In this episode of Lee's Commercial Corner, host Jeff welcomes Chad, a versatile member of the Lee's Air, Plumbing, Heating, & Roofing team, to discuss his unique role and the company's growth and community impact. They dive into topics such as Lee's local operations, recent expansions, the importance of hiring the right people, and maintaining high standards in the HVAC and plumbing industry. Chad also shares insights into the company's mission and future growth prospects.
Hey, good morning. It's Jeff again, here at Lee's commercial corner and excited this morning to have Chad here with me. Um, we're going to talk about a few different things this morning, but, uh, I think it's going to be fun. His role here is, is unique to anything we've talked about on this, on this, uh, podcast yet, so, uh, in a second, we're going to get into that, but first I want to, um, kind of explain who he is.
Chad's had multiple roles here with us. He's He served as, um, um, general manager for a while. Um, he's been very, very involved with operations and our incredible growth the last couple of years. And this, uh, this last season has seen you kind of move into a different area. And I'll let you go into a little bit more, um, working as a director in, in, um, other areas, but I think we're going to talk today a little bit about.
Acquisitions and who leaves areas in the community? Exactly. Are we local or are we not local? Do we have multiple sites? Do we have one site? I'd like to kind of kind of tie that all together today. And cause it's kind of a loose conversation from what I hear from people out in the field, because the growth has been so outrageous that a lot of people have speculated wrongly, in my opinion, about why we are who we are today.
So, uh, Chad, I'd like you to take a few minutes, just kind of briefly. Uh, fill me in on who you are and, uh, and then we'll get into, we'll get into talking about that subject.
Yeah. I love it. So, uh, as, as you mentioned, Jeff, I mean, it is a relatively unique role, uh, and I've had the privilege of being able to serve the company in a couple of different roles.
Most recently I'm in the director of human resources
role.
Uh, you know, I, I became very intimately familiar with Lees and who they are and who we are. You're welcome. From the previous roles. But really I've had the unique opportunity now to sort of introduce Lee's to. new employees, right? And in that, uh, I myself have even learned a few new things as well.
Sure. Um, but at the end of the day, the message remains consistent. And that is that our, our mission is to serve people, you know, our customers, our coworkers and our community and to have fun doing it. Yeah. Um, so yeah, Lee's today, as it stands today, 2024 in July, uh, we are still a privately held company and that's one of the things that makes us unique.
Um, you know, so it's not, it's, it's not part of a larger conglomerate. Uh, we've stayed true to our mission from the get go. Um, and really, you know, Are there additional locations? Are there other areas that we service? Absolutely. And it's, it's for the purpose of furthering our mission.
Sure. Um, do you feel comfortable talking about that a little bit?
Of course. Talk about some of those other locations and. and why they're there and how we strategically go to market with our product
in those other areas as well. Of course, you know, so, uh, you're aware, I'm aware we have a fairly robust operation up in Northern California in Loomis. Uh, Loomis is sort of a bedroom community to Sacramento, uh, offering the same products, same service lines that, uh, Fresno's offered since 1981.
Uh, in air conditioning, plumbing, uh, roofing, so, uh, and we've, we have great leadership up there. We have a great group of individuals that have really, uh, lived out the mission for, for that location. Um, so Loomis is absolutely doing well. It's absolutely thriving. Maybe to a little bit of a lesser scale than Fresno is.
But nonetheless, uh, Fresno as, as everyone knows, is doing very, very well. Uh, and most recently, actually, we've expanded into Visalia market. We've had the unique opportunity to partner with another organization out of. Visalia, uh, uh, known as comfort now. And, you know, we've, uh, since incorporated that under our umbrella, at least.
Okay.
So yeah.
And I, I know this isn't the end either. I know there's other, other markets that we're, you know, strategically going to be moving into, but remaining, remaining home base headquarters, which is important, I think, to point out. is here, here in Fresno.
And you know, and you know, we're talking about operational locations, right?
We're talking about operational locations that people report to every single day. But what we're negating is we have a school man, like, I mean, we have a school here in Fresno outside of the confines of the building that you and I are sitting in right now. Uh, and you know, that speaks to what I mentioned earlier, sort of the mission.
I mean, how do we serve Our co workers, right? How do we serve our community? The way we serve our community is to put the most qualified Best stewards of the community out there doing the services that that people need HVAC services, right? Uh, and you know, it's one thing to hire a really good HVAC technician It's a whole nother ball game when you're able to hire good people to do the job and then ultimately train them uh to to do a wonderful job for For the people of our community.
