The Nelson Stark Company

What The Nelson Stark Company does

The Nelson Stark Company is a privately held commercial plumbing and site development contractor headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio with a regional office in Dayton, Ohio. The company traces to Stark Plumbing, founded in 1931 by Frank Stark as a one-man residential operation, joined Local 59 Plumbers Union in 1961 to begin commercial work, and was renamed The Nelson Stark Company in 1993 when Mark Stark merged Stark Plumbing with Nelson Excavating. Today the company operates four service divisions: Commercial Plumbing (new installation and retrofit across hospitals, universities, stadiums, industrial and government facilities), Service Plumbing (maintenance, backflow testing, medical gas repair, and emergency response from nine fully equipped service vans), Site Development (mass excavation, land clearing, and grading), and Site Utilities (storm, sanitary, water, and gas infrastructure). It supports these divisions with three specialized modules: a 10,000 square foot pre-fabrication facility for off-site plumbing assembly, an in-house five-person Virtual Design Construction (VDC) / Building Information Modeling team using Revit, Navisworks, AutoCAD MEP, and Stratus for clash detection and trade coordination, and a Design-Assist practice that embeds the company in the preconstruction phase.

The company serves general contractors, construction managers, developers, and facilities teams through project-based contracts as a trade contractor, with revenue generated from one-time installation scopes plus recurring service-plumbing work. It is licensed to operate in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, with disclosed major projects ranging from $40.8 million (a 224,000 SF fourth building at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for the world's largest military aviation museum) to $130 million (a six-story 186,000 SF Cancer Care Center for St. Elizabeth Healthcare) and industrial site-development projects exceeding 1,000,000 cubic yards of earthwork on a single project and 100+ acre sites. Repeat prime-contractor relationships include Turner Construction, Skanska USA Building, Messer, Danis, and Al Neyer; healthcare and higher-education customers include Cincinnati Children's Medical Center, Mercy Health, UC Health, Miami University, and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Nelson Stark is family-operated under the Read family (President Jeff Read) and is led by a complement of vice presidents and division managers across Plumbing, Excavation & Site, Service, and Safety (Safety Director Kory Johnson; CFO/Treasurer Edward Bulach). Its core operating differentiators are an owned fleet of more than 160 GPS-equipped earthmoving machines with drone surveying capability, an in-house trucking division, and over 200 union-trained plumbers, operators, and laborers with craft-specific safety training, supported by 570,000+ safe work hours and recognition as 2025 Outstanding Trade Contractor from Turner and 2025 Safety World Champion from Skanska.

Name

The Nelson Stark Company

Legal name

The Nelson Stark Company

Website

https://nelsonstark.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1931

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Nelson Stark Company is a privately held commercial plumbing and site development contractor serving Greater Cincinnati, Dayton, and Northern Kentucky. It provides integrated excavation, site utilities, commercial plumbing, and service plumbing with union-trained crews, owned equipment, and in-house VDC.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Plumbing & Site Development

NAICS

Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors (238220), Specialty Trade Contractors (238)

SIC

Construction - Special Trade Contractors (1700)

akta.pro primary industry

Plumbing & Pipefitting Contracting (IMAFALAC)

Keywords

• Commercial plumbing services
• Site development
• Mass excavation
• Underground utilities
• Pre-fabrication plumbing

Headquarters

HQ city

Cincinnati

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Commercial Plumbing Services: Installation of plumbing systems in commercial and industrial buildings including hospitals, healthcare facilities, research centers, universities, stadiums, industrial facilities, and large-scale commercial developments. Revenue generated through project-based contracts as a trade contractor.
2. Site Development Services: Mass excavation, underground utilities installation, and site preparation for industrial, warehouse, healthcare, higher education, retail, municipal, and logistics center projects. Own trucking division moves dirt offsite on company trucks.
3. Service Plumbing: Nine fully equipped service vans staffed with licensed journeyman plumbers providing fixture repairs, backflow prevention testing, sewer and drain services, camera inspections, medical gas repair, and design-build/tenant fit-outs. After-hours emergency service available.
4. Design-Assist and VDC Services: Plumbing professionals participate in design phase before plans are finalized, helping shape scope and reduce change orders. VDC coordination services included as part of plumbing package.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Nelson Stark Company is a commercial plumbing and site development trade contractor providing excavation, underground utilities installation, commercial plumbing installation, and service plumbing for general contractors, construction managers, developers, and facilities teams in the Greater Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio region. The company delivers projects from preconstruction through closeout using union-trained crews, in-house BIM/VDC coordination, and a 10,000 SF pre-fabrication facility.

