Like many businesses in the trades, All About Air Heating & Cooling is quite familiar with the challenge of finding skilled employees. But rather than let that limit business growth, owners Lenny and Ann Hewitt have taken a classic adage to heart: If you want something done right, do it yourself.
“We train people from within,” said Lenny Hewitt. “I have been a trainer my whole life and I’m a big advocate of having highly-trained people doing the job.”
All About Air has provided HVAC services in Oregon and Washington since 2005, and while training workers in-house represents a significant investment for this Vancouver-based family-run business, it means employees become experts in the things the Hewitts value most: quality work and top-notch customer service.
Recently, the company became an American Standard dealer and now has what Lenny Hewitt believes is the best equipment on the market.
“We do retrofits and custom homes, and use bigger controls,” he explained. “With those, we can do amazing things for comfort levels and indoor air quality.”
All About Air has also joined Home Services Networking of Southwest Washington – a group of about 20 other small family businesses. The company became a member, Lenny said, because All About Air thrives on the feeling of community and working together.
“We network, refer clients and work to build each other up,” he said. “We’re surrounding ourselves with the best in the business. We give our clients a booklet of different service providers in Clark County, and we wouldn’t recommend companies if we didn’t know them personally.”
A new home
Earlier this month, All About Air held a Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting event to celebrate the opening of a new headquarters – at 5706 NE 112th Ave. in Vancouver. The new location, Lenny said, represents a move years in the making.
“We worked out of the basement of our home for the past 11 years,” he said. “We looked for three years for a spot to buy – in St. Johns [and] in Salmon Creek; we wanted it to be right. When my wife drove by the new location, our realtor didn’t even know it was there. But, when you know it’s right, you know.”
The company’s new office is approximately 1,200 square feet with an additional 8,000 square feet of warehouse space. Lenny said it has taken more than a year of work to get the new space ready for its intended use.
“It used to be a house,” he said. “The city didn’t actually recognize it as a business, and made us start from scratch. We had to go through procedures as if we were starting from the ground up.
“I’m so glad we’re in the storefront now,” he added. “People can bring in their plans and we can handle anybody’s indoor air quality, hot or cold spots.”
When asked what’s next for All About Air, Lenny said his biggest goal (moving to a new location) just happened. However, that doesn’t mean the Hewitts are done dreaming.
“We have a place we can grow into,” he said. “In the next five years, I’d like to grow to be able to expand, to open other branches.”
All About Air Heating & Cooling
5706 N.E. 112th Ave. Vancouver Founded 2005 www.allaboutairhvac.com
