Leadership Team

In her current role as President and CEO of Bassett Mechanical, Kim Bassett focuses on developing the company’s short and long-term strategy, managing overall operations, lean oversight, establishing the culture, and leading the company to safely achieve its vision. Kim provides a link from the Board to the Executive Leadership Team and serves to engage the Leadership Team in strategic planning and execution. Kim’s goal is to ensure the preservation of corporate values and principles and uphold the company’s goal of Creating Customers for Life^®.

In 1994, Kim approached her father, Bill Bassett, about the opportunity of joining the family business. She returned to school for a second Master’s degree in Management Technology with an emphasis in Construction.

Kim began in a sales role and worked within each division, developing an in-depth knowledge of each area. Kim worked in the shop and field assisting with duct installations and ammonia piping projects and also served as an HVAC and refrigeration estimator and project manager.

After more than 10 years of rolling up her sleeves and working alongside the various trades, she spent an additional year shadowing Bill as Executive Vice President. Kim became President and COO of Bassett Mechanical in January 2007, successfully transitioning the company to third-generation leadership. In December 2009, she was named President and CEO.

In 2006 Kim led the company through a Lean and Continuous Improvement initiative which transformed the way Bassett Mechanical provides value to its customers. In 2016 the company implemented a successful Behavior Based Safety program to better proactively reduce safety risks and hazards for associates and customers. Under Kim and her leadership team, the company has grown in both sales and competitive offerings and has expanded to more than 450 associates and 4 locations across the State of Wisconsin.

Kim has been featured in local and national publications as an exemplary leader. In November 2009, she received the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Athena Award, honoring women business leaders for their exceptional contributions to their companies, their industries, their communities, and the Chamber, as well as to the advancement of women in business. Kim’s commitment to the safety of our customers, associates, and community has been recognized by her induction into the Wisconsin Safety Council Safety Hall of Fame and acknowledgment in the National Safety Council Health + Safety Magazine’s 2020 “CEO’s Who ‘Get it’”.

Kim is a charter member of the Wisconsin Family Business Forum and helped to establish their “next generation” and “leadership development” peer groups. Other professional associations include the Negotiation Committee Member for MCA North Central Wisconsin and Wisconsin Fox Valley Sheet Metal Contractors. She has also served as a board member for both organizations. Kim believes it is important to stay engaged in the community and has served as an active board member and volunteer for several area organizations and charities including Goodwill Industries of North Central Wisconsin, the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce and Industry, United Way Fox Cities, and the Harbor House Domestic Abuse Shelter.

Kim plays a key role in building relationships with Bassett Mechanical’s strategic customers and implemented Creating Customers for Life^® as the company’s way of proactively providing full-service solutions to customers’ unique industrial refrigeration, HVAC, plumbing, metal fabricating, and service needs.

Currently Bassett Mechanical’s Chairman of the Board, Bill Bassett served as President and CEO for 33 years. He became the company’s second generation of family leadership when he joined Bassett Mechanical in 1974.

Under Bill’s leadership, Bassett Mechanical significantly expanded its scope of operations to meet and exceed the needs of our customers. Bill established the company as a market leader in designing, building, and servicing refrigeration, air conditioning, heating, dust-collection, process piping, and plumbing systems for commercial, industrial, and marine applications. Early in his leadership of the company, Bill introduced the “We Answer to You^®” philosophy, creating the guiding principles for the culture of the organization.

As a result of this philosophy and the company’s ability to adapt to the needs of the market and our customers, Bassett Mechanical’s sales grew exponentially under the direction of Bill and his management team.

Bill earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Michigan Technological University. He worked as a Design Engineer and group leader at Union Carbide for eight years before joining Bassett Mechanical. He has, and continues to, volunteer his time and expertise to a variety of causes and organizations, including serving as President of the Mechanical Contractors Association of North Central Wisconsin, as Vice Chairman of Government Issues for the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce, as a member of the fundraising committee for Harbor House domestic abuse shelter, and as a committee member of the Winnegamie Wetlands chapter of Ducks Unlimited.

Bill proudly passed the leadership torch to his daughter Kim Bassett in 2007, successfully transitioning the company to the third generation of family ownership.