Recruiting, education are the big issues, says PHCC’s Kevin Tindall

In December 2012, CONTRACTOR named Kevin and Kathy Tindall, Tindall & Ranson Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning, Princeton, N.J., as the CONTRACTOR magazine Contractor of the Year. A big reason was for how much the two have given back to the industry and their community, and they are still going full blast. In November 2013 they were recognized as major contributors to the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors – National Association’s Educational Foundation and were named to the organization’s Board of Governors. And now, this October, Kevin takes over as PHCC – National Association’s president.

Back in 2012, the Tindalls were ferrying relief supplies to Long Beach Island, which had been hard hit by Hurricane Sandy. Kevin, as is his nature, was nonchalant about it. “What else are you going to do on a Saturday,” he said, “Sit on the couch and watch college football?”

Tindall got into plumbing the same way as so many in the industry — slowly through a first job as a kid. He worked for his brother-in-law in 1974 as a shop boy, and then started his apprenticeship with United Association Local 380 (which is now Local 9). By the time he was 25- or 26-years-old he was running jobs at Princeton. After becoming service manager, he built the service department to 15 men and $2 million in volume in 1991.

He was itching to run his own show, but his brother-in-law and other area contractors weren’t in the market for a partner. He took the big leap, forming Tindall & Ranson right before Christmas, December 12, 1993, with the official start of business January 1, 1994. Todd Ranson, who had been in business before and held the plumbing license, was a 10% shareholder. Ranson brought along a truck and a few customers. On Day One it was four guys plus Kathy and Todd’s wife in the office.

Tindall & Ranson billed $800,000 that first year, all of it residential service or high-end renovation, split about equally between plumbing and HVAC. Ranson was bought out in 1995. The firm billed between $1.1 million and $1.2 million its second year and hit $3.6 million in 2007 before the recession started. He actually lost money in 2007, then was flat in ’08 and ’09, made some money in ‘10 and then was flat again in ’11. In 2012, buoyed by more aggressive marketing, volume was up 20%. He has 15 men working for him, three full-time in service with a fourth as a floater. The rest do contract construction and custom renovation work for builders, installing HVAC and bathrooms and kitchens.

This August, in addition to being busy as the incoming president of PHCC, Kevin and Kathy were also preparing for their daughter’s wedding. Nevertheless, Kevin, as charming and accommodating as always, took the time to answer questions from CONTRACTOR.

CONTRACTOR: Tell me what’s going on in the Princeton area and South Jersey in general. What’s going on with the recovery on Long Beach Island? Are you getting work there?

Kevin Tindall: In general, the economy in New Jersey seems to be improving. We have seen more and more projects out for bid and our work volume is up over last year. The HVAC service work this year is extremely light due to a cool summer in the northeast. I have only seen a few days in the 90’s and the humidity is under control.  As for the Hurricane Sandy recovery, we are still receiving new contracts from the shore area. The contracts have gone from repair to new construction. We are presently in the middle of HVAC jobs on two homes. 

Our association has the potential to make great progress this year in many areas.

—Kevin Tindall

Also in New Jersey, we have passed an HVAC licensing bill similar to the Master Plumbers license law. The PHCC of New Jersey is currently working with its members to make sure they receive their licenses. We believe licensed contracting will improve the overall industry. PHCC of New Jersey worked hard to obtain the state licensing and looks forward to providing continuing education credits for HVACR contractors. 

C: Do you still have the same split between plumbing and HVAC? Back in 2012 you had four service techs. Has that changed? What’s the status of the Building Performance Institute work? Can you recommend the building efficiency/air sealing market as a good line of business for other contractors?

KT: Yes, we still have the same split. We still have the same technicians and we have added two apprentices. We still continue to do energy audits through BPI. The state of New Jersey is still maintaining its grant program and interest-free program. We continue to market the work and are doing more each year. We also have achieved a Gold Star™ Contractor rating through BPI. 

C: You’re well known for your volunteerism and charitable works. What are you doing currently?

KT: Kathy and I continue to volunteer with the West Windsor Volunteer Fire Co. and are both Life Members. We continue to provide support to the PHCC Educational Foundation, the PHCC Auxiliary, our local and state PHCC organizations, the Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome Association and Susan G. Komen® Breast Cancer. 

C: What do you most enjoy about running Tindall & Ranson? 

KT: First of all, working with my wife each day. We have a wonderful working relationship, which makes a great partnership. I also enjoy spending time with our customers and attending to their needs. It is fulfilling and gratifying to receive the surveys back from our customers and hear their positive comments about our employees. While there are always issues from day to day, Kathy and I are very lucky that we have such good-hearted and hardworking employees working for us.   

C: What do you dislike, the one task you would rather never do again?

KT: Confrontation with employees. I want to believe that our employees are the best employees available, and when they don’t follow the agreed upon process, I get discouraged.

