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Our legacy as a family business gives us a different perspective

Our History

Based in Birmingham, Alabama, McKinney Capital is a private, family-owned investment firm that invests exclusively in field services companies. Through focus, value-added ownership, and a flexible time horizon, McKinney Capital and the McKinney family have developed an exceptional track record building field services businesses across multiple verticals.

Timeline

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1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
How it all started

1990s

Entrepreneurs Roddy and Janice McKinney start Satellites Unlimited, one of the nation’s largest satellite installation contractors. They run the business out of the basement of their home in Birmingham, Alabama. Through hard work, a commitment to developing talent, and a strong values system, the McKinney’s start-up business grows quickly and they soon open their first field office in Andalusia, AL.

The company’s family legacy deepens as Roddy and Janice’s two sons, Lee and Danny, join the organization to help support continued growth. As the decade draws to a close and the new millennium begins, Satellites Unlimited’s weekly installations hits a number that was once their monthly goal.

2000s

With both generations of the family fully committed to Satellites Unlimited, the 2000s were a period of rapid growth for the company. The business focused on building and investing in its talent engine which pushed it to new heights.

By the end of the decade, Satellites Unlimited had grown to 13 branches and 500 team members

2010s

Satellites Unlimited continues its growth path and focuses on operational excellence ultimately achieving 24-hour turnaround times and one-hour service delivery windows for its largest customer, Dish Network, and its residential consumers. This quest included an investment in Pixsys Technologies, a cloud-based software provider servicing independent dish retail and installation companies, which now serves a majority of the companies in the industry. Finally, the company began expanding its suite of field services by partnering with other Fortune 500 companies (Samsung, Google, Amazon, and ADT Security among others) to enter the appliance repair, security and smart home installation markets.

With an expertise in field services and a passion for building great teams, the McKinney family wanted to help other field services companies achieve growth while diversifying the family’s holdings. So, in 2010, the family formed McKinney Capital to accomplish this goal and one year later McKinney Capital acquired Landscape Workshop, a commercial landscaping business that served one geographic market. Throughout the next decade, McKinney Capital partnered with the Landscape Workshop team to build and execute an acquisitive growth strategy that led to numerous add-on acquisitions. Along the way, McKinney also partnered with the business to build its talent engine (in much the same way as Satellites Unlimited had done) and technology backbone. By the end of the decade, Landscape Workshop served over 10 geographic markets and had grown over six times its size when McKinney Capital first partnered with the business in 2011.

2020s

The McKinney’s legacy was fueled by hard work, an unwavering values system and a passion for building teams and helping field services entrepreneurs achieve their dreams. This same fuel continues to drive McKinney Capital’s mission today.

Lead Dog Culture

“If you’re not the lead dog, your view never changes.”

This is a saying that Roddy McKinney, co-founder of Satellites Unlimited, uses often. To us, this means that we aim to be the Lead Dog in everything we do. We always give our best. There is a relentless pursuit of perfection and a passion for winning here at McKinney Capital. And, we achieve this through collaboration, constant learning, adaptability, and always with the highest character.

Our Values

McKinney Capital places as much emphasis on values as financial performance (and we believe the two are highly correlated). All of our team members are expected to live out a set of core values both professionally and personally.

Our Core Values are:

  • We operate with honesty and integrity, always
  • We are committed to our People Engine
  • We wow our stakeholders (portfolio companies and investors alike)
  • We are the ‘lead dog’
  • We execute by doing what we say we will do
  • We are flexible and adaptable

In the Community

Community involvement is a priority for the McKinney family and McKinney Capital. Our team members are involved in numerous organizations and charities, donating both their time and resources. Some of the organizations that we support include: Children’s of Alabama, Smile-a-Mile, TumTum Tree Foundation, Toys for Tots, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, the Birmingham Zoo, Railroad Park, Jones Valley Teaching Farm, The Ronald McDonald House, and the Birmingham Education Foundation.

While we believe that “culture is local”, we often find that our best partners and portfolio companies are highly aligned with our culture and values system albeit in their own way.

Experts in the business-growing business.

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