I made an entertaining, fast moving video featuring our crew and some of the types of projects Cook Bros. Wyoming does. We are FIRED UP! about our Cook Bros. Wyoming business and customers.
I selected the soundtrack music, as it resonates with my military background and the “Band of Brothers” culture we have in our company. At Cook Bros. we are a TEAM, and each Cook Bros. team member plays a vital part in the company success. Day in Day out. Gettin’ er Done!
About the Unit – Soundtrack I used.
Thanks to Robert Duncan for the use of his AWESOME music, the theme Song from 4 season dramatic series on Amazon Prime video = “The Unit” (From “The Unit”/Extended Remix). The soundtrack here “Fired Up” is an adaptation of a Marine Corps running cadence called “Fired Up, Feels Good”
The Unit is an American action-drama television series created by David Mamet that aired on CBS from March 7, 2006, to May 10, 2009 with the total of four seasons and 69 episodes. The series focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled after the real-life U.S. Armyspecial operations unit commonly known as Delta Force.
Types of work Cook Bros. Wyoming does:
+ Water and Sewer line replacements + Excavation and Driveway Repairs + Basement Egress Windows + Water Well Pump System replacement and servicing + General Plumbing + Drain Clearing + Windows and Siding Replacement + HVAC and Mini-Split service + Water Heater replacement + General Carpentry + Vinyl Plank Flooring installation + Ceramic Tile + Exterior Painting + Decks + Frozen Pipe handling and repair + Emergency Flooding response + Consulting … and most other projects you might have on your list
We produced our first Video content, “Cook Bros Wyoming Intro by Rob Cook” as you can see, here. It should be the first of MANY to come! I enjoy producing videos and will do a lot of them. Some in the studio like this one, and others in the field.
This one is definitely “Long” at over 9 minutes. But it will be the exception. This one serves a more comprehensive purpose of an overview of our firm, and a little history about us and information on how we work. Our process, which revolves around a Minimum Service Call charge and structure.
The most common comment/lament/complaint we hear in Wyoming is “We cannot get any contractor to return our phone calls”! Cook Bros. Wyoming is the solution to that. We are in business exactly for the reason and purpose of providing professional customer service and highly skilled craftsmanship, knowledge and experience, to SMALL JOBS! And to treat customers with small jobs with their due respect.
Cook Bros. Wyoming, unlike its 36 year old “sister” firm in Arlington, Virginia, also owned by Rob Cook but completely separate corporations, focuses on “Small Jobs” in Wyoming. This is why Cook Bros. Wyoming revolves around a Service Call structure.
Our Minimum Service Call charge falls within a range of $200 to $400 depending on where your home is located. It is all about paying us for our driving time. So if you live in Cody, Clark or Lovell, your Minimum Service Call charge will be $200. If you live in Powell, Meeteetse, Wapiti, South Fork or North Fork, your Minimum Service Call charge will be $250. Live in Greybull or Basin area, $300 and Worland and Thermopolis, $400. It is what it is.
We are based out of Cody, and can dispatch from Cody, Clark and Lovell where we have technicians living. Thus the lower charge for those locations. It is all about the drive time and vehicle expense. Simply put, we have to pay our employees while they are driving, and for all of the wear and tear on our vehicles, fuel, insurance and maintenance. So naturally we pass those costs on to customers. The Minimum Service Call charge covers all of these expenses, and permits a fair charge for coming to your home.
Then once on site, we charge you at our appropriate hourly rate, depending on which technician and what type of work we perform. This, in addition to the Minimum Service Call Charge which only covers round trip travel expenses.
When you call and we discuss your planned project, we will discuss the Minimum Service Call, and if we are to come to your home, we will send you an invoice which you can pay online, instantly, and then we will schedule your Service Call appointment time. It is that simple. Of course, before sending you the Service Call invoice, we will also provide on the phone, a ballpark estimate of the expected project cost too, if appropriate, or possible. That is the only “FREE Estimate” we can provide, obviously, is a quick non-binding one, over the phone. Once you hire us to come to your home for a Service Call, then we can provide a more accurate Ballpark Estimate range to you, once there on site and in person.
