Celebrating 35 Years of Architectural Restoration Leadership

From three brothers with a passion for metal refinishing to a one-stop provider for all hard surface restoration, our first 35 years have paved the way for continued success at Mid America Specialty Services. 

Dean, Don and Dale Donat founded the company as Mid America Metals in 1985. Their mission was to consistently surpass the expectations of customers and employees alike. Today, under the leadership of CEO Brandon Donat, clients continue to trust our family-owned business for their building and maintenance needs.

Evolving with the Needs of Our Customers

MASS has always been driven by the core value that if you take care of your customers and employees, your company will succeed. 

Early on, we began listening to our customers through surveys and other methods. Over the years we’ve added new services in response to our clients’ requests. 

When they needed wood refinishing, we hired our first wood refinisher. When they came to us for stone restoration, our first stone refinisher came aboard. We have continuously expanded our capabilities by adding even more seasoned experts to our team, including former Stone Masters president Vic LaRico. That same proactive responsiveness led to the founding of our glass, facade and grout divisions, along with power washing and commercial painting. We further extended our ability to serve more markets with the acquisition of Stuart Dean in 2019. 

Our continued growth culminated in a name change in early 2020, when Mid America Metals officially became Mid America Specialty Services. Clients enjoy the same quality they’ve received for 35 years, along with a name that better captures who and where we are now. 

Reaching New Industries & Markets

MASS has earned a reputation for excellence, starting with our very first job for the John Q. Hammons Holiday Inn, back in 1985. From Disney World to the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery to Duke University, many prestigious organizations have turned to us to restore their architectural assets.

Our client roster now includes commercial real estate and construction firms, healthcare facilities, educational institutions, government buildings, historic landmarks and hospitality and leisure destinations. Our professional refinishers know how to make old surfaces look new again, helping clients reduce maintenance costs while enhancing the value of their facilities. We also utilize environmentally sound techniques where feasible, enabling clients to achieve and maintain LEED certification. 

The Donat brothers opened an office in Dallas during our first year in business. From the beginning, they signalled their intention to serve clients far beyond the company’s headquarters near Springfield, Missouri.

As early as 1989, MASS had acquired maintenance accounts as far away as North Carolina and Hawaii. By 1991, our account list included customers in California and Georgia. Following the 2019 Stuart Dean acquisition, we now have offices in Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, Nashville, Orlando and St. Louis.

Building Expertise Through Training & Technology

From our inception, MASS has sought to be a company our employees are proud to work for, with an emphasis on training, safety and innovation. 

We published our first Metal Refinishers Handbook in 1990, in an early demonstration of thought leadership. This was followed by additional handbooks for sales, operations managers, and training. In 2008, we added a Director of Training to our team to develop all new and updated training materials.

Hands-on training has been another essential part of setting employees up for success and ensuring quality service for clients. We opened our first training center in Dallas in 1995, and a production studio in Kansas City for creating safety videos in 2010. MAM Tech officially opened for new hires in 2014. 

From the hiring of our first computer programmer in 1988 to the installation of GPS in our vans in 2002, information technology has been integral to our success. It keeps us at the forefront of our industry and promotes effective communication and collaboration. In early 2020, we welcomed Kevin Arnold to our team as Director of Information Technology & Software Development. We also recently unveiled our newly redesigned website. 

As we celebrate our 35th anniversary, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to all of our loyal customers and employees who have gotten us to where we are today. 

Together, we will continue our push to become the premier building services and architectural restoration company in the industry. If you’d like to learn more about our company and all of our services, we invite you to get in touch with us today.