April 16, 2025 • 19 mins
Michael T. Salanick is President and Owner of Fayette Furnace Co. and Strictly Ductless. With 40+ years of experience in management, sales, and marketing across multiple states, he has grown Fayette Furnace from $1.5M to $5M since 2015. Known for innovation, leadership, and relationship-building, he brings a proven track record of business growth.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
And welcome in. This is the CEO's used to no podcast.
I'm your host, Johnny Heart. Well, let's say hello to
Mike Salaniko Fat Furnace. Thank you for being with me.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Good to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
All right, tell us everything we need to know about
your company.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Mile. Our company is one hundred and five years old.
We are employee owned, uh me being the primary owner.
We have several individuals who share in the ownership. The
company servicing of residential new home construction HVAC. We do electrical,
(00:42):
we do small commercial, and we do whole house generators.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
And so if somebody wants more information about your company,
what's your website.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Fayetfurnace dot com.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
So it's employee owned and operated. Yes, so that's that's
kind that's different. So how that develop.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Uh Before my uncle had retired, we talked about having
our key group of guys at the time be a
part of the business because they had such a long
tenure with us. So we decided to give them shares
in ownership.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
And do you find that as an advantage?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
I believe it is. Yes. Why Why, Well, there's a
vested interest there for them. They can make more money
by working a little harder and achieving certain goals that
we have.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
What's your how did you develop in the company. When
did you start and how did you become CEO?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Well in nineteen ninety nine of us, So you haven't
been there one hundred and five years.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
No, no, no.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
The original owner of the company had it from nineteen
twenty until I want to say the date is correct
nineteen seventy four when he passed away. My uncle and
a salesman at that time, they were looking to purchase
the company. Didn't have all the funding, so they got
(02:10):
a local oil distributor and a local HVAC sales rep
to go in partnership with them, and they purchased the
company and that was in I think that took place
in nineteen seventy five.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Okay, now, so what's your involvement? When did you enter
the company?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Well, after the retirement of the sales rep, my uncle
and the two remaining partners asked me to come back
to Uniontown, Faye County and become a partner because my
background was in management, sales and marketing. Ok So that's
(02:49):
I started in the summer of nineteen ninety nine as
a low man on a totem poll per se in
the business and worked my way up.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
All right, So what did you do prior to coming
to fan Furnace.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
I was living in Well, that's a long story. My
business career started with United States STILL in nineteen seventy seven.
I worked for US STILL for seven years and at
that time, the STILL imports started to affect the industry
(03:28):
and they closed several plants, in one of those plants
being mine.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Okay, and so it made it it made sense to
transition to something different.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Well, and I did. I left the Pennsylvania area and
went to work in Washington, d C. In a service industry.
Working in that service industry, I was promoted in six
months to a supervisor. Worked in that office for two
(03:59):
weeks until position became available in Virginia, where I was
living at the time, which I transferred to.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Okay, So what did you and then eventually you got
into the HVAC business. So what did you learn from
either US Steel or that that service industry in Washington, DC?
How what did you bring to fan Furnace? Just the
experience of the.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Management, sales, and my extreme I'm a workaholic, yeah, and
I just wanted to build something because the area that
we live in. It's very economically depressed, I feel, and
I was able to see how business was run in
(04:48):
different parts of the country with that business that I
had been with.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Okay, and then when you came into the business, you said,
you're low man on the totem pole. How did you?
How did you? What was your evolution of Mike through
the company?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
It was not an easy venture when I started. You know,
these the older guys had the experience in the industry.
I had none in this industry whatsoever. So I just
threw myself in and learned everything I possibly could, and
my sales started to take off because I was looking
(05:26):
at things differently than what other people were looking at.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Give us an example, what do you mean, Well, because
sales really is an art form, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yes, it is. And you have to build value into
the product that you offer, especially with in something like HVAC,
because you don't always see it, you feel it, so
you have to understand how it affects people in their
daily lives.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Well, if you don't have heat, you definitely know the
value of what you're bringing. So, but you have to
do it in a in a very effective way, right
and so as you moved up and so I've been
told that your sales have have well more than quadrupled
since you taking over the company.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Well, when I took over the company, it was a
one point five million dollar company and we achieved five
million in since nine October twenty fifteen.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
So ten years and ten years, you've quadrupled the value
of the business. And what was it? What? What? How
did you do that?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
I looked at my competition and what they were offering,
and I said, you know, what we have to offer
has got to be better than what anybody else has,
and it has to be something that people can afford
and understand that it's going to affect them and in
(07:02):
their house and how they live in a comfort of
that house.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Well, you know you said, you learn marketing, and that's
a big part of the reason why your company has succeeded.
