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Lucas Comfort Solutions expands, slightly
Hiring a single technician, local heating and cooling repair company doubles in size
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
BRIGHTON — A year and a half into running his own business, Lucas Comfort Solutions Owner and Technician Tom Lucas has doubled the size of its staff, by hiring his first other employee.
The small Brighton-based company was sold to Lucas under the name “Air Doctor“ when its owner, Dave McArtor, moved out of town. The new owner had years of experience working with air conditioners, furnaces, and every other heating and cooling device under the sun — except steam boilers and oil burners — but he said running a business himself proved uniquely challenging at first.
“I realized that I owed state sales taxes, and apparently they want that on time!” Lucas recalled with a laugh. “It’s all squared away now, but all the different filings, keeping on top of those is big. I got a nasty letter … the bookkeeping aspect, it almost bit me in the rear.”
With the paperwork now settled, Lucas has hit his stride servicing thousands of buildings around Southeast Iowa every year, most of them within 60 miles of Brighton.
He said the success necessitated more hands on the team.
“I was getting to the point where I was having to turn jobs down,” Lucas said. “There are a couple thousand rental properties that I do the maintenance and repair for, and I was absolutely running myself ragged.”
The pair take pride in their top-quality work, same-day service and fair costs, but asked what he though set his business apart, Lucas said it was the personal touch they brought to their jobs.
“I’ve always had a good skill set with customer service and talking to people, and that translates so well into the HVAC service,” he said. “A furnace or an air conditioner, or even water heaters, you’re coming into someone’s personal space, and they don’t know you from anyone on the street.”
Lucas hasn’t always worked in the heating and cooling industry. He used to do land surveying, but needed a job with better hours as his kids grew up. After a few months in limbo, he found himself working on HVAC installations in Kalona.
That naturally flowed into a service position, which got him where he is today. Lucas said the highly technical work was immensely satisfying.
“I wish I would’ve gotten into this job 20, 25 years ago,” he said. “The personal reward in it is what keeps me going … I get to feel like the hero. When a little old lady calls because her furnace doesn’t work, and I go in and find the problem, I fix the problem, and I do it efficiently, they’re gloriously happy. That, right there, is the most rewarding to me.”
Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com