Sure.
I I think i'm gonna jump in here and just say this really quick You A lot of people might not be aware of the fact that there's a particular reason why there aren't air conditioning franchises out there like there are in a lot of other industries because you know everything we do for the most part is outside of our building.
You go to McDonald's, everything's in the same place. Air conditioning is completely different, different climates, different, you know, Um different markets wherever we go, but I really like the you know, the the school that you mentioned I'm going to talk about that for a second the idea that everybody every time we move into a new market We bring everybody here and have them work side by side with us here in fresno to understand exactly how we You know, we operate in serving people, each other in the community.
And then they take that, they take that mentality back to that area with them. And then we're able to, you know, franchise, no, uh, be, be the Lee's brand and other markets. Yes. And, and it's not easy to do it all. And there's a demand
for it. And there is a demand for it. There's a demand for a company like Lee's to come into virtually any market, right.
To provide quality services. and have quality people doing the services. Who doesn't want that? Right? I mean, it's always sort of a tug of war between the consumer and this, uh, this other organization that's literally being dispatched to your house, the most intimate portion of your life to do air conditioning work or to do plumbing work, right?
How do you know what kind of person this even ever met these people before we pride ourselves on finding good people. Yes, we do. And I do the work that people need, right? It's good people first. That's why the school exists. We hire, we hire for the intangible. We hire for the personality for, we hire good people, good stewards, good pillars of the community, and then make them the best HVAC technicians, make them the best.
roofing, uh, people, the best plumbers in the, you know, that, that the Central Valley has seen.
Great segue question. So let me ask you this. Um, absolutely. We need the best people. Yep. And, you know, you know, me, I'm always asking you to help me find more people. I mean, every department is asking, Hey, HR help us find new people.
So how do you, how are you going to find that? What, what are you going to do to find me that perfect guy that I need
today? It's a great question. And so here's the thing. You're not going to like my answer because I'm going to be steadfast and say, Hey, you know, we're not going to open the floodgates and hire half a Half of whatever community that we're in, like, we're not going to hire half of Fresno because the reality is the standards for becoming a Lee's employee for representing the brand are incredibly high.
Yes, we're going to be very, very selective about the people that we choose to bring on board. Once when they're on board, they are family, right? They're ride or die for the rest of their life, right? Like, hopefully we're going to take care of them. We're going to take care of a man that it's literally baked into our mission.
Serve. Our coworkers, right? But that said, uh, the onus is on us on the front side to be able to identify those people and be very selective about who we bring in. Are there pain points in that?
Yes.
Yes. Yes. Uh, because again, we're going to be very selective and now, I mean, obviously there's things that we do.
I mean, we, we post. You know, we post ads on various, uh, camp, you know, we have various campaigns going out when we are hiring for five of them
out there right now.
I, yeah, it might actually be a little bit more. Yeah. Uh, but yeah, you're right. At any given time, it's at least five. Right. And, and you know, here we are in the middle of summer, guess what it was going into summer.
Guess what it was in June. It's like 12th. Right. Uh, and people are pulling their hair out. It's like, ah, summer's coming. You know, what are we going to do? You know, people, you know, the sky's going to fall. Uh, but you know what I admire about people like you and other people, other members of leadership inside of this organization is they see the bigger picture.
And that is, Hey, it's not about staffing a position. It's getting the right staff for the position.
It's adding a family member.
Yeah, it
is. You know, so we're vetting out somebody that's going to be. You know, spending a big part of every day with us. And so it's, it's important. And, uh, I take pride in the fact that, uh, you know, as I walked through our building, I mean, it's incredible the amount of quality people we've been able to round up for this one mission and it's, it's exciting.
I, I don't know if people out there. No, that, you know, we're approaching or at, you know, 200 people already here. Um, I remember when I started, I was, uh, it was a big deal. Cause they were, you know, I was 11th person added to the team.
You're employee number 11,
employee number 11. Yeah. So, uh, uh, and it's been, it's been quite an honor to watch this, uh, progression and it has been a, it's been a.
Steady, steady climb up. Um, I don't think anybody, anybody's surprised by it, but it is exciting and, uh, and kind of awe striking sometimes to see, you know, all of the vehicles and all the people and the infrastructure and all of the different things that we've had to, you know, Had to create a lot of we've had to create a lot of it.