So how did you get that word out that you
were able to offer something different than maybe another age
of that company.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Well, initially it was word of mouth, but word of
mouth doesn't always help you get to where you need
to be. So you want to get a bigger area
to be covered, and we started advertising on billboards, We
started advertising on radio, social media, which I feel has
(07:45):
helped us substantially. We invest a lot of money.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
And what was your message? What message did you present
to that area that you service that really made it click.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Our company is one hundred and five years old, We
have two hundred and eighty five years of experience. Who
else would you call?
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Well? And of course the product has to be a
quality product.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Well. We handle carrier equipment, which I feel is the
best equipment on the market, best technology. So if you
throw in carrier with over one hundred years of experience
in heating and air conditioning, with our one hundred years
of experience, plus the seniority of the guys who work there,
(08:36):
the people who work there over two hundred and eighty
five years, throw that all together perfect. Nobody else can
meet what we do.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
And what areas do you do?
Speaker 2 (08:46):
You cover Faye County, West Boyland County, Washington County, parts
of Maryland, some West Virginia and.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Your customer base do do you get most referrals from
either the phone or your website both?
Speaker 2 (09:02):
But you know, furnace dot Com is very important to us.
So a lot of people use social media now, so.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Okay, and yes, speaking of social media. Is there a
particular social media that you use that seems to work
better than the other ones?
Speaker 2 (09:19):
No?
Speaker 1 (09:19):
No, no, you never know. You never know. In fact,
you never know what's what's what's going to impact you. Now,
speaking of of you, what have you done? What? Well,
first of all, tell us about your team.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Well, I'm the CEO president of the company. I have
a general manager who's under me. We have an installation manager,
a sales manager. We have two sales reps plus our
service department they sell also.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Okay, and and how how many people do you three? Okay,
that's that's that's a lot of cats to to corral.
Sometimes that's a lot of people there. So uh and
what what makes you different than maybe other HVAC companies?
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Well, I will say the age of our company, the
experience of our company, and we are very very professional
in what we do from the time we walk into
customer's house until we've completed the job with cleaning up afterwards.
(10:37):
I don't feel anyone can compete with us.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Well, how important is customer service to you? Well?
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Very important. I look at it if this were my house,
this is how I would want it done.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
And what's what's your mission. What is the company's mission? What? What? What?
When you took over, what was some of the goals
that you wanted to achieve.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
I wanted to achieve being the largest, the best HVAC
company in a Try state, it in Try County area.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
And were you able to do that?
Speaker 2 (11:14):
I believe so?
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Yes? Yeah? And so what's your secret, sauce? It's is it?
Is it?
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Well? I'm not telling you because I don't want anybody
else to know.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Come on, give us a hit, Come on, Ike, give
us a hit. All right? So, uh, tell me about
your personal philosophy, your business philosophy.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
My business philosophy is, you know, if you treat your
employees well, your company is going to.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Grow, especially if they're if it's a company that is
employee owned, you're almost working for yourself. Every single person
is working for themselves. Has that made a bit a
bit of a difference.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Yes, it does make a difference. It does make a difference.
Everyone does in the eye to eye all the time.
But you know what, when the ideas come out, you listen,
You make changes. Doesn't always happen immediately, but over a
short period of time you can make those changes.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Do you enjoy what you do.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Oh, absolutely?
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Is it your passion? Yes? Now what is it about this?
Is it? Is it the company? Or is it is
it working with other people? What is what? What do
you enjoy most about your position?
Speaker 2 (12:31):
I love working with people. I love trying to help
people obtain goals in their life to make their life better.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
And you said you're a workaholic. Have you always been
that way? Yes? I have. Do you still have that
work ethic? Yes?
