ICOM: 40+ years Of Client-Focused HVAC Solutions
According to President and CEO Vijay Singh, founder Don Isaacson began ICOM as a small service company in 1981. Built on a foundation of providing quality service to clients, ICOM’s reputation grew, along with their portfolio of services. Today, ICOM is one of the leading mechanical contractors in San Jose, providing HVAC, process piping, cleanroom, design/build, LEED design, control solutions and other services across a variety of markets.
“The core value, the DNA of ICOM, is to serve the client,” Singh said. “It’s that commitment to the client and the passion to serve them — whatever they need, from full designs to repairs — that allows us to continue serving clients who have been with us since day one. We give equal value to the small needs and to the bigger needs.”
With Singh at the helm of ICOM, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone more enthusiastic and passionate about the possibilities in the construction industry.
“I can’t get enough of it, that’s the problem. I can never retire,” Singh said with a laugh. “If I didn’t love this, I wouldn’t be in this industry for this long. I get up every morning and get so much energy just thinking about what I have to do today, tomorrow, this week. In our industry, the unique thing about it is that it provides you plenty of opportunity to challenge yourself.”
The pandemic years brought a new set of challenges to even the most prepared in the building trades and mechanical contracting industry. But Singh and his ICOM team rose to the occasion, pulling off a multi-million-dollar, multi-phase R&D facility with an aggressive timeline. Their success resulted in retaining the customer as a service client.
“Because of COVID, you couldn’t provide the manpower to finish a job, so projects were getting delayed, which would keep adding costs,” Singh said. “It was difficult. You don’t plan to have situations like that, and finding a balance to finish a project without adding extra cost to the client was difficult.”
Today, ICOM customers run the gamut from leaders in healthcare, data streaming and global security, to educational facilities and entertainment venues. Recently, the company performed both HVAC and plumbing design/build for the multi-million-dollar San Jose State Spartan Athletics Center. Project completion was a milestone achievement to the school’s goal of building a sustainable championship-level
program in the Mountain West and nationally.
Google Alta is another project that Singh was excited for his team to be part of. In the short-term, the four-story building in Mountain View serves as a 1,294-space parking structure. However, it was intentionally designed with the flexibility to repurpose the facility into an office building. ICOM’s scope of work included all plumbing and HVAC design-build and installation.
According to Singh, ICOM has been a member of Bay Area SMACNA since 1982 — just one year after the company was founded. Now on the Board of Directors, Singh’s nearly three decades of expertise is instrumental in the development of the association’s overall strategic vision.
“In some sense, the members are competitors,” he said. “But when we meet, we meet as one group and talk about the well-being of all members. The intent of the relationship as it was established is a win-win for everybody.”