C: You were green before it was trendy — chairman of PHCC’s Green Task Force, sitting on IAPMO’s Committee for Awareness and Understanding of a Sustainable Environment and the Green Technical Committee. What kind of green advocacy are you doing now or have had the time to do now, considering how much you have to do for PHCC? You said a couple years ago that you wanted to stay on the GTC. Will you? What is your company telling its customers about saving water and energy? What are you hearing back from your customers?

KT: As you are aware, I have been unable to make the last few meetings of the Green Technical Committee due to my PHCC responsibilities and most recently my daughter’s wedding. I do, however, want to continue serving on the committee and plan on appointing an alternate for my year as President. I have already spoken with IAPMO about my plans and they concur. 

In New Jersey we have had an extremely mild summer along with a lot of rain this summer so there has not been much conversation about saving water. However, we continue to inform customers about WaterSense products and the benefits of installing water conservation products.  

C: Is daughter Heather Alkhateeb still working with you on your social media efforts? How important is social media for your business?

KT: Yes, Heather is still working for us. We believe it is vitally important for our company to maintain a strong presence on the Internet. Heather is currently in the process of helping us redesign our website that we plan on launching in the middle of December. It will provide better mobile applications and improve our Search Engine Optimization. 

C: After all your years in the business, what are the most important one or two things that you have learned?  

KT: Always expect the unexpected. Training the employees is always a better option than not training them. Never expect they will know everything.   

C: What is the biggest problem facing contractors in New Jersey? On a national basis, what are you hearing from PHCC-National Association members as being the biggest problem for contractors?

KT: Finding enough qualified workers to meet demand is definitely the biggest problem members are reporting. 

C: What is PHCC doing to try to fix that problem?

KT: PHCC is very active within the industry with various programs to help us rebuild the workforce we need to continue to provide safe and efficient plumbing and HVACR services for our country. As one example, PHCC’s involvement with the HVACR Workforce Development Foundation supports projects, programs and partnerships that support the recruitment of the next generation of skilled workers. And, a special PHCC task force will begin work soon on workforce development planning to attract qualified workers to our industry. 

C: As a trade association, what is PHCC’s greatest challenge?

KT: As our new brand awareness campaign says, PHCC has the “Best People” who follow the “Best Practices.”  The challenge is convincing others in the industry to make the commitment to join our organization. Everyone is so busy these days and overcome by information overload. We want to get the attention of all professional p-h-c contractors and help them see the value of joining our organization. By taking advantage of the best practices, resources and business tools that are available through PHCC, they can be the contractor of choice in their area. And, the industry will get stronger.  

C: You’ve been active in PHCC’s work on Capital Hill. Are the main issues still the Perkins Act, the Lead Paint Rule, and DOE’s regional energy efficiency standards? Anything else?

KT: Yes, those are the primary issues we’re following right now. Our support of continued funding for the Carl D. Perkins Act is in line with our efforts to ensure the availability of the types of quality training needed for our future workforce. Regarding the expansion of the Lead Renovation Repair & Painting Rule (LRRP) to cover commercial and public buildings, PHCC is working with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Office of Management and Budget to ensure contractors not only have a voice at the table, but are not negatively impacted by the rule. On the regional energy efficiency standards, we were very pleased with the recent appointment of PHCC’s Vice President of Technical and Code Services Chuck White to DOE’s Final Furnace, Air Conditioner, and Heat Pump Rule Advisory Committee.  PHCC is thrilled to have a representative — the only contractor in the group — involved in shaping the outcome of the proposed standards. We’re also very encouraged that PHCC’s appointment to the working group can also be directly tied to our speaking on this issue on Capitol Hill at the Legislative Conference this past May. 

As the Congressional elections approach on Nov. 4, PHCC is busy compiling the PHCC Small Business Voting Record. This guide, which will be released during the October 8-10 CONNECT 2014 in New Orleans, will help PHCC members and the P-H-C industry assess how members of Congress voted on issues of interest to small business and the P-H-C industry.   

C: If you could accomplish just one goal this year as president for either the association or its members, what would that be? 

KT: For me, I would not be happy with focusing on just one accomplishment in my term as president. For me, that would be a failure. Our association has the potential to make great progress this year in many areas, not just one. Having said that, I guess on Day One my priority would be making sure our members understand the value of highly training employees and letting our customers know as contractors of PHCC that we have the best people who follow the best practices. 

C: Is there's anything that I haven't asked about that you want to address?

KT: As a final note, my wife Kathy and I would like to thank the manufacturers, press, contractors, Auxiliary and staff who have given us such a great level of support. Without them our industry certainly would not be where it is today. We consider many of them our personal friends and thoroughly enjoy our time together.  We look forward to seeing all of them at PHCC’s CONNECT 2014, October 8-10 in New Orleans.