private industry manufacturing founded 1999 headquarters lexington kentucky usa number of locations 8 area served worldwide key people carey smith ceo products industrial commercial agricultural residential fans and lighting number of employees 699 parent delta t. corporation 1 website bigasssolutions.com big ass solutions manufactures fans lights and controls for industrial agricultural commercial and residential use including the big ass fans big ass light and haiku fan product lines . the company s headquarters are in lexington kentucky with additional offices in australia malaysia singapore hong kong and canada . contents 1 history 2 naming 3 products 4 business model 5 workforce 6 awards and recognition 7 references 8 further reading 9 external links history edit 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 . 2 in 1999 smith saw an advertisement for a high volume low speed ceiling fan made by a company owned by walt boyd in california . 2 believing he could sell the fans to many of his existing customers smith signed an exclusive distribution agreement with the company in 1999 . 2 he changed the name of his company to hvls high volume low speed fan company and shifted the company s focus almost exclusively to fan sales . 2 boyd s company secured a patent for the fans in 2002 ; later that year smith bought the intellectual property rights to the fans from boyd . 2 3 by 2006 big ass fans had outgrown its original location and moved its headquarters to a larger facility on merchant street in lexington . 4 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 . 5 by 2010 the company was forced to re occupy its winchester street 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 . 6 in 2014 the company opened a new division called big ass light to sell led fixtures . big ass light and big ass fans both fall under the corporate brand big ass solutions . as of december 2015 the company occupied six buildings in lexington an 88 000 square foot office building ; a 44 000 square foot research and development lab that is certified leed gold by the u.s. green building council ; a 165 000 square foot manufacturing facility ; a 98 000 square foot manufacturing facility ; a 44 000 square foot manufacturing facility ; and a 33 000 square foot service center . naming edit 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 20 foot 6.1 m blade span and the caption big ass fan . 7 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 . 7 after numerous customers called the company asking if it made those big ass fans smith changed the company name to big ass fans . 8 fanny the donkey used in the ad campaign became the company s mascot and smith changed his job title to chief big ass . 8 the company s web site sells promotional merchandise with the company name and logo ; profits benefit colorado s longhopes donkey rescue shelter . 9 when the company relocated to lexington s winchester road residents staged protests of a 10 ft mural depicting the company s name and mascot on the side of its building . 10 because of the name lexington s blue grass airport declined to display advertising from the company in its baggage claim area . 11 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 . 12 for schools and religious institutions however the company maintains an advertising package that does not include the company name alongside the famous logo . 12 products edit big ass solutions holds 149 patents and 134 patents pending and employs more than 75 degreed engineers . 13 the company s first line of products included several iterations of a large diameter low speed ceiling fan 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 debuting a line of fans ranging from 12 feet 3.7 m to 20 feet 6.1 m in diameter . 14 the following year it began manufacturing fans in sizes suitable for residential settings . 14 in late 2011 big ass fans acquired haiku home a manufacturer of energy efficient residential fans . 3 haiku models incorporate direct current permanent magnetics and aerodynamic airfoils making them 80 % more efficient than conventional ceiling fans . 15 they held the top 10 spots on energy star s most efficient 2014 list . 15 in 2014 the company added smart technology senseme to the haiku ceiling fan . 16 haiku with senseme integrates with the nest learning thermostat through a smartphone app . big ass fans manufactures haiku with senseme in america . the decision to do so added 40 positions to its manufacturing team . 17 in 2014 smith created a new division big ass light and began manufacturing lighting products . 3 this line includes the big ass led and the big ass garage light . 3 business model edit big ass fans sells its products directly to customers . 8 smith retains private ownership of big ass fans and has said he doesn t intend to take the company public . 