who
Matthew Chance, manager of Byrd Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc.
who’s his boss
Russell Byrd.
Byrd company address
101 Central Junction Road, Savannah, GA 31405
Chance’s family
Wife of 12 years, Tina Chance. Cathleen – “14 going on 18” – and Matthew Christian Chance, Jr., 10. “The same as me. We call him Christian.”
background of company
“Byrd has been in business 28 years. It started as a new construction company — heating and air conditioning for new construction because that was Mr. Byrd’s background. Putting air conditioning into new homes … We also offer a maintenance plan. We come out twice a year.”
new focus
“Fifteen years ago we started focusing more on service to grow the company and then five years ago when new construction fell off, the service business continued to grow. It’s grown every year for the last 10 years.”
Chance’s background
He’s a native of Salisbury, Md. “I’ve been here 10 years. I started in ’02 as a service technician. I met my wife when I was stationed here in the military. I was a Sgt. E5 at Hunter.” After he left the military, “I sent out a lot of resumes when I moved here with two kids. I wanted something to jump into.”
the Byrd philosophy
“It’s not about the bottom line. Mr. Byrd is more interested in making the customer happy. If the customer is happy, it will take care of the business.”
employees
About 25.
his favorite quote
“I’m always pushing the guys to do it right the first time.”
professional achievement
“We won Best in Savannah in air conditioning from Savannah Magazine in 2009 and 2010. We were runner up in 2011. Also we are a Carrier Factory Authorized Dealer. That’s a distinguished title. You have to go through a lot of training and have all your technicians certified.”
personal achievement
“Getting my state license in heating and air conditioning. You have to have a state license to run a company.” Also, he graduated from college – South University in 2006 with a B.A. in business administration.
charity work
“We do a lot for charities (for free). We put in heating and air conditioning at St. Jude House (a dream house that is raffled off every year.) We do all the heating and air conditioning for The Living Vine, a home for homeless abused or pregnant women. We do work for the Old Savannah Mission.
“We also put in systems for several people that don’t have the dollars but have the need … Mr. Byrd and I always have the opinion that you have to give back to the community.”
future plans
“To continue to grow the service side.” Also, “I look at the whole house. We do diagnostics as opposed to just heating and air conditioning. Say your air conditioning vents are sweating and a layer of hot air comes into the house.
I look at the tightness of the home. Is it getting fresh air in it? If it isn’t, the house is too tight … The cause has nothing to do with air conditioning. But you find out about it through air conditioning.“
one other plan
“I want to use more computers to diagnose the system. You can see what it’s doing.” He used his smart phone to check on the tightness of his house.
a tip for other business operators
“Work with your competitors instead of against them. We have a chapter here of the CAAG – Conditioned Air Association of Georgia. It’s all dealers working together. The Savannah chapter is about 40. Headquarters is in Atlanta. We have 350 members in the state.”
contact
Phone: 912-233-6764.
Email: mchance@byrdheatingandair.com
Website: www.byrdheatingandair.com
Compiled by Lanie Lippincott Peterson
- Login or Register to post comments
- Printer-friendly version
- Send by email
