What Kimmel & Associates does

Kimmel & Associates is a privately held executive search firm founded in 1981 and headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina. It specializes in placing C-level and senior executives across 19 industry verticals centered on construction and construction-adjacent sectors, including General Construction, Heavy Civil, Mechanical/Electrical Contracting, Concrete, Steel, Roofing, Drywall, Curtain Wall/Glazing/Cladding, Mining, Heavy Equipment, Industrial, Renewable & Sustainable Infrastructure, Supply Chain & Logistics, and Waste & Recycling. The firm self-identifies as the largest industry-specific executive search firm in North America, supported by 60+ full-time specialty executive recruiters, ~650 executive placements per year, 10,000+ candidate contacts per week, and 23,000+ phone hours annually.

The company's core product is a relationship-based executive recruiting service built on two proprietary methodologies: the Career-Directed Approach™, which emphasizes multi-year candidate relationship building, and a formalized 43-step placement process divided into Job Order, Recruit, Interview Process, and Offer/Start phases. Each consultant specializes in a specific industry vertical and geographic territory, enabling the firm to claim every U.S. market as "local." Supporting assets include the Kimmel News blog, periodic Compensation Reviews published as PDFs, a podcast, and an email newsletter; operations are supported by a Breezy HR applicant tracking system.

Kimmel & Associates generates revenue through retained executive search fees, the standard pricing structure for C-suite and senior leadership placements, where fees are typically a percentage of the placed executive's first-year compensation. The company has no public pricing disclosures, no disclosed external funding or institutional investors, no subsidiaries, and no M&A history. Operating geographies are primarily the United States, with one source reference to Guam. The firm holds industry association memberships (CSCMP, NAPS, NAWIC, NC Chamber, BBB) and operates the Kimmel Goodwill Program, an in-house volunteer network established in 2009 with a stated 100% employee participation goal.

Name

Kimmel & Associates

Legal name

Kimmel & Associates Inc.

Website

https://kimmel.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Kimmel & Associates is a privately held, Asheville-based executive search firm that places C-level and senior leaders across 19 construction and construction-adjacent verticals, including renewable energy, supply chain, and waste/recycling, using 60+ in-house specialty recruiters and a proprietary multi-step placement process.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Executive Search Services

NAICS

Executive Search Services (561312)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Industrial & Engineering Leadership Search (BPACAAAD)

Keywords

• Executive search services
• Construction industry recruiting
• C-level executive placement
• Industry-specific recruitment
• Supply chain executive search

Headquarters

HQ city

Asheville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Executive Search/Recruiting Services: Traditional retained executive search services placing C-level and senior executives across specialized construction and related industries. Places approximately 650 executive placements per year.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Kimmel & Associates is an executive search firm that places C-level and senior executives across specialized industries, with a primary focus on construction and related verticals. The firm conducts retained executive searches using a proprietary Career-Directed Approach™ and a formalized 43-step placement process, with each consultant specializing in a specific industry vertical and geographic region. The firm places approximately 650 executives per year and operates from a single headquarters in Asheville, NC, with nationwide reach.

Product overview

Kimmel & Associates operates as an executive search firm specializing in construction and related industries, offering a unified recruiting service platform centered on their proprietary Career-Directed Approach™ methodology and formalized 43 Steps in the Placement Process. The company provides executive recruiting services across 19 industry verticals (Construction trades, Mining, Residential, Heavy Equipment, Industrial, Renewable Energy, Supply Chain, and Waste & Recycling), with dedicated C-Level Executive Search capabilities for senior leadership placements. Supporting offerings include the Kimmel Goodwill community program and publicly-accessible Kimmel News blog featuring industry insights and compensation reviews. The service model relies on specialized consultants operating as internal recruiters rather than a software-as-a-service platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Executive Recruiting Services Full-service executive search offering covering the complete recruitment lifecycle from job order intake through candidate placement and onboarding support, with dedicated consultants specializing in specific industries and geographic markets. Targets enterprise clients seeking C-level and senior leadership hires.
• Industry-Specific Recruiting Executive search services across 19 specialized industry verticals including General Construction, Heavy Civil, Concrete, Steel, Mechanical/Electrical Contracting, Drywall, Roofing, Curtain Wall/Glazing/Cladding, Mining, Residential, Owners/Developers, Heavy Equipment, Industrial, Renewable & Sustainable Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Waste & Recycling, and Disaster Restoration.
• C-Level Executive Search Specialized senior leadership recruitment service for C-suite and executive positions including CEO, COO, CFO, CIO, President, and VP-level roles across construction and related industries, with emphasis on succession planning and crisis management placements.