18 since the great recession of the late 2000s big ass fans has grown more than 30 % annually 18 with revenues climbing from 34 million in 2009 to 165 million in 2014 . 19 workforce edit when founded in 1999 hvls fan company employed six people . 8 20 in may 2016 fortune reported that big ass solutions employed 866 people in the united states with an additional 87 people at its international locations in in canada australia singapore and hong kong . 21 smith attributes that growth in part to the company s higher than average pay which is 30 % more than the u.s. median of 45 790 and 50 % more than the kentucky median of 38 940 . 19 the company annually ranked among the top 25 best places to work in kentucky for the last seven years 2015 no. 13 2014 no. 3 2013 no. 7 2012 no. 15 2011 no. 11 2010 no. 17 and 2009 no. 23 . 22 big ass fans maintains a retention rate of about 90 percent far outpacing the national average of 63 percent . 19 awards and recognition edit example of industrial fan powerfoil x2 .0 plus example of residential fan haiku big ass fans employees accepting the 2012 best places to work in kentucky award in 2016 epa honors big ass solutions with 2016 energy star award for excellence in energy efficient product design 23 2016 top green providers 24 in 2015 haiku with senseme was named best in class by inc. 25 forbes named big ass fans to its list of america s most promising companies . big ass fans rose to no. 33 from no. 49 in 2014 . 26 world architecture news honored haiku with senseme with a product innovation award . 27 plant engineering named big ass light high bay led a gold winner in its product of the year awards . 28 consulting specifying engineer named big ass light high bay led as a finalist for 2015 product of the year . 29 big ass solutions was ranked 13 in the annual best places to work in kentucky awards . this was their first year ranked among the large business category and their seventh year among the winners . 30 inc. magazine included big ass fans in the prestigious 5000 list . this is the ninth consecutive year that big ass fans made the list . 31 in 2014 haiku was named energy star most efficient 32 u.s. green building council best of building awards for product manufacturer of the year best product for energy efficiency essence best product for efficient lighting big ass high bay led and most innovative new product of the year haiku with senseme 33 in 2013 fx awards product of the year for haiku 34 in 2012 popular science best of what s new for haiku 35 in 2011 plant engineering product of the year for yellow jacket 36 references edit this is the legal name per the terms of use a b c d e dooley karla august 13 2002 . business is a breeze . lexington herald leader . a b c d pullen john patrick august 19 2015 . how this fan company is proving it has more than just a good name . entrepreneur . retrieved august 4 2016 . sloan scott october 26 2007 . local fan maker s campus to double in size . lexington herald leader . sloan scott june 3 2012 . bucking the trend comes naturally to chief big ass . lexington herald leader . sloan scott august 12 2010 . too big for its niches . lexington herald leader . a b jordan jim july 10 2000 . postmasters butt in over fan firm s cards . lexington herald leader . a b c d the economist april 1 2014 big asspirations . economist.com . retrieved february 12 2015 . jordan jim november 27 2006 . fun with fans . lexington herald leader . reliable plant april 20 2014 big ass fans moves into new facility . reliableplant.com . retrieved february 11 2015 . lexington herald leader january 18 2010 big ass fans comes to airport . kentucky.com . retrieved february 11 2015 . a b truman cheryl september 5 2012 . fanny mail complaints find way into video . lexington herald leader . the build network 13 november 2013 how to screen candidates for curiosity and positivity . thebuildnetwork.com . retrieved february 12 2015 . a b big ass fans sells its 100 000th fan . lexington herald leader . june 12 2013 . a b energy star 10 january 2015 energy star most efficient 2015 . energystar.gov . retrieved february 12 2015 . gigaom 04 june 2014 big ass fans new ceiling fan is really a robot . gigaom.com . retrieved february 12 2015 . big ass fans 04 june 2014 big ass fans the world s first smart ceiling fan . bigassfans.com . retrieved february 12 2015 . a b forbes 02 july 2013 big ass fans getting bigger . forbes . retrieved february 12 2015 . a b c cnn 19 february 2014 why big ass fans pays 30 % above national average . cnn . retrieved february 12 2015 . sage summit 05 august 2014 sage summit speakers . sage.com . retrieved february 12 2015 . tkaczyk christopher may 25 2016 . yes there really is a company named big ass solutions . fortune . retrieved august 4 2016 . best places to work kentucky 23 august 2009 best places to work in kentucky winners pdf