We've had to build within it within our structure to Reach the point we are today. So I do appreciate everything you do there. So, uh, um, I know, um, I I guess we can never, you know, be too free with this, but um, Are you guys looking at maybe other markets? Um,
uh, absolutely. I mean, we're There's a considerable amount of research that has to be done, right?
I mean, can the You Is this a market that's viable for us to expand into? What's the population look like? All these different things. But ultimately my personal belief is that every market could benefit from a company, from a lease going into their, to their specific market. Uh, that doesn't answer the question as to whether or not the market can support.
Lease. Does that make sense? Sure. It does. So, uh, yeah, like I said, we, we have made the decision to penetrate into the Northern market in the form of the Loomis operation. Uh, Fresno is obviously, uh, well, well, uh, established by Celia is the latest. Um, but yeah, absolutely. I mean, if the question is, are there additional markets that we're looking at?
Absolutely.
Yeah. I will point out that, you know, in our commercial, um, endeavor here, the, we've gotten some customers that have asked us, Hey, can you help us in this community? Can you help us in this city? Can you help us in this city? So we've had to really strategically. Um, work on finding, finding new areas because, you know, the, the, uh, those relationships necessitated, is that a word?
Necessitated? Necessitated, maybe left an eye out there. Oh, yeah. Uh, that we, you know, that we do this. So it, it was not born out of any other reason other than serving people. Yeah. Which is always what everything tends to roll back to here. Yeah. Here underneath the, you know, the Lee's uh, the Lee's, um, product offering.
Mm-Hmm. and our mission statement, so, absolutely. Um, so tell me, um. How much of a change was it to go from operations into the HR world?
Yeah. So, uh, I, I'm just going to be honest. It
was a big change. Yeah. It's,
it's, it's, it's how long do we have? Uh, it, it, it was a big change, right? Uh, you know, it, but it has allowed me to focus on things.
Uh, that maybe I didn't have as much knowledge about before. Right. Um, so California is a bit
litigious and all of that stuff, the insurance, that may
be the understatement of the day. Yeah. Um, so yeah, it, it's very much a role where you're evaluating, um, exposures I think is the best way to put it. Um, and you know, just trying to position leads to the best of our ability to, you know, successful,
right?
Um, I, I'm still very active in, uh, things like policy setting for trajectory of the organization, um, and, and that kind of stuff. So, uh, it's, it's for me, it's way to serve the organization, right? Um, and you know, that's, that's what I'm happy to do.
So what's next?
Uh, it's exciting. It really is. You know, most, and again, you're aware of this, maybe some of the listeners are not, but, uh, you know, we're really excited about this, uh, uh, this roofing opportunity that we recently, let's talk
about that.
Yeah. Uh, you know, this is something that's very much in its infancy. Um, and you've been here since, you know, for a while. Uh, so you've seen different offerings come and go under the lease flagship. Um, and, uh, ultimately what is stuck to this day has been plumbing and HVAC, right? Turns out it's really hot in the central Valley and people need quality.
Uh, air, you know, air conditioner technician, clean water, clean water. Yeah. People, that's kind of a big deal to people as well. Uh, turns out roofing is also a big deal as well. Most people have a roof. Most people. Yeah. Most people. Uh, so that, that's really, really exciting. Um, and you know, the, regardless of the product offering though, I'm just going to keep coming back to this as long as we're running it through the lens of our mission, it will ultimately be successful because my, my personal belief is that The truer you are to our mission, uh, in serving people, uh, the higher likelihood is, uh, the segment of our business is going to be successful.
Yeah, I'm going to go take it back. It doesn't matter if
it's roofs or windows or anything else. You said something that triggered
this thought here, you know, even back in the, in the infancy of this company, when, when they were smaller and just doing commercial, one thing has stuck through and it will continue to is.
Is our brand and who we are, who we are as a company, you know, as far as, you know, the permitting process and the insurance processes and doing everything correctly in the state of California is not an easy thing. And I will say I did come from a company that didn't have as staunch of a protection of those.
And I know there are a lot of other, other companies out there that, you know, be quite honest. It's difficult to stay completely.
Yeah. Here's the thing. I know exactly what you're saying. And I, I, I don't want to pitch you. Yeah. I don't want you to expose any more. I think I was going, I think
I was going in the wrong direction with that.
But here's the thing. The temptation is so great. Imagine a world. So Lee's has been around since 1981, right? So it's been around for More than a little bit of time. Um, so imagine a world though, where you're starting an organization that was founded in 2024. And you're trying to make ends meet. And maybe you don't necessarily have the same philosophy that Lee's has.
