“Blue collar with a white glove service.” This is how CEO Rich Kilgannon summarises Arch Painting and the powerful combination of factors that have made it so successful. Trusted by commercial and residential customers from New Hampshire to Hawaii, Arch is a contractor that values its community roots, while embracing modern approaches to technology and convenience.
“We offer a very broad range of painting services, and we cover a lot of different industries,” Rich begins. “We’ve worked with everyone from retail brands to Ivy League colleges, museums to senior living facilities, and warehouses to homes.”
Alongside its ability to take on a huge variety of projects across nearly every US state, Arch’s success has been enabled by fast response times. In some cases, the company can have a project completed before a customer has even received a quote from one of Arch’s competitors.
“We’re very quick in turning around quotations,” Rich points out. “For residential work, you’ll get your quote the same day, and for commercial work, in less than three days.
“We’re also one of the quickest painting contractors to get on-site. When we get a work order, we can, in some instances, be on-site in less than twenty-four hours. We have customers that tell us: ‘Hey, we’ve not had a call back from your competitors, but you guys have already finished the work!’”
Fast and Reliable
Part of what makes Arch so quick to mobilise is its large and intricate network of team members across the US. The company has over 800 crews ready to respond to new projects at any given time.
“People are our biggest asset,” Rich states. “No-one can respond as quickly as we can thanks to our huge network of crews.
“We’re not a product company – we’re a service company. Customer service was one of our founding principles, and it is as important to us today as it was when Arch began. For us, exceptional customer service comes from people, as well as technology.”
As Rich suggests, technology is one of Arch’s greatest differentiators. The company has made significant investments in its technological capabilities of late, fully embracing the benefits of the latest innovations.
“Our tech focus is truly unique, and it’s helping us become a big disruptor in the painting space,” Rich reports. “We have software engineers and developers in our workforce, which is not what many people would envision when thinking of a typical painting contractor.”
Both customer-facing and back-of-house activities have enjoyed a technological boost at Arch over the last two years. One example is the company’s 2023 acquisition of Paintzen – an online, on-demand booking tool that can provide homeowners, landlords, and renters with instant quotes.
“Paintzen has really helped to separate us,” Rich notes. “We’ve owned it for about two years now, and invested lots of time, energy, and money in streamlining it, enhancing it, and bringing the technology up to today’s standards.
“It’s already paying off on the residential side of the business,” he adds. “We’re getting a lot of work through our online portal. Customers sat at home can get an instant price for their painting projects.”
Embracing Innovation
Arch’s sizeable presence in the residential painting market is about to grow further in 2025 with the launch of a brand-new deal with Lowe’s – the second-largest hardware chain in the United States. QR codes linking to Arch’s online booking platform can now be found across multiple Lowe’s stores, with a view to expanding nationwide before the end of the year. Similarly, Arch services are now available on the Lowe’s website as part of the hardware brand’s home installation offering. It’s all part of Arch’s commitment to creating a seamless, convenient customer experience.
“In today’s busy digital world,” Rich says, “you can buy everything online, from food to vacations, but it’s rare to be able to do it for a home service like painting. As the world becomes more tech-reliant, we are looking to accommodate that.”
An industry trailblazer, Arch is now confident its technologies can have the same disruptive impact on the commercial sector that they have done on the residential market. Encouraged by all the company has learnt from Paintzen, commercial prototypes are now under development at Arch, with the hope that by 2026/27, the technology will be ready for a commercial customer-base that has previously included the likes of Honda, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Citizens Bank.
“We truly believe our commercial technology will be a game changer that can alter the industry landscape,” Rich declares. “It’s a $40 billion dollar industry, where no single company has a major foothold, but when it comes to technology, I think we’re several years ahead of our competitors.”
Investing in People
On the back of such forward-thinking, Arch has grown over 600% over the last decade, and the company expects to triple in size again by 2030. However, no matter how big the company gets, Rich and his team will never forget where Arch came from – and the people that have helped it on its way.
“We invest heavily in our people and want them to grow with us,” Rich remarks. “We recognise achievements with peer-to-peer initiatives like the Golden Brush Award, and we come together for weekly lunches and holiday celebrations. Our team is like a family and we treat them as such, with all employees – and even their children – receiving handwritten cards and a gift on their birthdays.
“Technology is great, and it will make us a better company, but at the end of the day, success all comes back to having the right people. We’re a growing business, and we continue to flourish, but no matter how much things evolve, we’ll never lose our blue-collar roots.”
A tight-knit organisation, Arch has always understood the importance of teamwork and the value of community. This extends beyond the walls of the business, where Arch acts to support numerous local and national non-profits, as well as providing employees with paid leave for volunteering work. The company also takes part in a wide variety of sponsorship and charitable activities. For instance, in 2024, Arch gifted $10,000 to help US teachers buy classroom supplies, and painted rooms, free of charge, in the houses of five veterans. By giving back, Arch is not only honouring its history, but laying the foundations for a better tomorrow – a tomorrow in which it is set to thrive.
