Dan King Plumbing Heating & A/c

Dan King Sr. started the Dan King Plumbing Company in 1971. It was a one-man, one-truck operation, and Dan served the Charlotte area making repairs and small up fits. For years, he was known by his motto "Not the Oldest, but the Best". In 1985, Dan King Jr. obtained his mechanical license and joined his father, bringing HVAC into the small family business. Dan Jr. focused on residential replacement and service. Over the next 10 years, the company would grow from a one-man company to twenty employees. During this same period, a new construction plumbing department was added to their operation. Sadly, Dan Sr. passed away during the period of growth, and he was never able to see the accomplishments and hard work Dan Jr. put into the business. Dan Jr., with his marketing creativeness, made Dan King Plumbing, Heating, and AC a very well-known household name in the Charlotte area. In 1995, Dan Jr. hired Mike Fowler after Mike chose early retirement from a management position with United Parcel Service. Together, Dan and Mike grew the company to nearly 8 million dollars' profit from 1995 through 1999. The company nearly grew to 80 employees; however, Dan realized that his profitability was unstable, and that they needed to focus on residential repair and replacement to remain profitable. In November 1999, Dan and Mike attended an AirTime 500 Profit Success Day and joined that same afternoon. In January 2000, Dan and Mike traveled to San Jose, CA, and also became members of PSI. Over the next three to four years, Dan and Mike would attend many AirTime 500 Expose and PSI Summits, bringing back and implementing many of Jim Abrams' and John Young's lessons. During the same period of time, they both worked diligently, closing down the commercial and residential new construction areas of the business. The company would downsize from 8 million to 3 million dollars. In April 2002, Dan Jr. was President and Mike was the Operations Manager of Dan King Plumbing, Heating, and Air. They made a decision to recruit and hire a master plumber in order to do technical training which was already in place. Tom Rea Jr. was hired in 2002, and he helped grow the company through hands-on training in the field. In April 2003, Dan Jr. approached Mike Fowler and Tom Rea Jr. about ownership within the company. After reaching an agreement, the three became equal partners in the business. After a year of ownership together, the three decided that the "One Hour" name, message and logo, would be the right tool for proper growth in the future. In April 2004, employees of Dan King Plumbing, Heating and Air attended the 5th One Hour launch at McCarthy's One Hour Model Center in Omaha, Nebraska. Over the next 90-120 days, the company would work diligently to implement One Hour Op-X and Franchise Compliance. Excitement of the "On Time" message spread quickly across the workforce, as a new One Hour Sign was hung next to the Old Dan King Plumbing, Heating, and Air sign. Goal boards and new yellow paint in the office and on the service trucks also helped in initiate the excitement of the message.