Garden City Equity Announces Investment in Westbrook, a Leading Provider of Commercial HVAC Solutions

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Garden City Equity Announces Investment in Westbrook, a Leading Provider of Commercial HVAC Solutions

2025-01-13 22:04 Last Updated At：22:31

ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 13, 2025--

Garden City Equity (“Garden City”), a people-first holding company partnering with exceptional founder-owned businesses, is pleased to announce its investment in Westbrook Service Corporation (“Westbrook” or the “Company”). Westbrook is a leading Florida-based provider of commercial HVAC, electrical, and plumbing services.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250113139931/en/

Founded in 1949 in Orlando, Florida, Westbrook specializes in revitalizing mission-critical mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (“MEP”) infrastructure within commercial, education, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing buildings. The Company offers a full range of services, from maintenance, emergency repair, and replacements to more comprehensive retrofit construction, serving as a single-source MEP partner for customer capital budget projects and on-going facility operating expenses.

"Westbrook is a quintessential Garden City company because of how they prioritize their people and operate with integrity in every aspect of their business," said Michael Arrieta, Founder and CEO of Garden City. "Leadership’s unwavering commitment to fostering a strong, values-driven culture perfectly aligns with our mission. We are excited to support Westbrook's growth across Central Florida and throughout the state for years to come."

"Partnering with Garden City was the clear choice because of our shared values and their buy-and-hold investment philosophy," said Brian King, CEO of Westbrook. "With the support of Garden City and its family of shareholders, we are excited to strengthen our team, expand our capabilities, and accelerate growth while preserving the culture that has been the foundation of our success for decades."

This investment marks Garden City’s first platform in the commercial HVAC space. Garden City uses minimal debt and invests for the long-term while leveraging the expertise and networks of its value-add family of shareholders to provide meaningful impact to its portfolio companies.

About Garden City Equity:

Garden City Equity is a people-first holding company that invests in exceptional founder and family-owned businesses. We partner with owners who truly care about the legacy of their businesses, and provide them with a fast, fair, and straightforward acquisition process. We utilize little to no debt, hold for the long term, and actively engage our family of 200+ mission-aligned shareholders to help grow our businesses.

For more information visit gardencityequity.com

Thousands of nurses go on strike at several major New York City hospitals

NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of nurses in three hospital systems in New York City went on strike Monday after negotiations through the weekend failed to yield breakthroughs in their contract disputes.

The strike was taking place at The Mount Sinai Hospital and two of its satellite campuses, with picket lines forming. The other affected hospitals are NewYork-Presbyterian and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

About 15,000 nurses are involved in the strike, according to New York State Nurses Association.

“After months of bargaining, management refused to make meaningful progress on core issues that nurses have been fighting for: safe staffing for patients, healthcare benefits for nurses, and workplace violence protections,” the union said in a statement issued Monday. “Management at the richest hospitals in New York City are threatening to discontinue or radically cut nurses’ health benefits.”

The strike, which comes during a severe flu season, could potentially force the hospitals to transfer patients, cancel procedures or divert ambulances. It could also put a strain on city hospitals not involved in the contract dispute, as patients avoid the medical centers hit by the strike.

The hospitals involved have been hiring temporary nurses to try and fill the labor gap during the walkout, and said in a statement during negotiations that they would “do whatever is necessary to minimize disruptions.” Montefiore posted a message assuring patients that appointments would be kept.

“NYSNA’s leaders continue to double down on their $3.6 billion in reckless demands, including nearly 40% wage increases, and their troubling proposals like demanding that a nurse not be terminated if found to be compromised by drugs or alcohol while on the job," Montefiore spokesperson Joe Solmonese said Monday after the strike had started. "We remain resolute in our commitment to providing safe and seamless care, regardless of how long the strike may last.”

New York-Presbyterian accused the union of staging a strike to “create disruption,” but said in a statement that it has taken steps to ensure patients receive the care they need.

"We’re ready to keep negotiating a fair and reasonable contract that reflects our respect for our nurses and the critical role they play, and also recognizes the challenging realities of today’s healthcare environment,” the statement said.

The work stoppage is occurring at multiple hospitals simultaneously, but each medical center is negotiating with the union independently. Several other hospitals across the city and in its suburbs reached deals in recent days to avert a possible strike.

The nurses’ demands vary by hospital, but the major issues include staffing levels and workplace safety. The union says hospitals have given nurses unmanageable workloads.

Nurses also want better security measures in the workplace, citing incidents like a an incident last week, when a man with a sharp object barricaded himself in a Brooklyn hospital room and was then killed by police.

The union also wants limitations on hospitals’ use of artificial intelligence.

The nonprofit hospitals involved in the negotiations say they’ve been working to improve staffing levels, but say the union’s demands overall are too costly.

Nurses voted to authorize the strike last month.

Both New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani had expressed concern about the possibility of the strike. As the strike deadline neared, Mamdani urged both sides to keep negotiating and reach a deal that “both honors our nurses and keeps our hospitals open.”

“Our nurses kept this city alive through its hardest moments. Their value is not negotiable,” Mamdani said.

State Attorney General Letitia James voiced similar support, saying "nurses put their lives on the line every day to keep New Yorkers healthy. They should never be forced to choose between their own safety, their patients’ well-being, and a fair contract.”

The last major nursing strike in the city was only three years ago, in 2023. That work stoppage, at Mount Sinai and Montefiore, was short, lasting three days. It resulted in a deal raising pay 19% over three years at those hospitals.

It also led to promised staffing improvements, though the union and hospitals now disagree about how much progress has been made, or whether the hospitals are retreating from staffing guarantees.