Speaker 2 (12:46):
I do.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
What is it about this area that has that we
kind of have that that we've always been. You know,
we take pride in our work ethics.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Right well, from the time that I was small. My
dad instilled in me a work ethic. When I was
five years old, I remember him having me do certain
things around the house with him. And then when I
went to work for us still, my dad worked for
us still, and all I ever heard was your dad
(13:16):
does this, your dad do that? And I had to
prove a point. I had to prove a point that
I had to work harder than my dad so that
I didn't have to hear that.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
You know, you know, I've had I just had a
CEO who had a law firm in California, but wants
to hire, but came to Pittsburgh and he has several
law firms and around the country and wants to hire
people from Pittsburgh because our work ethic is it's something
(13:49):
that we're born with. We it's you know, all our
families take a lot of pride in giving a good
day's work is worth something, and we get up with
that kind of that mentality.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Yes, absolutely, And I'll give you an example. When I
had relocated to the Washington, DC area and I started
in my management positions there, they used to fly me
back to Pittsburgh to do recruiting for the company because
of the work ethic that everyone had from this area.
(14:26):
So yes, I know that for sure.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
So how did your leadership style evolve as you transition
from manager to president to part owner?
Speaker 2 (14:38):
How did it evolve?
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (14:42):
My focus has always been if you're going through hell,
full steam ahead.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
The only if you're going to go through it, you
might as well get all the way through it right,
just face the challenge. Yes, yeah, And what challenges do
you see your company going through now? And what do
you what's your vision of the future.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Moving ahead, Technology is changing everything, even in the h
VAC industry. You know, the equipment's becoming smarter, the regulations
are becoming more and more difficult, and being able to
(15:33):
find good qualified individuals to fill positions sometimes can be uh,
not so.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Easy, especially if you have high standards. Yes, if you
have a high standard, do you need that kind of
work ethic? You need all the team to be part
of that effort.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
I think what part of the difficult part of the
difficulty in finding the right people is, and I hate
to say it like this, the technology is affecting that.
With cell phones too many times people just want to
stand around and be on our phone.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
It's too easy to be entertained by something that you
hold in your pocket. Yes, yeah, that's probably so.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
I've seen that change work ethic in the last ten years.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
You're right, you're right, think about it. It's it's a
distraction from work, and you know, to do good work
you need to be focused, right, Yeah, all right, So
tell us a little bit about your contribution back to
your communities. So what do you do as a company
or yourself.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Well, you know, we've been part of Heat the Berg.
This will be our fifth year and kind.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Of explain or do you want me to explain what
that is. It's a it's a number of carrier dealers that, yes,
collectively and each each part gives away a furnace to
somebody that is that needs a new furnace, if it
could be somebody who's low income or somebody who has
faced adversity, maybe a job loss or something like that.
(17:11):
And so collectively there's a number of carrier dealers that
get in. Did I miss anything that, but it's quite
a few in the different regions. So, yes, you're one
of the representatives in your area that give away a
furnace to somebody.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
In need furnace, labor and material.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
How many years have you done that participated in that?
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Uh, this will be our fifth year.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Okay, So you're giving a furnace that's that's not that's
not exactly a small expense, and of course you have
to install it, so there's labor involves. So that's quite
a contribution to the community.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Yes, and we've done some work for veterans in the
past through floods that have happened in our area, contributions
to some churches and so forth.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
What are you most proud of of your when you're
involvement with fad furnace.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
People really appreciate a job being well done, and that's
I take pride in that.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
What kind of feedback do you get from your customers?
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Oh, we get notes, we get emails telling us what
a great job we've done, and they are happy with everything.
And they would refer us to anyone that they know
that needs a furnace or an air conditioner, whatever it
may be.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Is there anything else that we didn't cover that you
want people to know about your company?
Speaker 2 (18:41):
I want them to know that if we do service
work for them or an installation, they're going to be
happy with what we've done in our house.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Good work, good work, you want to do? Good work? Yes,
all right, So once again, if somebody needs your service,
what's the website the best way to contact you? They
at furnace dot com. Mike is been pleasure. Thank you
so much.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
You're welcome.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
This has been the CEO's You Should Know podcast showcasing
businesses that are driving our regional economy, part of iHeartMedia's
commitment to the communities we serve. I'm Johnny Heartwell, thank
you so much for listening.