Quantifiable outcome

• 650 executive placements per year
• +4 more outcomes

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Better Business Bureau (BBB)minorOthersCompany displays BBB accreditation badge on website, indicating membership and A+ rating compliance in the Asheville, NC market for employment agencies.
• CSCMP (Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals)minorOthersCompany is a member of CSCMP. Guy Ross, EVP, is featured on CSCMP's Member Mondays, positioning the firm as supply chain industry experts and thought leaders.
• NAPS (National Association of Personnel Services)minorOthersProfessional membership in NAPS 360, the national association for personnel services/recruiting firms, supporting industry standards and networking.
• NAWIC (National Association of Women in Construction)minorOthersProfessional membership supporting women in construction industry, aligning with company's construction executive search focus.
• NC Chamber (North Carolina Chamber of Commerce)minorOthersLocal chamber membership supporting business community engagement in North Carolina, where company headquarters is located in Asheville.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• True Search: Boutique executive search firm specializing in senior placements with industry-segmented teams. Comparable mid-sized specialty retainer search competitor pursuing a similar verticalized model to Kimmel, though more weighted toward tech and consumer verticals.
• TRC Talent Solutions: Specialty executive search firm focused on construction, engineering, and skilled trades leadership — overlaps with Kimmel's most concentrated verticals and competes for similar mid-to-senior construction mandates.
• Lucas Group (now LHH Recruitment): Specialty executive recruiting firm historically known for industrial, construction, and manufacturing search — the closest historical direct competitor to Kimmel in industry-vertical executive search.

Broad incumbents

• Korn Ferry: Global organizational consulting firm with a large Executive Search segment serving industrial and engineering clients. Offers both pure search and adjacent services (talent assessment, RPO), competing with Kimmel at the senior end of construction and supply-chain mandates.
• Spencer Stuart: Privately held global executive search firm with deep industrial and infrastructure practice leadership. Direct competitor for senior executive mandates in construction-adjacent sectors with similar relationship-driven delivery model.
• Russell Reynolds Associates: Global executive search firm with established industrial and infrastructure practices. Competes with Kimmel for C-suite and senior leadership placements in construction and heavy-industry end markets.
• Robert Half International: Large publicly traded staffing and talent solutions firm. Overlaps with Kimmel at the lower end of the construction and industrial executive-search market and as a broader channel competitor for corporate recruiting budgets.
• Heidrick & Struggles: Global leadership advisory and executive search firm with dedicated Industrial, Construction & Infrastructure practices. Publicly traded and materially larger than Kimmel — operates the same core business model (retained senior-executive search) but serves a far wider geography and sector set.
• Egon Zehnder: Global leadership advisory and executive search firm with industrial and engineered-products practices. Closest comparator to Kimmel among global peers for senior leadership assignments in construction and infrastructure.

Others

• Hunt Scanlon Media: Industry media and advisory focused on the executive search and talent acquisition sector — serves as a peer signal/adjacent ecosystem participant (not a direct search competitor) but actively tracks and ranks specialty search firms including construction-vertical players like Kimmel.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/charlie-kimmel-42905a8
• Xx.com/kimmelassociate
• Facebookfacebook.com/kimmel.associates

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kimmel & Associates