A little history about us. Cook Bros. Wyoming is an “Offshoot” of our Arlington, Virginia firm which is the #1 residential remodeling firm in Arlington, which has a population of 234 Thousand. (more than Double the size of Billings). In its 36th year and just having experienced an all-time record High volume year in 2023, Cook Bros. Design Build, though completely separate from Cook Bros. Wyoming, is owned 100% by Rob Cook as well.
Cook Bros. is licensed in Cody, as Master Plumber (#719) and also Residential General Contractor (#1894).
The point is, Cook Bros. Wyoming is not merely a “startup” effort. Instead, we bring all our extensive knowledge and experience of over 40 years, to Wyoming now. Ande, Rob’s spouse of over 42 years and co-founder of both the Virginia and Wyoming firms, own together over 70 rental Units here in Wyoming. This is relevant because we have already been doing ALL the work in Wyoming for 18 years, just mostly on our own properties (Maintenance, renovations, rental turnovers, etc.). We decided to extend these services to customers here now, after helping many friends for all this time, since they could not get a contractor! And so…here we are, ready for YOUR phone call, anxious to help!
When I began relocating to Wyoming from the “big city” Washington, D.C. suburbs of Arlington, Virginia in 2002, I thought there would be plenty of available and eager labor to hire since there were not many large employers here competing for workers. WRONG! Although it made no sense to me then, I discovered the opposite situation in Cody, Powell and anywhere in the Bighorn Basin. And in the 22 years since, it has gotten worse.
Kanye West is a local example that comes to mind. He thought the same thing I did, that he could relocate his business to Cody and tap into a relatively inexpensive and appreciative labor market. Nope… Big fail. Why? Because he could neither find affordable and willing workers, nor affordable housing for them here in Cody. He sought to rent some of my apartment units to house his transition employees and was willing to pay ANY price I asked since alternatives were not available, such as hotels at $250 a night.
Anyone who owns a business is acutely aware of how difficult it is to find and hire workers. There simply never seems to be enough workers interested in or available to hire. Whether in restaurants, retail, or service businesses, “Help Wanted” signs seem to be permanent fixtures on storefront windows.
This new reality has a profound impact directly on homeowners and consumers of services too. If there is more demand for services than the supply, prices increase. Worse, even homeowners willing to pay higher prices are having a difficult time getting competent providers to do their work.
Unfortunately, the demographics are not coming to the rescue. Younger people are not interested in going into the trades today. And the average age of the Skilled Tradesman is now over 55 years old in the USA. And they are retiring faster than they are being replaced, and this will not change in the future, for decades.
As anyone in the Cody, Powell and Bighorn Basin areas soon learns, it is difficult to even get their phone calls to service providers returned! Let alone getting the work performed in a timely and professional manner. A “settling” “take what we can get” attitude sets in fast, which is a shame. People hire whoever they can get, instead of being able to choose the best among alternative company providers. It feels like a paradoxical situation where homeowners are willing to pay well, but they still cannot get the work done. FRUSTRATING.
This is why I decided to launch Cook Bros. Wyoming. To fill that need and be a good solution that homeowners are starving to find. Especially, in the “smaller job” marketplace. New Construction homebuilders can be found if you are willing to wait a year or two. But try to get a competent contractor to do small jobs and…crickets. No returned phone call. “Handymen” do not fill this gap because they are not capable of handling many types of work.
I have spoken to and heard about MANY people who have received outrageously high price quotes and PAID it! for window replacements. I mean prices that are Double and higher than they should be, and for what Cook Bros. Wyoming does the same job for. Scams abound, taking advantage of frustrated and desperate homeowners who don’t have alternatives. Well, now they do!
Nothing is “cheap” anymore these days. Inflation, which is MUCH higher than the “CP-Lie” figures the government espouses, as we ALL KNOW every time we buy anything, is real. Everything from labor, insurance, materials, and transportation costs are VERY high, and made worse here in the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming due to the large geographic areas to be covered by service providers to get to homes in the first place.
It is what it is. BUT you do NOT have to be gouged by scammers charging outrageous prices to get high quality professional work done on your home. Cook Bros. Wyoming is your logical choice. Give us a call. We will return your call!
