2012 W. Curtis Strube Small Business Award Finalist: DeLong Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning

Garry DeLong, president of DeLong Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning, knows how important it is to get the help one needs when there is an emergency.

In 1996, a tornado wiped out his former building on Battlefield Road, and although the company’s base was destroyed, DeLong said his team only missed three scheduled calls that day.

“We deal with people’s emergencies all the time and in return, a lot of friends and a lot of our competition helped us out that day,” DeLong said.

DeLong has built his business on helping others, and he attributes its growth to that commitment. The company was founded in 1991 and operated out of DeLong’s basement. With 47 employees, the company now has its headquarters in 6,000 square feet at 1309 S. Scenic Ave., where it keeps its 40 service trucks.

While DeLong began his career as a plumber, he said he’s a believer in diversification, which has helped his company grow.

“I’m also a big believer in going to school, and heating and air go hand in hand with our business, so I took classes,” DeLong said, noting that HVAC services were added to the company lineup several years ago but have been heavily promoted the last five years.

Previously, HVAC only represented about 10 percent of the company’s revenues, DeLong said. The push led the company to expand to a second location, in 3,000 square feet at 2265 W. Bennett St., and last year, HVAC grew to encompass 20 percent of the company’s business.

Serving a database of more than 10,000 clients, about 70 percent of the company’s customers are residential, 25 percent are commercial and 5 percent are industrial. According to Springfield Business Journal research, the company’s representative contracts include CoxHealth, Christian Health Care and Wal-Mart Stores, and with 2011 revenues of more than $5 million, DeLong said he’s projecting revenues of more than $6 million this year.

Click here to read more about the 2012 W. Curtis Strube Small Business Award.