And welcome in. This is the CEO's used to no podcast.
I'm your host, Johnny Heart. Well, let's say hello to
Mike Salaniko Fat Furnace. Thank you for being with me.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Good to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
All right, tell us everything we need to know about
your company.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Mile. Our company is one hundred and five years old.
We are employee owned, uh me being the primary owner.
We have several individuals who share in the ownership. The
company servicing of residential new home construction HVAC. We do electrical,
(00:42):
we do small commercial, and we do whole house generators.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
And so if somebody wants more information about your company,
what's your website.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Fayetfurnace dot com.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
So it's employee owned and operated. Yes, so that's that's
kind that's different. So how that develop.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Uh Before my uncle had retired, we talked about having
our key group of guys at the time be a
part of the business because they had such a long
tenure with us. So we decided to give them shares
in ownership.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
And do you find that as an advantage?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
I believe it is. Yes. Why Why, Well, there's a
vested interest there for them. They can make more money
by working a little harder and achieving certain goals that
we have.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
What's your how did you develop in the company. When
did you start and how did you become CEO?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Well in nineteen ninety nine of us, So you haven't
been there one hundred and five years.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
No, no, no.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
The original owner of the company had it from nineteen
twenty until I want to say the date is correct
nineteen seventy four when he passed away. My uncle and
a salesman at that time, they were looking to purchase
the company. Didn't have all the funding, so they got
(02:10):
a local oil distributor and a local HVAC sales rep
to go in partnership with them, and they purchased the
company and that was in I think that took place
in nineteen seventy five.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Okay, now, so what's your involvement? When did you enter
the company?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Well, after the retirement of the sales rep, my uncle
and the two remaining partners asked me to come back
to Uniontown, Faye County and become a partner because my
background was in management, sales and marketing. Ok So that's
(02:49):
I started in the summer of nineteen ninety nine as
a low man on a totem poll per se in
the business and worked my way up.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
All right, So what did you do prior to coming
to fan Furnace.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
I was living in Well, that's a long story. My
business career started with United States STILL in nineteen seventy seven.
I worked for US STILL for seven years and at
that time, the STILL imports started to affect the industry
(03:28):
and they closed several plants, in one of those plants
being mine.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Okay, and so it made it it made sense to
transition to something different.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Well, and I did. I left the Pennsylvania area and
went to work in Washington, d C. In a service industry.
Working in that service industry, I was promoted in six
months to a supervisor. Worked in that office for two
(03:59):
weeks until position became available in Virginia, where I was
living at the time, which I transferred to.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Okay, So what did you and then eventually you got
into the HVAC business. So what did you learn from
either US Steel or that that service industry in Washington, DC?
How what did you bring to fan Furnace? Just the
experience of the.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Management, sales, and my extreme I'm a workaholic, yeah, and
I just wanted to build something because the area that
we live in. It's very economically depressed, I feel, and
I was able to see how business was run in
(04:48):
different parts of the country with that business that I
had been with.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Okay, and then when you came into the business, you said,
you're low man on the totem pole. How did you?
How did you? What was your evolution of Mike through
the company?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
It was not an easy venture when I started. You know,
these the older guys had the experience in the industry.
I had none in this industry whatsoever. So I just
threw myself in and learned everything I possibly could, and
my sales started to take off because I was looking
(05:26):
at things differently than what other people were looking at.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Give us an example, what do you mean, Well, because
sales really is an art form, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yes, it is. And you have to build value into
the product that you offer, especially with in something like HVAC,
because you don't always see it, you feel it, so
you have to understand how it affects people in their
daily lives.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Well, if you don't have heat, you definitely know the
value of what you're bringing. So, but you have to
do it in a in a very effective way, right
and so as you moved up and so I've been
told that your sales have have well more than quadrupled
since you taking over the company.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Well, when I took over the company, it was a
one point five million dollar company and we achieved five
million in since nine October twenty fifteen.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
So ten years and ten years, you've quadrupled the value
of the business. And what was it? What? What? How
did you do that?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
I looked at my competition and what they were offering,
and I said, you know, what we have to offer
has got to be better than what anybody else has,
and it has to be something that people can afford
and understand that it's going to affect them and in
(07:02):
their house and how they live in a comfort of
that house.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Well, you know you said, you learn marketing, and that's
a big part of the reason why your company has succeeded.
