebration of our 100-year anniversary, we've been going through the family albums (so to speak).
P1 Group鈥檚 founding company, A.D. Jacobson, began in 1919 and survived a lot during times of war, peace and even disaster. We found some of their remarkable stories in a promotional brochure published in 1954.
In Peace
During the 1920s, the bulk of work for Jacobsen was in residential and apartments in Kansas City. While some commercial contracts were handled, that line didn鈥檛 expand until later.
鈥淭he 1930s saw the continued growth of the company as larger projects were undertaken. The prison at Jefferson City and much remodernization work at Ft. Leavenworth were among our major jobs鈥︹
In War
Today, P1 Group does robust business in the government and military verticals, the history of which comes, in part, from A.D. Jacobson鈥檚 expansion during World War II.
鈥淚n 1942, we reached our peak year, with a payroll of 500 men and a $7 million business. Our services were spread throughout the middle west, and our firm completed installations at Camp Carson, Colorado; Ft. Riley, Kansas; Camp Crowder, Neosho, Missouri; Camp Chaffee at Ft. Smith, Arkansas; the Naval Air Station at Hutchinson, Kansas; the air bases at Lincoln and Grand Island, Nebraska; Salt Lake City Air Base; La Junta, Colorado Air Base; the reception center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.鈥
In Emergency
The ongoing mission of integrity P1 Group still stands by today was put to the test during the great Missouri and Kansas . At the time of the flood, 70 percent of A.D. Jacobsen鈥檚 projects were located in the path of destruction. The largest project at the time was the Gustin-Bacon Plant #7.
Fun fact: Gustin-Bacon was a leading manufacturer of fiberglass products in Kansas City鈥檚 West Bottoms, In 1966, Gustin-Bacon merged with CertainTeed Corporation, for whom P1 Group鈥檚 Millwright division recently provided multiple design, fabrication and install projects.
鈥淏ut the A.D. Jacobson Company, temporarily crippled by the flood, worked long and hard to recover 鈥 not only their own losses, but to help customers get back into business鈥he 鈥楰ansas City Spirit鈥 was apparent as rehabilitation became the by-word鈥︹
鈥淓very available man was put on emergency crews. New contracts were held at a minimum in order to devote as much time as possible to the big job that was foremost in the minds of most Kansas Citians 鈥 cleaning up.鈥
Keep following our blog and social media for more #100Stories100Years.
About the author
P1 Construction is a single-source specialty subcontractor specializing in mechanical, electrical, millwright, and architectural metal construction facility solutions.