ANDERSON — This city has more than 200 elevators, but until recently, there were no local elevator maintenance companies.

Robert Barrett, 52, opened American Elevator Inc. in Anderson in July with the intent of using his 26 years of elevator experience, including time with Otis and Kone elevator companies in Indianapolis, to provide more convenient service to local companies.

“We do everything that the big boys can do, but we’re locally owned,” he said.

Barrett and his wife, Heather, manage and are the sole employees of American Elevator. The company serves commercial and residential elevators throughout Central Indiana and offers emergency service any time of day.

The company reportedly is able to service any lift in the region. Barrett said being based in Anderson means he can quickly respond to service calls and virtually eliminate the billed hours for travel that an out-of-town repairman could charge.

But one challenge Barrett has faced while trying to get his company off the ground is that most of his potential clients are already locked into contracts with larger out-of-town elevator service companies. Those contracts typically last from one to five years.

His company is licensed by the state and insured. Barrett is in the process of pitching his services to local companies and hopes to have a strong list of clients soon

He’s already landed several, including May Supply Company. Rick Wise of May said he agreed to use American Elevator after meeting Barrett, learning about his experience servicing elevators and seeing how much money it would save his company.

Because May has been in operations for more than 100 years, its two freight elevators are considered “antiques,” Wise said.

“It’s harder to find someone who can work on the old ones,” he said, but he’ll be using Barrett for annual inspections and periodic service calls from now on.

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American Elevator Inc.

Phone: (765) 374-0439 or (317) 947-0209

Toll-free: (877) 799-6780

E-mail: sales@americanelevatorinc.net