So how did you get that word out that you
were able to offer something different than maybe another age
of that company.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Well, initially it was word of mouth, but word of
mouth doesn't always help you get to where you need
to be. So you want to get a bigger area
to be covered, and we started advertising on billboards, We
started advertising on radio, social media, which I feel has
(07:45):
helped us substantially. We invest a lot of money.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
And what was your message? What message did you present
to that area that you service that really made it click.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Our company is one hundred and five years old, We
have two hundred and eighty five years of experience. Who
else would you call?
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Well? And of course the product has to be a
quality product.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Well. We handle carrier equipment, which I feel is the
best equipment on the market, best technology. So if you
throw in carrier with over one hundred years of experience
in heating and air conditioning, with our one hundred years
of experience, plus the seniority of the guys who work there,
(08:36):
the people who work there over two hundred and eighty
five years, throw that all together perfect. Nobody else can
meet what we do.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
And what areas do you do?
Speaker 2 (08:46):
You cover Faye County, West Boyland County, Washington County, parts
of Maryland, some West Virginia and.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Your customer base do do you get most referrals from
either the phone or your website both?
Speaker 2 (09:02):
But you know, furnace dot Com is very important to us.
So a lot of people use social media now, so.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Okay, and yes, speaking of social media. Is there a
particular social media that you use that seems to work
better than the other ones?
Speaker 2 (09:19):
No?
Speaker 1 (09:19):
No, no, you never know. You never know. In fact,
you never know what's what's what's going to impact you. Now,
speaking of of you, what have you done? What? Well,
first of all, tell us about your team.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Well, I'm the CEO president of the company. I have
a general manager who's under me. We have an installation manager,
a sales manager. We have two sales reps plus our
service department they sell also.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Okay, and and how how many people do you three? Okay,
that's that's that's a lot of cats to to corral.
Sometimes that's a lot of people there. So uh and
what what makes you different than maybe other HVAC companies?
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Well, I will say the age of our company, the
experience of our company, and we are very very professional
in what we do from the time we walk into
customer's house until we've completed the job with cleaning up afterwards.
(10:37):
I don't feel anyone can compete with us.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Well, how important is customer service to you? Well?
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Very important. I look at it if this were my house,
this is how I would want it done.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
And what's what's your mission. What is the company's mission? What? What? What?
When you took over, what was some of the goals
that you wanted to achieve.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
I wanted to achieve being the largest, the best HVAC
company in a Try state, it in Try County area.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
And were you able to do that?
Speaker 2 (11:14):
I believe so?
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Yes? Yeah? And so what's your secret, sauce? It's is it?
Is it?
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Well? I'm not telling you because I don't want anybody
else to know.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Come on, give us a hit, Come on, Ike, give
us a hit. All right? So, uh, tell me about
your personal philosophy, your business philosophy.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
My business philosophy is, you know, if you treat your
employees well, your company is going to.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Grow, especially if they're if it's a company that is
employee owned, you're almost working for yourself. Every single person
is working for themselves. Has that made a bit a
bit of a difference.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Yes, it does make a difference. It does make a difference.
Everyone does in the eye to eye all the time.
But you know what, when the ideas come out, you listen,
You make changes. Doesn't always happen immediately, but over a
short period of time you can make those changes.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Do you enjoy what you do.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Oh, absolutely?
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Is it your passion? Yes? Now what is it about this?
Is it? Is it the company? Or is it is
it working with other people? What is what? What do
you enjoy most about your position?
Speaker 2 (12:31):
I love working with people. I love trying to help
people obtain goals in their life to make their life better.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
And you said you're a workaholic. Have you always been
that way? Yes? I have. Do you still have that
work ethic? Yes?
