For the Kennedys of Delhi, a family business has been in the works for years.
Together with his son, Ethan, Daniel Kennedy established Kennedy Plumbing, Heating & Cooling in June 2022. Daniel’s wife, Crystal, manages the office at 73 Meredith St., Unit 1 in Delhi.
Although the family business is new, Crystal Kennedy said, the Kennedys have decades of experience.
“Dan worked for a company for 30 years and always wanted to go out on his own,” she said. “He found out that the company he had worked for for 30 years was selling, so as things were changing anyway, he decided (to start his own). He didn’t want to go work for someone else… and the place he was in was like a family to him. Our son had actually said, “Hey dad, would you consider that?”, and that was many years ago, even before we knew the company was going to make its changes, and Ethan said, ‘I think we could do well together.'”
“It was something we always talked about,” Ethan Kennedy, 24, said. “I got hired for the same company he worked for after high school, and we were talking about how nice it would be if it was our own gig and we could do whatever we wanted, however we wanted. It was always a thought, but we never really went there until last year. My father and I have always been very good at working together; we’re still father and son at the end of the day, but we can treat each other as equals on the job site and work well together, so that was great.
Services, Crystal and Ethan said, run the gamut.
“We do plumbing, heating and air conditioning,” she says. “You have your service job, and we do heating system installations or replacements and right now mini splits and heat pumps are the new things, anything to go with New York State (tax incentives) and air conditioning – that’s my son’s side of things.He worked in Tampa for a year in a commercial company to gain experience and returned in July to add that element to the business.
“The new stuff we’re doing, not a lot of guys are doing it,” Ethan said. “Heat pumps and air conditioning – although a heat pump is an air conditioner – are all big government pushes, so it’s nice to have a local company doing that, and there’s no much that offers this service.”
Industry shortcomings and market incentives, Crystal said, made for a booming business.
“We came at the right time, (because) a lot of our local plumbers and people who used to work in the private sector have retired and there just aren’t enough of them,” she said. “People tell me it’s harder to find a good plumber than a good doctor.
“Residential (customers) are our primary,” Crystal continued. “We usually go within a 30 minute radius, but we’ve done some work in Delhi and some heavy work in East Branch, Margaretville, Fleischmanns and Harpersfield, so we’re doing some heavy work and a wide range. We deal with a lot of city dwellers and second home owners, and they are certainly the ones doing all the new updates for the new green energy.
Customers, the Kennedys said, appreciate these services and expertise.
“Oh my god the response from the community has been extremely wonderful and they are very positive,” Crystal said. “My husband is famous because he worked for 30 years in the other company, so when people found out it was him… our phones went crazy. The community has really been wonderfully supportive, and luckily for them, we’ve already expanded and added two to three employees, (because) I couldn’t do the office myself anymore.
“For me, I wanted to have a company that really cares about the customer,” Ethan said. “I want to make sure we have good service and I just wanted a company that really has (the customer’s) best interests at heart. Unfortunately in this area – not really here, but in wider areas – it’s is more of a seller (thing), so I value earning customer trust and building long-term relationships over a quick sale, and it’s nice to be able to offer the community a commitment like this- there.
Crystal said the family hopes to keep the momentum going.
“We started in June in our living room; our vestibule was shipping and receiving and the garage was for supplies and we rented a storage unit, but we moved past that and in January we got our first office,” she said. “We signed a two-year lease and our goal is simply to continue to grow. We would like to have a crew of 20 men, and we have just received our third vehicle.
For more information, find “Kennedy Plumbing, Heating, & Cooling LLC” on Facebook or call 813-778-3352 or 607-746-2198.
