After working in the heating and air conditioning industry for many years, Billy O'Quinn decided to take ownership, literally.
He and his wife, Dana, are now owners of Heck Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning, 231 Second Ave. They purchased the business from Steve Huffman, who had owned it since 2004.
"It was a number of things," O'Quinn said. "My son wants to get into the industry, so I wanted to create a job for him. And Dundore got out of the reconditioning and service field, and I wanted to stay in it. So this was the perfect opportunity for me."
Article Photos
PHOTO BY CATHY WILLOUGHBY
New owners of Heck Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning, Billy and Dana O’Quinn.
He had worked with Huffman at Martin Brothers, when O'Quinn was there from 1989 to 2000.
"Steve and I are friends," he said. "We had talked about it, then we made some definite decisions. I like that I can supply some competition. There's not a lot of that in Tiffin any more in this field."
The O'Quinns became the official owners July 1, yet have been spending the last few weeks cleaning and making improvements.
He is retaining the three employees who were there, and Huffman plans to continue doing some part-time work. O'Quinn is working on securing contracts with Lennox Industries, so he will have everything in place to send out mailers and other advertising to his customer base.
Some of the changes he is examining entail offering services that Heck's did not offer before.
"Presently, they weren't offering heating and air conditioning installation," he said. "We'll offer heating, as well as geothermals, and boilers or hot water heat. Anything in the industry I can pretty well offer."
Employees will take part in training to earn certifications through the manufacturers on equipment they will be installing and repairing.
"It is the oldest operating plumbing shop left in Tiffin," O'Quinn said. "I'll try to capitalize on that."
His wife will be helping with office management, he said.