It's like, hey, I need HVAC technicians. Right? Today. Today. Right now. Right. Like all this other stuff that we're talking about, that doesn't necessarily apply. Maybe we're getting the best members of community. Maybe we're not. Whatever. Temptation becomes so great to start cutting corners. Usually that manifests in things like the permitting process, right?
Uh, it manifests in, um, saying that, yeah, that'll do in the, you know, in the interview process, right? It's like, ah, you know, should we run a background check on this? Oh, that'll do right. Uh, you know, the temptation is great to do that. Absolutely. But when you're in the game for longevity, like I said, we've been around since 1981.
You're not around for 43 years making those types of decisions. You're just not, um, you know, from the get go, this has been something that we've prided ourselves on. And ultimately, if you are starting a business for its longevity, You have to bite the bullet, man. You have to set the standard day one, and you have to live by that standard every single day.
So
that's that, that's probably why I think your orientation sessions now have turned into a, a full day where I don't recall in the past that orientation, we, well,
we have granted, we have more people in the orientation site. I think, I think it was like you and maybe. Uh, one other person, maybe, uh, during, during Tom Howard, Tom Howard, maybe, uh, employees number three and four or whatever, right?
Uh, but today, you know, maybe instead of having two people and maybe we have 12, right? That's 12 different perspectives on whatever is coming out of Chad's mouth, right? And 12 different lines of questioning. Uh, about every different benefit and everything else. And that's totally cool. We want to make sure that, uh, new employees have clarity when they, when they leave the orientation room,
right?
You know, with, with, uh, with the sensational growth we've had over the last 10 years, we've had to. You know, now you're, now we're putting people on full time warehouse. There's a, there's an entire crew.
Yeah. There's like an entire department, right? I mean, if, I don't know if you've walked through the warehouse lately, but
yeah, you know, and then there's quite a few people in our CSR room now too, as well, you know, there's dozens of people working in that endeavor, just in
Fresno,
just in Fresno,
including Yeah.
Celia and Loomis. Yeah.
And then, you know, I think at any given day, we probably have 50, 75 installers out there and you know, and then there's now we're, now we move into service technicians and maybe we have 50
and plumbers
and then we have a whole bunch of plumbers cause they sit in the same office. I do.
I know how many plumbers we have. Sometimes they're all in there at the same time and it's pretty crazy, but yeah. Keeping track of all that, you know, keeping it, keeping them in. A, you know, a, uh, vehicle is, we've already talked to James about that. Just the vehicle part alone is, we have an
asset
and procurement
department.
Just don't have a guy with an apartment because you know, they, everybody needs and everybody needs uniforms and everybody needs the right, you know, the right tools, being a paperless company is probably one of the toughest things that we, you know, mountains we had to climb going from, uh, you know, A lot of people that were, you know, we've had people that have been here for a long time.
Everybody, including myself, I was used to doing it all a certain way and we went paperless a while back. But what we have learned is once we got over that curve, and I know you're involved with that as well, we can really serve the customers quickly by being completely paperless. And that's a whole nother department in itself as well.
Imagine. Yeah.
Imagine a world where you have Lees at its current size and you're not paperless. You know, imagine, imagine what that stock room looks like, what that store room looks like when you open it and there's an ocean of file cabinets. I just went back
to 2005 in my mind. I saw
it. 2005. Yeah. Uh, even before that too.
Uh, but yeah, it's definitely the right thing to do. Uh, I mean, it's serving all three, right? It's serving the, uh, your customers, coworkers and community, right? Like your coworkers don't want to come in and have a desk that has a three foot tall pile of paper. You know what I mean? I, we were sitting here looking at a desk.
I can actually see outside of the magazine. I could see the desk. Uh, that wouldn't be the case if we had the size we have today and we were not paperless God forbid. Yeah.
Well, I'm gonna have to let chad get back to his duties So I want to thank him for being on here But I I want to recap really quick by saying uh, he did say a couple important things fresno We've been here since the beginning.
We're gonna stay. Uh, we're still local company and we're still ready to serve you. So, uh, Um, let us know if we can help you, uh, Chad, thanks again for coming on talking this morning. Hopefully to have, hopefully we'll have you back soon and probably have a different role by then, but we'll have you, we'll have you back.
You're, uh, you're valuable. So we can move you around a little bit, kind of like a, uh, kind of like a utility utility, uh, infilter. So, uh, thanks again. And, uh, everybody out there, uh, if we can help you give us a call, have a great day.