Product overview

Nelson Stark Company operates as a unified commercial plumbing and site development contractor offering integrated services from preconstruction through project completion. The portfolio consists of four core divisions: Commercial Plumbing (new installation and retrofit), Service Plumbing (maintenance and emergency repairs with nine service vans), Site Development (earthmoving and land preparation), and Site Utilities (underground infrastructure). Supporting these core offerings are three specialized service modules: Pre-Fabrication (10,000 sq ft in-house facility for off-site assembly), Virtual Design Construction/BIM (five-person team using Revit, Navisworks, AutoCAD MEP, and Stratus), and Design Assist (pre-construction plumbing planning). This integrated structure enables single-source accountability from design through installation, with in-house excavation reducing handoffs and tight scheduling coordination across all divisions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Commercial Plumbing Installation of plumbing systems for commercial and industrial buildings, including hospitals, research centers, universities, stadiums, and industrial facilities. Delivered by over 100 licensed plumbers certified in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.
• Service Plumbing
• Site Development Commercial site development including land clearing, grading, and earthmoving for industrial facilities, healthcare campuses, higher education, retail, government, and logistics center projects. Fleet of over 160 GPS-equipped heavy earthmoving pieces with drone surveying capability.
• Mass Excavation
• Site Utilities
• Pre-Fabrication
• Virtual Design Construction (VDC)
• Design Assist

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 570,000 safe work hours with below-industry-average incident rates for nearly two decades
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers17 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Turner Construction CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTurner Construction Company engaged Nelson Stark as a trade contractor on the Wright Patterson Air Force Base project ($40.8M, 224,000 SF museum building). Turner recognized Nelson Stark with the 2025 Outstanding Trade Contractor award for exceptional overall job performance including preconstruction, scheduling, quality, safety, and cooperation.
• Skanska USA Building Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSkanska USA Building Inc. recognized Nelson Stark for exceptional performance on projects, noting 2025 Safety World Champion status and outstanding performance across schedule, quality, and safety. Nelson Stark demonstrates solutions-oriented mindset and proactively addresses challenges.
• DaniscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDanis served as general contractor on BCHC projects where Nelson Stark received commendation for great communication, planning, and execution in tough occupied environments. Also worked on Mercy Health Anderson Hospital ($70M expansion) and Disabled American Veterans headquarters.
• MessercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMesser served as general contractor on Cincinnati Children's Critical Care Building project (609,100 SF addition, 136,100 SF renovation) and Children's Hospital Liberty Campus (80,000 SF proton therapy center). Nelson Stark performed site work and plumbing scope on both major healthcare projects.
• Al NeyercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAl Neyer engaged Nelson Stark for site development work on multiple major industrial projects including Erlanger Commerce Center (135-acre, 1.7M SF, Al Neyer called it their largest industrial project ever) and Hebron Logistics Center (44 acres, two industrial buildings totaling 798,710 SF).

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Limbach Holdings: Publicly traded specialty contractor focused on commercial mechanical, plumbing, and HVAC systems with design-assist, BIM/VDC, and prefabrication capabilities. Closely comparable service mix to Nelson Stark's commercial plumbing division, though operating at broader national scale.
• Shook Construction: Dayton, Ohio-based general contractor and site development firm (also a Nelson Stark GC customer) executing healthcare, higher-education, and industrial projects. Comparable in regional scale, union self-perform model, and site-development heavy project portfolio.
• Shambaugh & Son: Fort Wayne, Indiana-based mechanical and plumbing contractor serving commercial, healthcare, industrial, and institutional customers across the Midwest. Highly comparable to Nelson Stark in service profile, regional Midwest footprint, and prefabrication/BIM-driven delivery model.
• Murphy Company: St. Louis-based mechanical and plumbing contractor with design-assist, fabrication, and service capabilities serving commercial, healthcare, and industrial customers across the Midwest. Comparable scale, customer mix, and self-perform philosophy to Nelson Stark.

Broad incumbents

• EMCOR Group: National leader in mechanical and electrical construction, commercial plumbing, and facilities services. Provides overlapping capabilities with Nelson Stark's plumbing and service work but as part of a much larger, diversified portfolio including electrical and large-scale building services.
• API Group: Publicly traded specialty services platform spanning fire suppression, HVAC, plumbing, and specialty mechanical services nationally. Overlaps with Nelson Stark on plumbing and building-system service work but operates across many end markets beyond plumbing.
• Comfort Systems USA: Large publicly traded national mechanical and plumbing contractor with operations across the U.S. Overlaps Nelson Stark in commercial plumbing and HVAC/mechanical services but at much broader geographic and end-market scale.

Regional players

• R.B. Jergens Contractors: Ohio-based heavy civil and site development contractor performing mass excavation, site utilities, and earthmoving for commercial, industrial, and infrastructure customers. Direct overlap with Nelson Stark's site development and mass excavation division.
• John E. Green Company: Michigan-based mechanical and plumbing contractor with pipefitting, fabrication, and service capabilities serving industrial and institutional customers. Comparable regional Midwest specialty mechanical/plumbing profile, though concentrated in a different state.
• Kelso-Burnett: Midwest mechanical, plumbing, and electrical contractor serving commercial, healthcare, and institutional customers. Comparable regional scale and service mix to Nelson Stark's commercial plumbing and service plumbing business.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/nelsonstark
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-nelson-stark-company

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 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 The Nelson Stark Company