Insulation Technologies: From underdog to building performance CEO

​By Hailey Pitcher, MMAC Communications Intern

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Over one quarter of U.S. entrepreneurs are immigrants, and Harvard Business Review says their businesses are more likely to thrive as they create job opportunities and revive areas with new ideas. The resilience and unique skill sets often acquired by those immigrating to a new country are a huge asset to communities and the economy, and their businesses bring in billions of dollars. This series highlights Milwaukee businesses that are founded, owned and operated by immigrants. We’ve had the privilege of hearing their stories and backgrounds, as well as what makes them so valuable to our community. 
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Jaime Hurtado emigrated from Lima, Peru, at age 16 and finished English classes within six weeks before starting college. He now owns a contracting company, but arrived with no experience in construction, instead learning on the job.

“When you watch the Olympics, who is your favorite player? ​It’s the one that has it harder. That’s the one you root for,” he said.

As an immigrant, Hurtado felt like he began as the underdog. He relied on his curiosity and persistence, along with help from mentors and others who believed in him, to get to where he is today.

Hurtado is now the owner of Insulation Technologies, which he founded in 1985. The company installs insulation, in addition to repairing doors, siding and windows for commercial and residential clients. Several of his employees are family members, who bring experience in a variety of areas.
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Hurtado left his family in Peru soon after high school and moved in with his uncle in Joliet, Ill., to attend college in 1974. 

"I graduated from high school in 1973 and my father passed away two weeks after that. I did have plans to come to the States, but after Dad died it was more of a necessity. I was one of five boys, and my mother was a homemaker,” he said.

He hoped to receive a scholarship from Lewis University before learning it was only offered to Americans. When leaving the university office, he ran into just the right woman to connect him to the Success Scholars Program, which gave him a scholarship for his first year. After that year was over, his professors came together on behalf of their bright student to ask the school’s president for a scholarship. Hurtado received one for the next three years.

“All of that is a miracle...the cost of college is way beyond what my family could afford. I had no permission to work in this country as a foreign student. Where was that money going to come from? It came from the generosity of people,” Hurtado said.

He came to Milwaukee in 1978 when he fell in love with a girl from Marquette University. Once here, he fought for changes in workers’ compensation law through Esperanza Unida Inc, a nonprofit advocating for and representing injured workers in Wisconsin. Only five years after learning English, Hurtado presented to legislators with Esperanza Unida, participating in passing the state’s first amendment to the workers’ compensation bill in 1980.

He later began work at La Casa de Esperanza, coordinating youth programs and teaching ESL and practical skills to young adults. In addition, Hurtado was asked to run a for-profit business franchise under Energy Experts. Six months later, they were nearly out of business. They had the sales, equipment and trained employees, but they couldn’t make a profit.

“The bottom line is, I didn’t know how to make a profit while running a business in the field of building performance, within a science that had not been fully developed,” Hurtado said.

He asked his board of directors to continue funding the operations, this time determined to explore and learn from the opportunity.

“As the mistakes were being made, I was creating the solutions, and we were profitable within six months,” he said.

Throughout the process, Hurtado gave credit to one of his mentors, Dr. Walter Sava, the executive director at La Casa, who believed in him when he didn’t believe in himself.

“Having those people around that see you and call you to be bigger than you see yourself was very important,” he said.

In 1985, he had the opportunity to buy a territory from The Energy Experts in Racine. Hurtado mustered the courage to ask for funding from someone with contracting and business experience. He turned the company into Intec, eventually purchasing the remainder of his business.

Hurtado is naturally innovative, and he is proud of inventing more effective methods for his work, which are now part of the means, method and science of building performance.

After seeing one company use a small tube to pump cellulose into the basement walls of a home, he modified the idea by increasing the diameter of the hose and pointing it up. He found that blowing from the top down “more than doubled the density of the insulation and cut installation time in half.”

When he ran into problems replacing windows on another home, he found the idea to “take all the work that is done in the field and bring it into a warehouse” from watching Japanese contractors build a home in four hours by bringing manufacturing into a warehouse. This made his work more efficient in every area of service, from installing new windows and siding to lead abatement and building. This is now a commonly used practice.

“That whole process of making corrections to stay on course until you get something workable...is the key,” he said.

Eight years after Hurtado started his business, he transformed his mindset.

“I achieved everything I wanted. It wasn’t enough,” Hurtado said. He wanted to be content in the place he currently was, and for his employees to feel the same.

“The domain of happiness does not live in what you have or what you do,” Hurtado said. “I really love the industry of building performance, of making homes energy efficient, of making them safer.”

That became his reason for coming to work each day. It was no longer about proving himself. He gained a deeper appreciation for his employees and began teaching them what he had learned about contentment, something he has been doing alongside his business for 30 years.

“My company is a place where people love to come to work, where they develop their talents to the fullest and they make a significant contribution to the community,” he said.

Hurtado is extremely grateful that he can provide for his family both here in the United States and in Peru, as well as give back to the Milwaukee community he loves because of Intec’s success. It is also rewarding for him to see his employees’ accomplishments.

Hurtado is thankful he never gave up on himself or his business when faced with obstacles, and his experiences have given him the wisdom he now shares with others.

“Learn from the failures. Don’t be afraid of the failures,” he said.