About us

Our History

50 Years of experience

Fox & Hearn, Inc. was founded in April of 1961 by Jim Hearn and Curt Fox.  David, Jim’s younger brother, joined as a full partner in 1962.  They all came to Austin from Houston to work on remodeling the state capitol building.  During this period, they decided to move to Austin to start a mechanical contracting firm.

Their plan was to install commercial plumbing, heating and air conditioning as well as provide service work.  Jim was to take care of the estimating, with Curt in Charge of service and David in charge of construction.  In the early years, the jobs were mostly small commercial jobs with an occasional large residential job.  Little by little, the company was able to bond and bid larger contract work.

Their management style was very “hands on,” accompanied by high moral and ethical standards – with employees, customers and vendors.  They developed a very strong, loyal employee base with little turnover.  These partners built a respected business for the next 10 years.  In 1973 Curt left to start Fox Service Company.  Jim left and started Southwest Insulators Company.  David and his wife Juanelle continued ownership and operations of Fox & Hearn, Inc.

While David ran overall operations for the company, Juanelle came in to manage the office.  Key personnel in the field moved up to supervise the work.  The company maintained their reputation as a fair and honest company, no matter what the problem.  Fox & Hearn, Inc. always worked to make sure the customer was satisfied, no matter what the consequence to them. 

Austin was a roller coaster ride for the construction business during many years.  David and Juanelle managed to keep their business by putting the company before their own personal needs.  The company overhead was always kept to a minimum.  Knowing that they would receive a job well done, and at a fair price, particular engineering firms asked Fox & Hearn, Inc. to do their jobs.  The loyal, hardworking employees were a testament to David and Juanelle’s fairness, and many stayed on for up to 20 – 30 years, unheard of in the construction industry.

Time did bring changes.  David decided after 25 years to go “open shop” and did not renew the labor contract with the union.  A big step – now the company had to train employees!  Again, hard work, perseverance and a good reputation paid off, and Fox & Hearn, Inc. became successful as a merit contractor.  In the early ’90’s, the company took the opportunity to branch out and start working out of town.  It was successful building prisons as far away as Montana.  In 1998, David retired and his daughter and son-in-law took over running the business. 

In 2011, Fox & Hearn celebrated its 50th year in business.  The second generation continues the successful pattern they were given for running a business – work hard and treat customers and employees fairly and honestly.  They plan another 50 years of contributing to Austin’s Progress.

Key Personnel

Susan Janecka, President

Susan Janecka has been with Fox & Hearn, Inc. since 1981.  Susan is in charge of the day to day management of all office staff.  She oversees all Accounts Payable and Receivables.  Susan is the daughter of David L. Hearn, who founded Fox & Hearn, Inc. in 1961.  Susan is the majority owner of the company, along with David Hearn.

Ron Janecka, Vice-President

Ron Janecka has been in the plumbing and mechanical business since 1980, and with Fox & Hearn, Inc. since 1993.  He has an Associate of Applied Science in Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology and a current Texas Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Class A license.  Ron oversees all day to day operations including estimating, job cost review, project management, CADD shop drawings and all financial matters.  Projects he has worked on include, clean rooms, hospitals, hotels, prisons and office buildings.

Mark Sullivan, Operations Manager

Mark Sullivan started in the plumbing industry in 1973 after serving in the U.S. Army.  Mark relocated to Austin in 1982 and supervised plumbing and piping installations.  He started with Fox & Hearn, Inc. in 1991 and became General Plumbing Superintendent in 1993.  During the late 90’s Mark managed company operations in Colorado and Montana at 3 correctional facility jobsites.  He now oversees and manages all field related and shop activities, including manpower, material requirements, scheduling, subcontractors and job coordination.  Mark has extensive experience with all types of commercial and industrial mechanical projects.

Dan Smith, Project Manager

Dan has been in the plumbing and mechanical business since 2006.  He spent the first two years at Samsung Semiconductor working as a project engineer for a multimillion dollar contract.  Since working at Samsung he has worked on a wide variety of contracts as a project manager ranging from special projects (90K) to major renovations (2.9 million).  Dan oversees day to day correspondence on jobs working between general contractor/owner and maintaining schedule and budget for the project.