Big Ass Fans


Big Ass Fans is an American company that manufactures fans, lights and controls for industrial, agricultural, commercial and residential use. The company’s headquarters are in Lexington, Kentucky, with additional offices in Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and Canada. Big Ass Fans sells its products directly to customers.

History

After designing a new type of cooling system for industrial spaces and warehouses with his father, Carey Smith incorporated the Delta T. Corporation in Lexington, Kentucky, to manufacture and install the systems in 1994. In 1999, Smith saw an advertisement for a "high-volume, low-speed" ceiling fan made by a company in California. Believing he could sell the fans to many of his existing customers, Smith signed an exclusive distribution agreement with the company in 1999. He changed the name of his company to HVLS Fan Company and shifted the company's focus almost exclusively to fan sales.
By 2006, Big Ass Fans had outgrown its original location and moved its headquarters to a larger facility on Merchant Street in Lexington. During the Great Recession, Smith refused to lay off workers and still gave bonuses, albeit smaller than in previous years; the company augmented revenue by offering installation services for their products. By 2010, the company was forced to re-occupy its Winchester Road location in addition to the Merchant Street location and its research and development facility on Lexington's Jaggie Fox Way in order to accommodate its continued growth.
In 2014, the company opened a new division called Big Ass Light to sell LED fixtures. As of June 2018, the company occupied three buildings in Lexington: an office building; a research and development lab that is certified LEED Gold by the U.S. Green Building Council; and a manufacturing facility.
In 2017 the company shut down its facility on Winchester Road.
In 2017, Smith sold the company to private equity firm Lindsay Goldberg. In February 2018, Lennie Rhoades, a senior vice president at JELD-WEN, became CEO.

Naming

In 2000, the company then known as HVLS Fan Company initiated a marketing campaign with mailers depicting the rear of a donkey, a fan with a blade span, and the caption "Big Ass Fan". Although some postmasters in Georgia, Mississippi, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, California and Louisville returned the cards to HVLS as inappropriate, the campaign generated interest in the product. After numerous customers called the company asking if it made "those big-ass fans", Smith changed the company name to Big Ass Fans. Fanny, the donkey used in the ad campaign, became the company's mascot, and Smith changed his job title to "Chief Big Ass". The company's web site sells promotional merchandise with the company name and logo.
When the company relocated to Lexington's Winchester Road, residents staged protests of a wide mural depicting the company's name and mascot on the side of its building. Because of the name, Lexington's Blue Grass Airport declined to display advertising from the company in its baggage claim area. The airport later relented and hung a Big Ass Fan and a plaque near the security checkpoint. The Big Ass Fans Facebook page includes a gallery of letters complaining about the company's name, and in 2012, it began a YouTube channel featuring customer voicemail complaints styled as music videos. For schools and religious institutions, however, the company maintains an advertising package that does not include the company name alongside the famous logo.

Products

The company's first line of products included several iterations of high-volume low-speed fans for industrial and agricultural use. These fans use airfoils instead of flat blades and feature onboard variable-frequency drives. Since its founding, Big Ass Fans has expanded its product line to include directional, oscillating and mobile fans. The company has developed a line of fans for air-conditioned commercial and residential spaces, LED light fixtures and controls.
Big Ass Fans entered the commercial business market in 2008. In late 2011, Big Ass Fans acquired a manufacturer of energy efficient residential fans. In 2014, the company created a new division, Big Ass Light, and began manufacturing lighting products. This line includes the Big Ass LED and the Big Ass Garage Light.

Awards and recognition

In 2016
In 2015
In 2014
In 2013
In 2012
In 2011