After more than two decades in Olathe, Atmos Energy is making room for the future.
The natural gas utility company recently completed a 33,000-sq.-ft. expansion of its offices in Cedar Creek, an investment designed to make room for a growing workforce, strengthen emergency response capabilities and advance Atmos Energy’s vision to be the safest provider of natural gas services while enabling continued growth across Olathe and the KC metro area.
For Atmos Energy, the expansion reflects what’s been happening right here, in the heart of the community it serves.
“Atmos is growing our operations team to keep up with the growth we are seeing in Olathe and the surrounding areas,” Eric Gant, Vice President of Operations for Atmos Energy’s Colorado-Kansas Division, said.
The expanded facility also gives Atmos something of true value. They are an organization that has to be ready regardless of what the Kansas weather is like: more climate-controlled space for equipment.
According to Gant, having that equipment stored in a protected environment helps Atmos crews respond quickly to natural gas emergencies no matter what Mother Nature has in mind.
Atmos Energy’s connection (no pun intended) to Olathe certainly isn’t new.
The company has operated from its current location for more than 20 years, with an Olathe presence stretching back decades through predecessor companies including United Cities and Greeley Gas.
“We’re growing right along with the Kansas City metro area and Olathe has always been a wonderful place to call home,” Gant added.
That Olathe location is also an important part of the company’s ability to provide short response times for the approximately 110,000 customers it serves in the area.
Today, the Atmos Energy Service Center houses 95 operations and support team members along with another 20 divisional and state-focused support employees. The new space was designed for the company’s current and future workforce.
Many Atmos operations employees spend their workdays in the field, essentially using their fleet vehicles as mobile offices while serving customers throughout the metro area. The expanded facility provides office space for operations leadership and support positions with capacity to accommodate future growth.
Additionally, Atmos is also keeping office and meeting space in its original building across the street, providing even more flexibility as its operations continue to grow.
The project wasn’t limited to new construction. Part of the expansion was the renovation of the existing Atmos warehouse to create a regional training facility to accommodate up to 48 employees at a time.
The training center allows Atmos employees to work through real-world scenarios and provides opportunities to train alongside first responders.
Gant said that preparation ultimately comes back to the company’s ability to properly serve its communities and customers.
The completed project is also the latest chapter in a long-standing relationship between Atmos Energy and the developers behind the expansion.
“We appreciate working with developers Rob Heise and Meyer Brothers with whom we have had a great, long-standing relationship,” Gant said.
For a company that has called Olathe home for decades, the expansion represents more than just extra space. It provides Atmos with the facilities, equipment capacity and training resources needed to serve a community and region that continue to grow.
Like Olathe, Atmos Energy is making sure it has room to grow right alongside them.