Speaker 2 (12:46):
I do.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
What is it about this area that has that we
kind of have that that we've always been. You know,
we take pride in our work ethics.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Right well, from the time that I was small. My
dad instilled in me a work ethic. When I was
five years old, I remember him having me do certain
things around the house with him. And then when I
went to work for us still, my dad worked for
us still, and all I ever heard was your dad
(13:16):
does this, your dad do that? And I had to
prove a point. I had to prove a point that
I had to work harder than my dad so that
I didn't have to hear that.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
You know, you know, I've had I just had a
CEO who had a law firm in California, but wants
to hire, but came to Pittsburgh and he has several
law firms and around the country and wants to hire
people from Pittsburgh because our work ethic is it's something
(13:49):
that we're born with. We it's you know, all our
families take a lot of pride in giving a good
day's work is worth something, and we get up with
that kind of that mentality.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Yes, absolutely, And I'll give you an example. When I
had relocated to the Washington, DC area and I started
in my management positions there, they used to fly me
back to Pittsburgh to do recruiting for the company because
of the work ethic that everyone had from this area.
(14:26):
So yes, I know that for sure.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
So how did your leadership style evolve as you transition
from manager to president to part owner?
Speaker 2 (14:38):
How did it evolve?
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (14:42):
My focus has always been if you're going through hell,
full steam ahead.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
The only if you're going to go through it, you
might as well get all the way through it right,
just face the challenge. Yes, yeah, And what challenges do
you see your company going through now? And what do
you what's your vision of the future.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Moving ahead, Technology is changing everything, even in the h
VAC industry. You know, the equipment's becoming smarter, the regulations
are becoming more and more difficult, and being able to
(15:33):
find good qualified individuals to fill positions sometimes can be uh,
not so.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Easy, especially if you have high standards. Yes, if you
have a high standard, do you need that kind of
work ethic? You need all the team to be part
of that effort.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
I think what part of the difficult part of the
difficulty in finding the right people is, and I hate
to say it like this, the technology is affecting that.
With cell phones too many times people just want to
stand around and be on our phone.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
It's too easy to be entertained by something that you
hold in your pocket. Yes, yeah, that's probably so.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
I've seen that change work ethic in the last ten years.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
You're right, you're right, think about it. It's it's a
distraction from work, and you know, to do good work
you need to be focused, right, Yeah, all right, So
tell us a little bit about your contribution back to
your communities. So what do you do as a company
or yourself.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Well, you know, we've been part of Heat the Berg.
This will be our fifth year and kind.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Of explain or do you want me to explain what
that is. It's a it's a number of carrier dealers that, yes,
collectively and each each part gives away a furnace to
somebody that is that needs a new furnace, if it
could be somebody who's low income or somebody who has
faced adversity, maybe a job loss or something like that.
(17:11):
And so collectively there's a number of carrier dealers that
get in. Did I miss anything that, but it's quite
a few in the different regions. So, yes, you're one
of the representatives in your area that give away a
furnace to somebody.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
In need furnace, labor and material.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
How many years have you done that participated in that?
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Uh, this will be our fifth year.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Okay, So you're giving a furnace that's that's not that's
not exactly a small expense, and of course you have
to install it, so there's labor involves. So that's quite
a contribution to the community.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Yes, and we've done some work for veterans in the
past through floods that have happened in our area, contributions
to some churches and so forth.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
What are you most proud of of your when you're
involvement with fad furnace.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
People really appreciate a job being well done, and that's
I take pride in that.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
What kind of feedback do you get from your customers?
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Oh, we get notes, we get emails telling us what
a great job we've done, and they are happy with everything.
And they would refer us to anyone that they know
that needs a furnace or an air conditioner, whatever it
may be.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Is there anything else that we didn't cover that you
want people to know about your company?
Speaker 2 (18:41):
I want them to know that if we do service
work for them or an installation, they're going to be
happy with what we've done in our house.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Good work, good work, you want to do? Good work? Yes,
all right, So once again, if somebody needs your service,
what's the website the best way to contact you? They
at furnace dot com. Mike is been pleasure. Thank you
so much.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
You're welcome.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
This has been the CEO's You Should Know podcast showcasing
businesses that are driving our regional economy, part of iHeartMedia's
commitment to the communities we serve. I'm Johnny Heartwell, thank
you so much for listening.
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